The Cougar's Byte

Issue date: 6/18/07 Section: Features

Did you know Pretty Ricky goes to Kean? No, not the famous r&b group, but the number one undisputed, guaranteed best and hottest hypeman in the entertainment business. He may not be a famous singer, but he sure knows how to work a mic and start a party. To those of you who know him personally, he's Pretty Ricky, to the rest of the Kean community, you know him as Shakere Banks. Ricky is not only one of the best hypeman in the business, but he also works for a club owned by Jay-Z.

What exactly is a hypeman? According to definition, it's the person responsible for increasing an audience's excitement with call-and-response chants. so in a nut shell that is what Ricky gets paid to do. "My thing is to get the people out their seats and to get them to dance…and that's what I do, make them dance," says Ricky while smiling. His most popular statement to the crowd is, "you don't want to dance; I'm going to make you dance!"

To prepare for the evening Ricky gets the DJ to spin some beats to amp him up or he'll be by himself in a room and put his game face on. He's been on stage with quite some famous names such as Funk Master Flex, Allen Iverson, Memphis Bleek, various Rocafella artists, and of course Jay-Z and Beyonce.

Now for the other side of Pretty Ricky, the Shakere Banks side. Ricky, a senior Psychology major, chose his major because he likes dealing with society, especially high school kids. He wants to be someone they can look up to and consider their "big bro." He lives in Paterson with his sister Evette and little brother Ja'Quis, while the rest of his family resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he lived until he moved to New Jersey in 1999. Pretty Ricky acquired his nickname during his senior year of high school when his friends started calling him Pretty Ricky from the television show Martin, and it just stuck with him.

Picture this, you're out celebrating your birthday and Jay-Z shows up. He then proceeds to come over to your celebration, and offers you a job! That's what happened to Ricky. Although he had been working parties with DJ Poun for about nine years now, his first big time gig was the De La Hoya vs. Mayorga fight.

Some of his most recent performances were at Kean, where he was the hype man for the oh-so-famous Pajama Party last semester. With the mic in his hand, he hopes to put Kean on the map for all the help which got him to where he is today. He will use his talents to help kids who need somebody to look up to. Keep your ears open for Pretty Ricky, his words will get you on the dance floor.

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