Founder

Hip-hop band Mello-D & the Rados was founded by Darnley “Mello-D” Hodge in Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 in 1996. Mello-D was born August 1, 1977 in New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...

. In 1980, he and his family moved to Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

. At the age of nine Darnley started playing clarinet and saxophone. He also began rapping. In 1995 Mello-D graduated from Mount Vernon High School and accepted a football scholarship to Virginia Military Institute

Virginia Military Institute

The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...

. At VMI football training camp he suffered a knee injury and eventually transferred to Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...

 where he had been accepted in to the School of Mass Communications. During college he started playing keyboards and bass and eventually started a band called "The Desperados" which eventually became "The Rados" and finally "Mello-D & the Rados". Mello-D & the Rados quickly earned a reputation for putting on a thrilling live show with performances all over Virginia and Washington, D.C. In 1998 Mello-D graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a B.S. in Mass Communications. He played in the Jazz program at VCU and he also competed in track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

. In 2000, Mello-D moved back to the Washington, D.C. area where he currently lives.

Band

The 1998 debut of Mello-D's first album, Backsliding, received high praise from within the music industry, introducing this multi-talented artist to the world in a big way. The 2002 release of The Ultimate Truth built on that momentum producing the lead single, "Keep On", which climbed all the way to #2 on the HITS / Rap Attack radio charts. Along with the success of "Keep On", Mello-D & the Rados released a music video for the second single, "Stupid Jerk", which featured comedian T.L. Fitz (Comic View, Apollo

Apollo

Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

) and was televised on BET, MHZ Networks and other national video programs.

In 2004, Mello-D & the Rados released the album Antitainment. The lead single "Cool Witchu" hit the top #3 on college radio nationwide and the music video was played regularly on B.E.T., MTV2

MTV2

MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...

, MTVU

MtvU

mtvU is a division of Viacom's MTV Networks which produces a 24-hour television channel that is available on more than 750 college and university campuses across the United States, as well as several digital cable packages...

, FUSE TV

Fuse TV

Fuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....

 and other major video outlets exposing Mello-D & the Rados to over 100 million people worldwide. Mello-D also recorded the "Cool Witchu" remix featuring the legendary KRS-ONE

KRS-One

Lawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...

. The band has sold thousands of CDs all over the world. Mello-D & the Rados has toured England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 pulling over 10,000 fans into the shows.

2008 brought the fourth Mello-D & the Rados album entitled "Antitainment Vol. 2: Truth... Lies... Etc." and features guest appearances from KRS-ONE, V. Rich, Akshan and Jonny Black. Mello-D says, "Antitainment Vol. 2 is a continuation of the previous album except we've taken it up a notch. Our mission has always been to make great music with a purpose. The purpose is to get the listener to see the world, the media and themselves in a different way while at the same time strectching the boundaries musically and creatively. We want you to take the lock off your brain and open your eyes. This is a movement. This is not entertainment. This is Antitainment."

Mello-D & the Rados has performed and/or recorded with KRS-ONE

KRS-One

Lawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...

, Jill Scott

Jill Scott

Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...

, The Roots

The Roots

The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...

, Dead Prez

Dead Prez

Dead Prez stylized as dead prez is a hip hop duo from the United States, composed of stic.man and M-1, formed in 1996 in New York City, New York. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with socialist lyrics focused on both militant social justice and Pan-Africanism...

, Les Nubians

Les Nubians

Les Nubians is an R&B Grammy-nominated duo composed of sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart from Paris, France. In 1985 the sisters moved with their parents to Chad. Seven years later, they returned to Bordeaux, France, and began singing a cappella, producing poetry slams in Bordeaux and Paris, and...

, Digable Planets

Digable Planets

Digable Planets is an American alternative hip hop trio based in New York City, composed of Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler , Mary Ann "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving . They released their debut album Reachin' in 1993, and their follow-up album Blowout Comb in 1994...

, Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...

, Maxi Priest

Maxi Priest

Max Alfred "Maxi" Priest is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with a R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion, and became one of the first international successes who regularly dabbled in the genre as well as being one of the most...

 and he has played with jazz legends like Charlie Hampton, Herb Smith, Barry Harris

Barry Harris

Barry Doyle Harris is an American bebop jazz pianist and educator.-Biography:Harris left Detroit for New York City in 1960...

, George Coleman

George Coleman

George Edward Coleman is an American hard bop saxophonist, bandleader, and composer, known chiefly for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s.-Biography:...

 and Clark Terry

Clark Terry

Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...

.

Honors:
Grammy Nomination Ballot in five categories in 2007
Best Hip-Hop Group/Duo Wammie Nominee 2009
Voted one of the Top 5 bands in DC by DC Lottery

The current band members are: Mello-D (emcee/sax), Olugbenga Mazi (drums), D'Salaam (bass) and DP (guitar)

Discography

“Backsliding” - Mello-D & the Rados (1998)

“The Ultimate Truth” - Mello-D & the Rados (2002)

“Antitainment” - Mello-D & the Rados (2004)

"Don't Sleep... Just Dream" - Jarrard Anthony (2004)

"The Hustle" - Bomani Armah (2006)

"Antitainment Vol. 2: Truth...Lies...Etc." - Mello-D & the Rados (2008)

"Bop Alloy" Substantial and Marcus D (2010)