DC ExtraTime: My Name Is EMONEY

ADVISORY: Music Videos embedded in this post contains 
Explicit Lyrical Content. Parental Guidance is Suggested.

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

This Wednesday is the season finale of Are You The One? Season 6, as a house of 22 single girls and guys will have one more shot at love and money, and $1 million. But with three days until the always dramatic and intense 10th & final week of this guiltiest guilty pleasure, we have something that'll make you want to get turnt up.

Of all the people on this season in New Orleans, perhaps there is no one who is more well liked than Bay Area native Ethan Cohen, aka "Emoney." With his killer smile, unique outlook on what's going on in the house and him taking more of a supporting role to the drama of the other housemates, you can't help but enjoy the vibe of being that genuine nice blue collar guy. It's certainly a breath of fresh air in a house that's been up and down during their time down in the Big Easy. And if a first peek at what's going down on Hump Day is an indication, he may have a crucial role in the house either winning the money or them going home empty-handed.

Regardless of whether or not he will have a nice paycheck under the Christmas tree in 22 days, Ethan is already a winner as the clear fan favorite of the house and someone pegged to become AYTO's most-successful alum once the afterglow of this season fades away and things for the cast begin to return to normalcy. And he also happens to have a very nice occupation: an emerging hip-hop artist who hopes that his MTV exposure will be the start of something big down the road. And in this dedicated installment of ExtraTime, we'll share with you some of the music he's dropped over the years, as well as something that makes him a true rock star: helping make the dreams of two of his biggest fans come true.


For someone who was described by friends as "shy and quiet," hip-hop has been in Ethan's blood since he was in junior high in Sonoma, north of San Francisco, not far from Wine Country and one of the many towns in the North Bay affected by this summer's devastating wildfires. This was a hobby that was intended to be something he would do just for fun, developing his skills during his time in high school and then in college at San Francisco State University... having to juggle studies in the classroom with spitting some dope rhymes outside of it.
   In an interview with Asylum Mania, Emoney cited Common, Joe Budden, Public Enemy, Jurassic 5, and yes - Eminem, as influences musically as well as even comedians and sports talkers outside the music spectrum. That includes Louis C.K. - one of the many prominent victims of the sexual harassment outbreak that has rocked the entertainment and media worlds, led by the #MeToo social movement. And after working a couple jobs in the corporate world, Ethan knew he was out of his comfort zone, and wanted to pursue his biggest passion on a more regular basis.
   If you check out his YouTube channel or his SoundCloud, then you have seen or heard what he does best. There's really no need do get into every track he has recorded, but below is a selection of his best work. And to go with the number he and the house need for cash and confetti to fall by the end of tonight, the site has picked - in no particular order - 11 music videos by Emoney himself. One of them even makes mention of the Netflix hit 13 Reasons Why.

 ♫  "Easy Listening"


 ♫  "Blue Light"


 ♫  "No Way"

 ♫  "Enough"


 ♫  "Jabba the Hutt"


 ♫  "Good For You"


 ♫  "Better Off"


 ♫  "Tell Me Who I Am"


 ♫  "13 Reasons Why"


 ♫  "Where I'm Going"


 ♫  "Like You"




In addition to solo work, Emoney was first discovered dropping freestyles and cyphers on the underground hip-hop site, Team Backpack since 2011. His appearances in twelve performances posted on TBP's YouTube page have garnered over 5 million views, on top of the 1 million his own channel has achieved and the thousands of plays that's gotten on his SoundCloud channel.
   Two of the following TBP videos below have hit the seven-figure mark, while the third and fourth are good old fashioned rap battles. And him being on AYTO wasn't Emoney's first time on TV: he was a contestant on Freestyle Friday on BET's 106 & Park, and just this past week he was on stage on Nick Cannon's Wild N' Out - one that he himself acknowledged wasn't exactly up to par.

As a NorCal native Ethan is, not surprisingly, a Bay Area sports fan, though his preferred teams are those playing in Oakland than those playing across the Bay Bridge: the Warriors, Raiders and the Athletics. During the Green & Gold's run to the 2012 AL West title and who turned the national pastime on its head with 15 walk-off wins at the Coliseum, he wrote a tribute to the team once immortalized in the movie Moneyball - for which the 2012 A's had baseball's second-lowest payroll at just under $60 million and gave it a good fight against the Tigers in the ALCS.
   And for any emerging artist, there is no awesome or life-changing feeling than that of a true coming of age moment for musicians: hearing your song on the radio for the very first time. That's exactly what happened when Emoney heard that tribute, "We Here", on the flagship station for all three East Bay teams, 95.7 The Game. His reaction, of course, was as energetic and infectious as a kid opening up Christmas presents from Santa, or as if the A's won the World Series.

And then, there's this story: over the holidays last year, Ethan received a Facebook message from a mom whose son and daughter happens to be big fans of him, even though they were living up in Oregon. There, the lady told him that she couldn't find EMONEY merchandise for her kids, and wanted him to help instead of having to continue that excruciating search around the web for a scarce piece of memorabilia. At first glance he thought it was a fake message, only to find out that not only was it a true message but one that was also genuine and heartfelt.

   Ethan told Hip Hop DX, "She asked if there was anything they could send me. Me and her talked ASAP. I talked to their mom on the phone that night and told her I wanted to make Christmas for her kids special, one of the kids has autism and one was a high school girl. They were like six hours away from where I was going to be in the Bay Area ... me and my videographer got together and thought to surprise these people. We did it some days before Christmas and we made it their best ever."
   Originally, it was going to be signed clothes from past music videos that he would send to them via mail. But after being touched by that phone conversation between him in Los Angeles and them up in the Pacific Northwest - a bit a ways from where he spent his childhood and early part of his adult life, he decided to not only give them an early Christmas gift, but also pay the the ultimate favor and surprise them.
   At a local bowling alley in Medford, Oregon in the southern part of the state, Emoney walked in to the surprise of everyone, as documented in the video below - which took place exactly one year ago this Monday. The two fans who had their lives changed by this meeting were 18-year-old Shaylee who celebrated her 18th birthday with the biggest surprise of her life, and brother Josh who has autism but as Emoney wrote in the video's caption, "...but never lets his disability hold him back from following his dreams as a rapper. I am inspired by him as much as he is inspired by me."

In the video's comments, all were in favor of how one person went out of their way to do the ultimate deed of driving all the way to give smiles to two great fans. One user wrote, "Emoney, you're an amazing man. Not many would go out of their way like that. I don't think you even considered it "out of the way", it was more like you really enjoyed doing that. Can't wait till you're more known. I love you man." Another added, "...this made my day. seeing you go out of your way to put a smile on someones face, just truly amazing man. keep doing you, my dude." And a third person commented, "Now that's love right there! Mad respect to E-Money for being true and humble! This is how every artist should love their fans cause fans is what make an artist."

In the succeeding seasons after Are You The One's enormously successful first season nearly four years ago, many fans including my friend Andrew Kirk have questioned casting directors' choices of choosing guys who fit the stereotype of being arrogant and unlikable like those we have seen on Real World and The Challenge. It's certainly not the case for Ethan... someone who's truly likable and on the verge of big things to come. Andrew himself believes that he might become AYTO's most successful alum along the lines of what Jamie Chung and The Miz have done post-MTV, exceeding what we have seen with Tori, Devin and the first couple of Ethan & Amber.
   Watch out, this is perhaps the beginning of the rise of EMONEY to the top. And below is perhaps his biggest hit: "The Perfect Match Song" with him and one-half of this season's first Truth Booth match, Tyler.

UPDATE - Dec. 28: And on the Are You The One? Season 6 Reunion Special recently, Emoney and Tyler brought their Perfect Match song to the stage... that video is embedded below.

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After that first perfect match in Tyler and New Englander Nicole, where does the game all stand with one more getaway challenge, truth booth and matchup ceremony left? Tomorrow, the WRAP will head into the Strategy Room for what the AYTO NOLA house needs to do to get from five to eleven in one wek, plus recaps of the first two episodes of both Champs vs. Stars and Floribama Shore, and a stolen car caught on camera (!!).
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