BLKSMRI, Rumeal Julius Eggleston

was born in Coatesville, PA a small city outside of Philadelphia.

Having a father who was a bassist and family full of musicians and singers, it wasn’t long until he started playing instruments and falling in love with music.

When he was 8, he started playing upright bass in his elementary school orchestra.

His junior year in high school, he picked up the electric bass and started playing in his local churches and numerous jazz and rnb venues in Philadelphia and surrounding areas on a weekly basis.

Further cultivating his gift.

He always had an appreciation for all types of music. From rap to jazz-fusion to classical and more.

He also experimented with turntablism and started producing beats on an Akai MPC 1000 and computer DAW, Fruity Loops.

After graduating high school, he moved to Los Angeles to further his bass studies at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood and proceeded to follow his dream of becoming a full time, professional bassist.

He has toured all over the world as a bassist with numerous artists

(Big Sean, Jason Derulo, bLAck pARty, Donald Glover,

only to name a few) and performed on TV broadcasts like SNL and

MTV Movie and TV Awards.

As a producer, he has earned numerous placements, two of them nominated for a grammy and also achieving gold and platinum certifications.

However, even with all of his accomplishments, he still aspired for something more.

After searching within, he found the vision of BLKSMRI

(previously BlackSamurai).

His interest in practicing martial arts, and collecting comics/manga/action figures ultimately inspired the idea of making himself into a character.

But, the core essence of BLKSMRI, is to

“Heal within, so you can heal who needs to be healed” with music.

He freely

(and respectfully) fuses sounds from all african diasporas while approaching each instrument he touches with the morale of a samurai/martial artist.