Pushed to try harder by a scene filled with talent, Detroit rapper
Finale began his career trading rhymes with the likes of
Guilty Simpson and
One Be Lo. After trading tapes and eventually meeting local legend
J Dilla,
Finale quit his day job as an automotive engineer and devoted his time to writing, rapping, and promoting. An appearance on
B.R. Gunna's 2004 effort
Dirty District, Vol. 2 led to work with respected locals
Invincible and
Dabrye, including an appearance on the latter's 2006 Ghostly release,
Two/Three. The year 2007 saw him collaborate with producer
Spier 1200 for Develop, an album released through the Rawkus imprint Rawkus 50. A year later he would land on
Invincible's Shapeshifters album and
Vandalyzm's Megatron Majorz mixtape, plus his own single "Don't Sleep," guest starring
Invincible and producer
Black Milk. His debut album,
Pipe Dream and a Promise, appeared in 2009 on the Interdependent label. The album was promoted with the online game Super Finale, a clever redo of Super Mario Bros. with
Finale playing the role of Mario. He then took a break to focus on his wife and their newborn son, but after five years with a regular job he returned to rap and hooked up with producer
Oddisee. In 2015 the duo released the album
Odds & Ends, with guest spots from
Homeboy Sandman and
Big Tone. ~ David Jeffries