Fifth-L

Fifth-L – New Album at the Silo Feb. 6

By Gerry Ulincy

With hip hop artist Fifth-L anything is possible. Though his message might be summed up in three words: “It’s All Good,” his music needs a little more to cover the bases. His new album, “I Heart Hip Hop” was released online January 1. It’s the second album for him and his group, and he is as excited as his fans about the possibilities.

“It’s like seeing your poetry in motion,” says Dana Ragsdale, a native of Muhlenberg, PA, just outside Reading, who is also known as Fifth-L. When you’re out at one of the shows, whether its just the guys jamming or as the opener for R&B sensation Sean Kingston, you know its not okay to just be there. You have to have the motion, meaning you have to dance.

I can’t pretend to be an expert on hip hop. Don’t ask me to differentiate between hip hop, rap, and house with any level of expertise any time soon. In fact, don’t even ask me what ‘house’ means – my impression is that it expresses the moment when the artist takes the stage and everybody knows and feels that the party is about to begin. If that’s it, then this guy has it, because that’s what it feels like when Fifth-L shows up.

“You have to make a show about having a good time, and making sure everybody there has a good time,” he said. And of course, the best way to know that’s happening is the dancing, and there’s lots of that! It makes me wish I could dance. What Fifth-L tells me is that it’s music and fun, but mostly about combining the two in every possible way. When I asked him what his message was, he said one word: Creativity. “It’s all about creativity,” he said. “There are so many topics, so many ways to mix it up, and there are all kinds of ways to spread that to the world.”

A song might be screaming and hopping, even silly, or it might be sweet and slow, like “Just How I Feel,” a delicious, R&B-leaning groove. It might make a point you can identify with on a serious level, or it might just lightly blow off steam about the false importance of another person, event or song. The worst that could happen is, well, you might end up the subject of one of Fifth-L’s incredibly creative and not-so-subtle parodies. A great example of this is one of the songs from his first album: “I Got My Nikez On (Vans Diss).” The song was initially a knee-jerk reaction to the song ‘Got My Vans On,’ by The Pack, but like everything else this guy does, the music soon took over.”That song was actually something I did while I was out in Oregon working, and I heard that song and I said ‘What?” and I just kind of wrote down my response,” he said. “It was fun, and when I got back we tried it out and it worked.”

Even when he’s working at another job, he’s always working on music. In fact, with over 30 original songs so far, two albums, and tour dates galore on the agenda, this guy is used to staying busy. He has shows coming up, at the Silo nightclub in Reading, Pa on eb.6th, as part of the Iron Roots Tour. He also opened up for Elliott Yamin at Crocodile Rock Cafe earlier this month and the list of acts the band says they’ve opened for include Ja Rule, Tech N9ne, Young Dro, Asher Roth, and more. But then, they have always been busy.

Since he was 16, this guy has practically always had either a microphone or a pen in his hand. He’s only 22 now, so the numbers speak for themselves. This is also a family act. Family members include: Take Notez (aka Vaughn Ragsdale) is Fifth-L’s younger brother. At age 19, he is the guitarist/vocals go-to guy. Soni Boom Boom (aka LaSonta Babb) is Fifth-L’s cousin, age 22, She is also a model. Pictures of all band members can be found on Fifth-L’s Myspace Page.

Originally, he had billed his act “Fifth Element” but in conversation, people shortened it, so it has been reworked several times, sometimes as “5th El” or “Fifth L-Ement,” but “Fifth-L” was the most common, and that’s stuck. Since it’s also true that ‘Fifth Element’ is a common name in Hip-Hop, even a record label formed under that name in 1999, that was okay. Being the kind of go-with-the-flow person he is, he just went with it.

Clean-cut and almost “studious” in his offstage appearance, Dana Ragsdale is a polite, reserved, almost shy young man. But when Fifth-L takes the stage, he transforms into a combination of lyrics, music, and motion. So in that regard, he keeps it all in the family, keeps it real, and keeps it fun. But most of all he keeps ‘em dancing!

http://www.myspace.com/fifthl

www.soundclick.com/fifthl
www.sonicbids.com/fifthl

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