Absent was born Cody Hoskins on May 26, 1981 and was raised in the land of 10,000 lakes. His love for hip hop began at an early age. In high school, he unknowingly developed his free style craft and in college, began to grab the microphone at house parties, and frequented ciphers and emcee battles.

After dropping out of college in 2002, his music was put on the back burner. Like most people, Absent has suffered losses and overcame many obstacles throughout his lifetime. In July of 2005, he entered a rehabilitation facility for drug and alcohol abuse. After a few months of sobriety, he decided to pursue his dream of being a successful hip hop artist.

Shortly after being introduced to Minneapolis producer Erick Rice in October 2006, Absent began to work on his first project. An 8 song EP entitled “The Birth of a Legend”, was released in August of 2006 and quickly created a buzz throughout the Twin Cities.

This talented Minnesota artist writes all of his own lyrics and is known by his peers to be an extremely driven, motivated and ambitious emcee. Since the EP’s release, Absent has done nearly 100 shows locally and out of state. He has performed with the likes of Eyedea and Abilities, Ice-T, Do or Die, Yukmouth, Tech N9ne, Chamillionaire, Obie Trice and more.

Absent’s momentum barreled into 2008 with the release of “Urban Adventure Vol.1“, a mixtape hosted by DJ De-Roc that features him on every track. Most recently on January 26th 2008, Absent received the award for being the, “Twin Cities Best White Rapper” at the 2nd Annual Twin Cities Hip Hop Awards which were held at the Varsity Theatre in Minneapolis.

In just a short period of time, Absent has overcome adversity and established himself as one of Minnesota’s elite emcees. He is currently writing and recording his 3rd project and first full length album entitled “Love To Hate Me” which is set for a summer 2008 release.
-written by: C.Lee