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Born on the Westside of Queens, New York, "SIC" Shane Augustine was raised in a two-bedroom apartment in Astoria houses. At a young age Shane was always fascinated by the art of Hip-hop. He was one of those kids that knew every song on the radio and was well prepared to record 89 tech 9 underground radio shows with Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito. His room was a testament to the type of influence Hip-hop had on him; every inch of his room was deluged with posters of his favorite rappers --- Redman, Busta Rhymes, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap, Nas, Biggie, The Lox, Run DMC, Eminem, N.W.A., Poor Righteous Teachers, Big L, Big Pun, Lost Boys, Rakim, and many more.

Shane wrote his first rhyme in middle school. His motivation was fueled by his passion for Hip-hop combined with his fervent disapproval of trash Hip-hop. According to Shane, a classmate by the name of Austin represented trash Hip-hop. And Shane was determined to show Austin the difference between good Hip-hop and "wack" Hip-hop through a battle. Word got out that Shane had accepted a battle challenge from Austin, after he expressed his opinion on Austin's lack of rapping skills. They agreed to settle their differences at the arrival of their lunch break. During lunch period, Shane and Austin reunited, accompanied by an anxious audience. Austin started the battle, expressing his perception of Shane through raucous expletives and flagrant epithets. The

crowd responded to his words with ooos and aaaahs. Then Shane was given his opportunity to retaliate, and the response he got from the audience that he was entertaining was overwhelming. From that point on the voyage to becoming an established artist began in Shane's life.

Linking up with his friends from his neighborhood in Queens, The Nappy Headz was crystallized. This was the first of many rap groups that Shane would align himself with. The Nappy Headz consisted of ten artists --- SIC, Nigga L, Maca, Flamez, Chop, Rahlow, Slow, Coley, C-Real, and Grizz. Albeit The Nappy Headz were a large group with tremendous talent, they ended up dividing. The Nappy Headz wasn’t successful for a lot of reasons, mainly because their group name belonged to a group of artists that were already established in the music industry. Negative attention from their name led to a bad reputation, which finally led to the demise of the original Nappy Headz; however, Shane continued to pursue his dream of becoming a known artist in the music industry.

Shane and Nigga L, former Nappy Headz, came to an equivocal conclusion to re-invent themselves. Thus, The Niggaz From Hell were born. Most of the former members of The Nappy Headz did likewise, except for Maca and Flamez who remained Nappy Headz. Chop, Rahlow, and Slow were reborn The Dead Eyez. Coley and C-Real became The Realm of Darkness, and Grizz became a soloist. Unfortunately, each group lacked longevity…. their life span was ephemeral, which caused Shane to reunite with Maca and Flamez. It seemed like there was life after death for The Nappy Headz, until Maca decided to expend most of his energy on hustling. So the trinity was reduced to a duo called Queens Terrorists. The Queens Terrorists, like The Nappy Headz and The Niggaz From Hell, would soon face sudden death after some publicity. Although failure seemed inevitable to Shane at this point, his passion for music made him an indefatigable artist. This type of passion eventually became contagious and drew Maca back into music. The Trinity, formerly known as the Nappy Headz, now called themselves Gorgeous Gangsters. The Gorgeous Gangsters consisted of three artists and two managers, which were close friends --- Bubbz and J Crack.

After numerous failures and setbacks, Shane’s persistence finally began to pay off. The Gorgeous Gangsters opened up for Redman in Miami at Club Salvations, appeared as guests on a radio station, performed at YWCA, Sapphire’s Lounge, opened up for Young Buck in Indiana, performed in New Rochelle and AQ Juice Bar with Remy Martin, and

performed at Club Speed, hosted by DJ Kay Slay. Shane also was a finalist in a rap battle for the festival at Summer Jam 2006. The Gorgeous Gangsters were receiving a lot of positive feedback for their performances and was getting recognition from a lot of established artists and people in the music industry. The Double GG'z was even offered a single deal by Def Jam Records, but they declined….

The vicissitudes of Shane’s personal life began to catch up with him, which slowed down his progress of becoming an established artist in the music industry. Shane decided to focus more on making fast money than on his promising future as an artist in the music industry. These bad decisions was connected to his arduous childhood. During his childhood, Shane had to endure tough times that were engendered by his drug-induced parents. Although his parents eventually quit using drugs, it did effect him….

Today Shane is a producer as well as an artist. He is now mixing and mastering his own songs with his new group called Tha Faculty. Tha Faculty is made up of seven members: “SIC” Shane, songwriter and producer, Lil Lay-D, songwriter and poet, Tha Mechanik, Producer, Capitol P, rapper, J Sing, singer, DJ Hit Hard, disc jockey and producer, and Matthew Alexander, songwriter and singer. He is no beginner to spitting that fire..........I heard it and instantly became a fan to Sic Shane's energy.....Let the music speak for itself!!!!!