Believed by the ancient Greek as having the power to affect character, emotion, and morals through music is ethos; an ideology that Cleveland-born Ethos (The Rapper) has resurrected in modern day hip-hop culture. A physical manifestation of the spirit that motivates thoughts and ideas in individuals, culture, and community, the self-taught multi-instrumentalist turned musical polymath has a seemingly limitless arsenal of metaphorically-fueled lyrical weaponry at his disposable to aid in his ultimate mission: to create art that can change lives.   

Vowing to stay true to the anecdotal delivery that hip-hop was built upon, the dexterous lyricist often explores tough subjects narrated over dynamically composed production coupled with elements of ambiance and surrealism that make even the darkest of topics easy to digest. His 2019 self-released debut album Ten Commandments, was met with acclaim from major media outlets including Source and Hype Magazines after the rapper’s agnostic approach to deeply challenge listener’s preconceived notions about life, culture, religion, and society through a collection of songs representing an individual commandment (and his other songs) racked up over 13 million streams since 2019 on all platforms.

Born Alex Hlavna, Ethos credits his mother as being the catalyst for his music career. “I was too young to see how important it was to me at the time...I was just a kid, but my mom always noticed that I was drawn towards music, and if it wasn’t for her pointing that out to me before I was even old enough to figure it out, I might not have even gone down this path at all. She was really instrumental in my career being what it is today,” the lyricist recalls. Although it was at that point he began to consider a more serious path in music, hip-hop wasn’t a defined destination immediately. Not one to be constrained by commonality, Ethos became increasingly aware that while his innate ability to master any instrument lent itself to a natural fit playing rock music, it also capped the range of sound that he was able to create. It was at that point he set aside his instruments for a computer and began carving out his own lane as a self-described conscious rapper and trip-hop pioneer.

Highlighting his sonic journey through the Milky Way is his first album The Pluto Tapes. Pluto, said to be the planet of death and transformation, also moonlights as the name and title track of Ethos The Rapper’s second studio album The Pluto Tapes; A collective reflection of his own transformation both musically and personally. “It tells a story of how I’m passing by each planet from a literal spaceship and every album title is a metaphor for a planet in astrology and the lessons learned therein”. Each album that Ethos has released since also has parallels to each planet’s meaning in astrology, mythology, and spirituality; to this point reaching Saturn (debuting 4/16/2023), signifying the hard shadow work that was holding back his music and his brand.

Ethos aims to leave fans with one souvenir to commemorate their journey to the planets: “If I leave fans with even one epiphany after their musical journey, I’ll consider the albums a success”. Ethos currently has a catalog of over 160 songs, all of which he produced, mixed, and mastered himself. With seven concept albums, two singles, two major label releases through Sony and Empire, and his name carved into production and feature credits on projects with Wiz Khalifa, Bizarre, Hopsin, Caskey, RE77 and fellow Cleveland rapper Chip Tha Ripper, Ethos isn’t showing any signs that he will be landing that spaceship of his anytime in the near future.