ith a little help from their refugee past, two rising Liberian musicians are teaming up to take the popular BET Television’s Wild-Out Wednesday by storm. Chris Deshield, the rising R&B soulman who wowed audiences last year with his hit single “Blame it on the Drink”, will join newcomer Romeo  “2C” Mulbah on stage on Feb. 25 on the season premiere of the popular segment on BET’s 106&Park.  

Rapper 2C and Chris Deshield

Rapper “2C” wowed audiences at a recent audition in Columbus, Ohio, a performance he says did not come easy. “The audition in Columbus , Ohio was a big break. When I arrived there were about 75 contestants and I was the last one to perform and when I performed I came first place. I’m just glad I made it through to be on Wild Out Wednesday,” the rapper says.

Rapper “2C” says the name means Too Crazy, "not mentally ill” but crazy about the music because he loves it.

“2C” fits bill

The “Wild-Out Wednesday” segment features performance from the most talented viewers on television as they compete for the top spot on 106 & Park's "Wild out Wednesday." From dancing to singing to step competitions, "Wild Out Wednesday" is dubbed as one of the hottest talent show on TV! Where the viewers choose the winners.

Deshield, who won a segment last year says “2C” can definitely fit bill. “All I can say is do your thing. Anybody who have seen “2C” perform will know that he has crazy energy and I have no doubt that he will represent and come away a winner.”

One year later, Deshield says the appearance has opened a lot of doors for him. “The showcase did really well for me. As a result of it a lot more people know who I am - on the international scene so in that respect I am more known. Just the other day I was going to do a show for BET and I got recognized by many fans there who recognized me from WOW Art Wednesday on BET. So it has really been a blessing for me.”

This year, “2C” who is rapidly building up his rap game is hoping the Feb. 25 appearance does for him what is is doing for Deshield.

The rapper whose "Liberian Girl", an ode to Africa’s first female head of state Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, has been a hit tune on the club scene says he’s looking forward to the performance where he and Deshield will be performing a song the pair co-wrote call “War Child”. 

The rapper says the "Liberian Girl" or "titi," as she is affectionately called in the song, is not about a flesh and blood woman but a metaphor for their "mother" nation.  But despite the success of  “Liberian Girl”, “2C” says he caught a lot of flak from his homeland that his style of music strayed away from the more popular colloquial-style music popular on the local  scene.

“I’m not trying to put anybody down or anything. For example when I did my first song Liberian girl, we used to get calls from radio stations in Monrovia almost everyday and many times the DJs would wonder ‘why can’t you do colloquial music’. “And I ain’t trying to knock nobody down but the bottom line is we just want to take this worldwide. There are songs we do for our Liberian fan base but we’re not just trying to stay in Liberia but really trying to go all the way and trying to be worldwide, global.”

‘Children of war’

The collaboration between the pair, Deshield says will definitely be a smash. “Since the both of us come from Liberia we have been through a lot. We figure now that we’re in the U.S. and we both come from refugee background, it was a perfect opportunity for both of us to pay homage to the struggle. Because we’re both pretty much children of the war.”

Deshield  says he and “2C” have always wanted to work together and do something artistically, but just never came around to doing it. “So we were playing around in the studio and came out with a record. So we decided that the BET show would be the perfect platform to unleash “War Child”  to the world. Because a lot of people have seen me perform on the R& B and 2C has made a name for himself as a rapper with both of us coming together, it will be a blast.”

Mulbah  and his family fled the civil war in the mid 90s, and briefly settled in neighboring Ivory Coast . Still young to remember the images of war, “2C” says most of his memories of the war is based on his parents stories and watching films.

"Before the war, my parents told me that it was peaceful. Although the people were poor, they were happy. That's what they always tell me. "

Mulbah has performed at various Liberian events around metro Atlanta , in Washington and Philadelphia . He's working on songs for a debut album that he hopes to complete soon "We're trying to put our country on the map," he said." Liberia is like a mother, but when the war started, everyone moved. Now she's all over the world."

Deshield already has numerous songwriting credits to his including the hit Dont Judge Me ft Juvenile. Both singers are currently wrapping up recording of respective albums.

“The recording is a wrap. It is definitely going to be off the chains. The year 2009 is going to be a great year for us. I keep telling people to sit back and watch the show because we will definitely be representing LIB for sure,” says Deshield.

The singer adds. “Right now we still have singles that we’re pushing for radio play. I already have songs on the radio I have written for other artists but the anticipation is high and this year will definitely be a big year.”

Songs on both albums. 2C is going to be on Chris’ album and Chris is going to be on 2C’s album. The first time I ever met Chris was during a show and we really killed it and from there we just clicked. Both will be hoping that their Feb. 25 appearance will

For “2C”, it is all about putting a lot of recording time in the studio and planning hits. “We’re just in the studio everyday working on songs. We don’t officially have a date set yet but we’re keep working on songs day in day out.

Deshield agrees. “We can drop records any day but we have to broaden our fan base in a way to attract more audience for our music. We have the Liberian community locked a bit but we have to make sure that everybody knows our music and that is really important. There are other artist that drop records everyday but we want to make sure that when you turn on the radio or the television you will actually hear us and never get tired of hearing us before we drop a single or record.”