The two began making mixtapes and beats in their grandmothers South Jersey home. As the years went by JR and T-Black went their separate ways and the Sleepy Eye name was all but dead. That’s until T -Black went to Fairleigh Dickinson University and met Simon Perez. T-Black and Perez rekindled the Sleepy Eye dream through a Sunday night mix show on WQFDU. The show ran for two years, and was the mos
t listened to show on the station. After 2 years T-Black left college and Sleepy Eye was once again on the back burner. Then in 2003 T-Black and longtime friend Aaron “Fat Rim” Bright started Sleepy Eye Promotions a promotional and advertising company. After a few successful events Rim and T-Black looked to expand Sleepy Eye and began managing a local New Jersey rapper named G Dollaz. The management deal eventually fell through and Rim and T-Black were without any artist, until Rim found T.N.T (T. Streets, N.U.T Da Life, T- Boogz) a trio from Burlington City, New Jersey. The 3 were not only signed to a management deal but became the first artist signed to the newly formed Sleepy Eye Entertainment. Sleepy Eye Entertainment was headed by T-Black, Fat Rim and Cash, another longtime friend who was also one of the hottest producers in New Jersey. The label released their first mixtape, Sleepy Eye Entertainment Vol. 1 in the summer of 2003. After generating a buzz in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area and traveling up and down the East Coast, T.N.T began recording songs for their debut album. During the time T.N.T were recording their album, one member of the group, N.U.T Da Life, who was facing a lengthy jail sentence, began recording his solo album. In March of 2004, Sleepy Eye Entertainment released their second mixtape, March Madness as well as the Sleepy Eye Entertainment DVD! The DVD gave viewers and up close look at all of Sleepy Eye’s artist as they went to the studio, shot dice or just hung out on the block. N.U.T Da Life’s album, The Real Life, was also completed in 2004 before the judge sentenced him to a term of 10 years in July of that same year. When Life started his prison sentence T-Boogz began recording his solo album “Makin’ of a Millionaire”. G Dollaz, who also signed to Sleepy Eye Entertainment, was sentenced to four years in late 2004 for drug distribution. Sleepy Eye’s roster also included, Prime a talented MC and producer who also was the CEO of his own label Head Hunters. With N.U.T Da Life and G Dollaz in prison, Sleepy Eye was in need of fresh talent and found it in the form of a 14-year old battle rapper named Traffic. Not only was Traffic a hungry young MC, he is an equally skilled producer who crafted beats for artist such as Capone from Capone & Noreaga and Kilogram. Sleepy Eye suffered another major setback when CEO and in house producer Cash ran into his own legal troubles and was sent to prison. Prime was also facing a jail sentence and it seemed as if the label was finished. Over the next year and a half, T-Black kept his remaining artist in the studio recording and their hard work paid off in 2006, with the release of the appropriately titled State of New Jersey vs. Sleepy Eye Entertainment. The album received positive reviews from critics and was well received in the streets. Although the music division of Sleepy Eye Entertainment (now known as Sleepy Eye Records) has been in active for a few years, the company continues to thrive in other forms of entertainment. In 2008 company CEO Thomas “T-Black” Freeman released his debut novel “The Organization” under his own imprint, Sleepy Eye Publishing. The Publishing division revived the company and brought in a new fan base while also giving old fans a way to reconnect with Sleepy Eye. The following year Freeman partnered with Jose “Taino De La Ghetto” Perez to release “Sons of Sin” (2009) followed by “Her Little Secret” (2010) the following year. In 2010 T-Black began working with Lucas Torres on a documentary of his life called “Live 2 Tell”. Torres is one of the defendants in a drug conspiracy trial named “The Organization” by federal authorities. This case was the bases for Freeman’s 2008 novel (The Organization). The documentary is the first official release from Sleepy Eye Films, the latest division of the company. In 2012 N.U.T Da Life will be released from East Jersey State Prison (Rahway). From the time the gates open the camera will be rolling for his reality show, “Back to Life” as he adjust to coming home from a long prison bid and getting back into the music game and society in general.
