Portland Press Herald staff writer Aimsel Ponti sat down with Spose to chat about his career during a live event on Tuesday, October 17 at One Longfellow Square.
Ryan Peters was born in Portland and grew up in Wells, Maine. He began rapping in eighth grade.
Peters graduated from Wells High School in 2004 then attended University of New Hampshire as an English major and later transferred to Suffolk University.
By then his music career was taking off and he was offered a record deal when he was two classes away from graduating. Adopting the moniker Spose, he self-released his first album, Preposterously Dank in 2007 while continuing to work selling lobster at the Barnacle Billy’s restaurant in Ogunquit.
Spose released the We Smoked It All mixtape with rapper Cam Groves in 2009 and in January 2010, the single, “I’m Awesome” received airplay on several Maine radio stations. A month later, after the song caught on in other parts of the US, Spose signed a record deal with Universal Republic Records and announced that he would begin working on a music video. Although he didn’t end up releasing music with Universal, Spose has released a total of 10 albums since 2008, including his most recent Get Rich or Die Ryan in October of 2021.
Welcome to the first episode of "In the Arena."
"In the Arena" is a podcast for Mainers interested in a deeper understanding of the political issues facing our state. Featuring former TV anchor/reporter Pat Callaghan, former Republican state Senator Phil Harriman and former Democratic Portland mayor Ethan Strimling
This week, on the first episode of “In The Arena," Pat, Phil and Ethan discuss Maine Rep. Jared Golden’s Republican opponent Austin Theriault, the political implications of Hamas’ attack on Israel and the Portland mayoral race.
In their lightning round, the three debate what's 'newsworthy' and 'snooze worthy,' including Republicans filing an ethics complaint against Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, Gov. Mills' opposition to the Pine Tree Power referendum, opponents of CMP being paid to campaign for the company, Mills' puzzling social media post and whether former Gov. Paul LePage might be gunning for Maine Sen. Angus King's seat.
Finally, Pat recounts a fun story from former Sen. George Mitchell about his longtime mentor and former U.S. Secretary of State Ed Muskie.
Copy this link into your podcast aggregator to subscribe to "In the Arena"
Portland mayoral hopefuls debate homelessness, climate change
Much of the debate between Pious Ali, Justin Costa, Mark Dion, Dylan Pugh and Andrew Zarro focused on the homeless encampments that the city has struggled to manage.
Five candidates vying to become Portland’s next mayor sparred Tuesday, October 3 over the city’s top challenges, including homeless encampments, housing, immigration and climate change, during a 90-minute debated hosted by the Portland Press Herald and the University of New England.
Much of the focus on the debate, which drew about 260 people to UNE’s Innovation Hall, was on the efforts to deal with homeless encampments throughout the city.
The debate was moderated by Press Herald reporters Grace Benninghoff and Rachel Ohm.