Ron E Polo
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Ron E Polo

North Hollywood, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2011 | SELF

North Hollywood, California, United States | SELF
Established on Jan, 2011
Solo Hip Hop Soul

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"Power 107.5"

The Power 107.5 15th Annual Anniversary Party Is Coming! Saturday March 23rd at the Hyatt Regency! This will be a classy affair with celebrities and live performances including break out artist Ron E Polo. Keep listening for your chance to win tickets and for more information log onto www.mycolumbuspower.com - Power 107.5


"Ron E Polo looking to tear up Columbus with hip-hop"

his is part of our weekly series titled "Columbus' Own," where we profile a local band every Thursday.

While some musicians seek to make their names known in a city, budding hip-hop artist Ron E Polo has set his goals a little higher.

“I’m just ready to show (Columbus) what I’m made of,” he said. “Time is ticking. Soon it’s gonna be Polo City, hopefully.”

During the past year-and-a-half, Ron E Polo, whose real name is Ronald Lee Shelton III, has been learning the ins and outs of the music industry. Since May 2011, he has released three mixtapes and played more than 35 shows, on top of earning his college degree from Bowling Green State University last spring.

Shelton most recently headlined a show at Skully’s Music-Diner Oct. 3, which he said was a great success.

“For a Wednesday night, I brought in over 300 people,” Shelton said. “(Skully’s) said I can come back, so it was a lot of fun and the turnout was real good.”

Though Shelton said his music borrows elements from multiple genres, including rap, hip-hop and pop, his lyrics usually stem from personal experience.

“I just tell my story because I feel like once people can follow your story in the music business, then they’re going to follow you for a while,” Shelton said. “If you’re telling somebody else’s story and then they meet you in person and you’re not living what you’re talking, people (are) gonna find you as a fake.”

Larry Moss, Shelton’s cameraman and marketing partner, said the variety of emotions in Shelton’s music can appeal to a wide audience.

“Ron has a unique music impression because he is very lyrical and could touch anyone’s soul with his words, (whether) it’s a sad song or an uplifting song,” Moss said.

It was during Shelton’s junior year at BGSU, where he earned a degree in liberal arts, that he decided to pursue music as a career. Shelton said he had been rapping all his life but was encouraged by one of his professors to keep making music professionally after Shelton recorded a rap song for a class project.

But balancing school and a music career was difficult and time-consuming, Shelton said.

“It’s a whole lot of work — no sleep, popping Adderall to stay up just because a whole lot of people want your time and there’s not enough time in the day,” Shelton said. “I was setting up shows, I was making sure my performance was right, while finishing CDs, while trying to graduate from school still. I just wanted to drop out at one point.”

Shelton said he was encouraged by his strong support team of family and friends to keep going. The desire to entertain, Shelton said, stems from his family’s roots.

“I come from a big entertainment family,” Shelton said. “My grandparents were in a gospel band. My mom was a model. My dad played sports. My aunt’s an actress. I’ve been around it for a while, so I just had to figure out my calling.”

Shelton said his fourth mixtape “Falcon Gone” looks promising for mid-November release.

Besides recording new music, Shelton said he has been playing live shows as often as possible. He headlined his first show in March at Shadow Lounge in Pittsburgh, and has played at venues in New York, Chicago as well as throughout Ohio.

Shelton said his most memorable performances to date have been his shows with hip-hop artist Machine Gun Kelly, whom he has opened for four times.

Opening for MGK’s energetic live shows, Shelton said, has inspired him as an artist.

“He’s kind of the reason why my show picked up,” Shelton said. “Just watching him perform — he puts his all into it. People just love that. So I respect him. He’s an inspiration.”

Elizabeth Renner, a second-year in biology who saw Shelton open for MGK at Clazel Theatre at BGSU last year, said she was impressed by Shelton’s stage presence.

“Usually you don’t listen to the openers or give them much credit, but he was engaging and energetic,” Renner said. “He didn’t just walk around the stage. I started following his music after that.”

The highlight of Shelton’s career, he said, was playing a show at BGSU’s Stroh Center, where he opened a sold-out show for MGK in August.

“It was ironic because I made a song on ‘Loyalty Over Royalty’ called ‘Show in the Stroh,’ (which) was basically me foreshadowing having a show in there,” Shelton said. “I said in the song, ‘My freakin’ goal is to have a show in the Stroh,’” and six months later, it happened.”

Shelton said one of his career goals is to win an Ohio Hip Hop Award. This year’s award ceremony, held in September in Columbus, disappointed Shelton because of the lack of representation by local musicians.

“I feel like Columbus should be in there, especially if they’re hosting it here every year,” Shelton said. “So next year I’m looking to take every award if I can. I want the Columbus music scene to take off.”

Winning an award for his music, Shelton said, would not only be a testament to his hard work, but to his family and friends’ support as well. - OSU Lantern


Discography

Winter Polo's 

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Critic Talk - November 2010
http://www.datpiff.com/Ron-E-Polo-Critic-Talk-mixtape.449159.html
Loyalty Over Royalty - 2011
http://www.datpiff.com/Ron-E-Polo-Loyalty-Over-Royalty-Volume-1-mixtape.449161.html
Dreamkiller - May 4th, 2012
http://www.datpiff.com/Ron-E-Polo-Dreamkiller-mixtape.347910.html
Suuuuure - January 28, 2013
http://www.datpiff.com/Ron-E-Polo-Suuuuure-Remixed-Remastered-mixtape.559585.html
Suuuuure2 - February 22, 2013
http://www.datpiff.com/Ron-e-Polo-Suuuuure2-Red-Cup-W-Vino-In-It-no-Mixes-mixtape.513198.html
REP The Mixtape - May 8th, 2013
http://www.datpiff.com/Ron-E-Polo-ReP-The-Mixtape.486707.html
Falcon Gone - June 12, 2014

WinterPolos - April 7th, 2015 

Circa 15’ - September 7th, 2018

Year of Polo - January 7th, 2020

Sevens - May 7th, 2021

Sush E - Dec 7th, 2021


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Bio

Polo is hitting the ground with both feet running full speed. From Columbus, Ohio recently relocated in Los Angeles, California Ron e Polo is changing the game with every new project he releases. Check out his latest "Critic Talk 2" on Audio Mack and www.ronepolo.com

    Born Ronald Lee Shelton III on Feburary 23, 1989 to parents Ron Shelton II and Stephanie Lucus in Newark, New Jersey. Ron has three siblings, Krystian, Xavier, and Chance. Ron's father was in the Air Force and played professional football for the Rhein-Main Rockets in Frankfurt, Germany while his mother was a part-time model and small business owner. Ron and his siblings spent a few short, childhood years growing up in Germany before moving back to Newark, NJ. Most of Ron's childhood was spent bouncing around different cities in the U.S and  he attended 2nd grade in Allentown, PA before moving to Columbus, OH for a year, and once again moved back to Pennsylvania only this time to Pittsburgh, PA. After a short 2 years in PA, Ron's parents called it quits and moved their family back to Columbus, OH. Once back in Ohio, Ronald attended 3 different middle schools in Columbus and then moved to Illinois with his father and his mother, Stephanie, remarried to Steve Bradley.


     Summer's for Ron were mostly spent in Washington, D.C with his grandparents. Ron developed a love for preforming from his grandpa's influence. Free time in Illinois for Ron was passed creating and recording music, under the name "Isis The Nicest", in some of the top recording studios in Northern Illinois. Attending Waubonsie Valley HS, Ron had high dreams of playing varsity basketball, but was quickly discouraged after a disagreement with his father that ended in his return to Columbus, OH to Hamilton Township where he continued his athletic career. At Hamilton, Ron continued to record music with Capital Revenue(Keys N Dope) and Profit "The Prince".  Ronald's father then also remarried to Martha Rios. In 2007, Ron graduated from Hamilton Township and accepted a scholarship to USC Salkehatchie for basketball. He spent a year in South Carolina before transferring to BGSU in Ohio. After long consideration Ronald decided to end his basketball career and move forward in his career with music. While at BGSU, he released 3 mix tapes from 2011 to 2012: Critic Talk, Loyalty Over Royalty, and Dreamkiller . He also recorded 4 other albums. Ron E Polo graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2012. 


    Ron moved  back to Columbus and had a fire year for 2013. He dropped Suuuuure Volume 1 and 2 and Ron e Polo The Mixtape. He was also nominated for OHHA Best New Artist at the end of his "No Sleep and Party Tour" that included stops in Ohio and Toronto. In 2014, Ron E Polo dropped the largely anticipated "Falcon Gone" Mixtape produced by Keys N Dope. After a summer packed with music video releases and a star-filled performance schedule, he released his first single on iTunes"The Zoo". Declining offers to attend Warner Brothers â€‹premiere of "Into the Storm"  in Chicago,and to preform at the BET Music Awards Official After Party in L.A., and South By South West in Austin, Texas is all new to Ron E Polo but there is simply not enough time in the day for this busy man. He is currently busy headlining his own national tour: 

Band Members