This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Few would knock Salt Lake City rap artist Lloyd McIntosh.

After all, the chief executive officer of Self-Expression Music has produced more than 1,000 artists.

McIntosh, also known as LAM, performs rap music across the county with his former band Expression. He has just formed a new band, Bad Seeds With Good Intentions.

Expression has opened for or performed alongside some of the nation's biggest hip-hop artists, including Mac Dre. The band has even done a star turn on MTV's "Jackass - Don't Try This At Home" tour.

LAM credits his mother for his positive and unique approach to hip-hop.

"When I was listening to my first rap CD, my mom came down and heard me playing it," he recalls. "And she grabbed it out of the deck and threw it away. Later, she bought me a Christian rap CD. She wants me to listen to rap, just not negative rap."

At LAM's first performance in New York City at club Karma, he sang "I Told Jesus," which also was his band's first single. He told the audience he was "from SLC, land of the Mormons, and I do believe in God."

"They loved me at the performance," LAM says. "They heard music done in a way they hadn't heard before. They liked that I was real and didn't pretend to be like everyone else."

LAM's ex-wife, Lindsay McIntosh, financed and encouraged his recording and music dreams.

"He is hardworking," she says. "He never gives up no matter how hard it gets. He would never be where he is today without this quality. He has recorded a bunch of people, some of which aren't that good. At first he didn't get paid; now he does."

Expression was voted best hip-hop band by City Weekly last year and participated in Rock the Mic Tour Battles.

"Music is the strongest message and emotion. There is nothing else like it for me," LAM says. "It motivates me."

LAM's newest CD, and only solo one, "Emotional Roller Coaster," is available at Virgin Records, Graywhale and Uprock.

Since graduating from Hunter High School, LAM has had numerous odd jobs, such as telemarketing, construction and a manager at Little Caesars.

He is happy to be able to focus on music but still finds the endeavor challenging.

"Being a white rapper from SLC is not easy," he says. "I am judged based on the Mormon stigma and my race."

Still, LAM's dreams of being signed by a major record label while keeping his own remain intact. He also wants to perform overseas. He advises struggling musicians to make the effort to succeed, to never stop trying.

"If you want something . . . you just have to do it," he says.

Ernest (Ejai) Holdman, CEO of BlaqkDymn Entertainment, says LAM is adaptable.

"If you put LAM in a jungle, he would know how to live. I have seen him in a lot of hard situations, and he only makes it his."

Holdman said if it wasn't for Lam he would not be where he is today.

"He was patient with me when others were not. . . . Nobody has a bigger heart than LAM. Nobody has touched more people than LAM. He does not go around recycling like many others; he is original."