Joe Kruel, is a Mexican-American HipHop artist, songwriter, and entrepreneur known for his conceptual songwriting, and versatile delivery . Joe Kruel came onto the Colorado Springs and St Louis rap scene in 2004 under the name “Virulent1” with a rap group called “Acts Of Balance”. Joe Kruel became well known in the rap battle circuit at that time winning various events and was featured in several albums and DJ mixtapes throughout Colorado Springs and St Louis. In 2009 Joe Kruel left that group and formed a new group called “Sworn Enemys” and also changed his stage name to “Tape Deck”. He released 2 albums; His group album Sworn Enemys - The Manifesto and His solo album Tape Deck - Real To Reel gaining exposure throughout Southern Colorado with tracks such as “Reminisce” (Real To Reel) and “Party Ain’t Over” and “Fuck Pop Hop” (The Manifesto). After a six year hiatus from the music scene Joe Kruel became a radio personality for LocoLuv Radio which reignited his love and desire for making music. In 2019, Joe Kruel released 2 singles “ Pop Somethin” and “Smoking Fire” as he eased back into the role of an artist. Currently he is releasing additional singles under his own label Kruel Empire Music.