Money Over Sex. Though it doesn't sound like a name, Leander Pickett chose the name "Money Over Sex," or M.O.S., as his disc jockey name. Pickett was born in Durham, North Carolina to a single mother and by the age of 16 he was expelled from Durham's public school system for participating in a risqué act with a female student in the bathroom. Later, his mother kicked him out of the house. After trying to living with his grandmother for a while, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

By 18, he was one of the "street-rats" of Durham and decided to form a group with neighborhood friends. Hot Block included visual and graphic artists along with rappers and producers. Creating mix tapes together, they were becoming well-known in their small home town. While success seemed impending, as the group began producing television segments and leading the mix tape industry, M.O.S. was arrested and was incarcerated for some time. Behind bars, M.O.S. had a lot of time to think, and created B.E.A.M. Team (Black Entrepreneurs About Money), a group that would allow Money Over Sex to become the heavyweight in the rap industry he sought.

When he got out of jail, he went back and forth from his home town, where he became famous, and New York, visiting a friend who had it in with several rappers in the area. As luck would have it, Money Over Sex met up with producer Ski Beats and the Canadian beat architect, who has helped with Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim, Jay-Z and 50 Cent, was extremely impressed with Money Over Sex. Beats features M.O.S.'s skills on the Now City album project under Elektra Records. But as Elektra failed, M.O.S. needed somewhere else to house his sound. Since then he has gotten his songs together and recorded some great tracks.