Thomas Joseph Abate III (born August 20, 1983/1978(wikipedia), in Methuen, Massachusetts) is a hip-hop performing artist and actor from the New England area. As a minor Thommy was dragged around the east coast sleeping in shelters with his drug addicted mother whom prostituted and sold drugs to support them. Eventually settling in Portland, Maine he quickly gained popularity among the disconnected youth and in 1999 began performing at local hip-hop clubs as Poverty and releasing promotional CDs.