The Wath Presents

Feat J Cole

Cover of James Pants - Thin Moon by Mayer Hawthorne

Big Puns popular "Leatherface" redone by the great Dangermouse - Excellent remix that give the song a completely different feel.

Off the album "Strange Journey Volume One" CunninLynguists are a hip hop trio from Lexington, Kentucky. The group currently consists of Deacon The Villain, Natti, and Kno. Their debut LP, Will Rap for Food, was released in October 2001. Their second LP, SouthernUnderground, was independently released April 1, 2003 on Freshchest Records. Guests included Masta Ace, Supastition and others, with production from Domingo, RJD2 and Kno. The group landed a distribution contract with Caroline Distribution in 2004, and Southernunderground was the first project re-released after inking the deal with Will Rap For Food being re-released shortly thereafter in 2005. The group toured throughout the U.S., Canada in 2003, 2004 and 2005, appearing onstage alongside acts like Nappy Roots, Cee-Lo Green of Goodie Mob and touring extensively with People Under the Stairs, Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan and Brand Nubian. CunninLynguists released their third LP, A Piece of Strange, worldwide on January 24, 2006 via Caroline Records and Groove Attack Distribution. It featured guest spots from Cee-Lo Green, Immortal Technique and Tonedeff and is entirely produced by Kno. The release of A Piece of Strange saw the profile for the group rise, as they toured abroad multiple times in support of the release appearing live alongside such acts as Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, The Strokes and more. CunninLynguists released their fourth LP, Dirty Acres on November 27, 2007 through a joint venture between their own label APOS Music and Swedish-based label Bad Taste Records. It features artists such as Devin the Dude, Phonte of Little Brother and Witchdoctor. CunninLynguists made their way across the United States, Europe and Canada in support of the album, headlining the Dirty Acres Tour in 3 parts over the course of 2008. CunninLynguists have been covered in various media outlets including The Source, URB Magazine, Spin, XLR8R, Import Tuner, and The Onion. Their name is a play on the word cunnilingus. Kno and Deacon the Villain are the founding and current members of CunninLynguists and have been found on every CunninLynguists album thus far since the group's inception in March 2000. Deacon and Kno met at Club Kaya in Atlanta, GA at an event for the now defunct Blaze Magazine that included various members of Atlanta's own Dungeon Family. CunninLynguists would later go on to work with various Dungeon Family members such as Cee-Lo Green, Big Rube, Khujo Goodie, EJ The Witchdoctor and Killer Mike, with the latter comparing CunninLynguists' sound to Dungeon Family "in its heyday". Kno, hailing from Georgia and currently residing in Atlanta, has been described as "one of the top loop-miners east of the Mississippi" by URB Magazine. He produced the majority of Will Rap For Food, Southernunderground, A Piece of Strange, Sloppy Seconds 2 and Dirty Acres and has also received acclaim in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and other magazines for his remix of Jay-Z's Black Album, entitled Kno vs. Hov "The White Albulum". Hailing from Versailles, Kentucky, Deacon The Villain is also an established producer. His beats have been used by the likes of KRS-One, King Tee, and J-Ro from Tha Liks, as well as local Kentucky artists such as Rob Jackson and Bonafide Circle. As of January 2006, the duo of Kno and Deacon have begun work as a production duo under the banner A Piece Of Strange Music, currently producing for Devin the Dude, Lil' Scrappy, Immortal Technique and others. Florida-based emcee Mr. SOS was a part of CunninLynguists from July 2002 to October 2004 (appearing mainly on Southernunderground and Sloppy Seconds Volume 1) while Kentucky-based emcee Natti has been involved in the group from November 2004 until the present (appearing mainly on A Piece of Strange, Dirty Acres and Sloppy Seconds Volume 2).

Asheru, born Gabriel Benn, is an African American hip hop artist, educator, and youth activist. He is widely known for performing the opening and closing themes for the popular TV series, The Boondocks, as well as his pioneering and innovative efforts to forward the Hip Hop Education movement. As a youth, many of Asheru’s musical influences came from a wide range of Hip Hop artists such as Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, KRS-One, Public Enemy, N.W.A., Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, Native Tongues, Pharoahe Monch, and more, as well as the classic Soul, R&B, and Pop records of the 70’s and 80’s eras that his mother used to play throughout the house. At the age of 16, he graduated from high school and attended the University of Virginia, where he finished in 1996 with a B.A. degree in Anthropology. In college he formed relationships with fellow colleagues, a group of like-minded individuals that shared a similar passion for Hip Hop music and the collective Black experience. After college, one of those colleagues, Wes Jackson, founded an independent Hip Hop label, Seven Heads Entertainment, and in 1996 signed its first group, Unspoken Heard, made up primarily of Asheru and Jackson’s older brother, Robert Jackson, also known as “Blue Black". Asheru and Blue Black went on to release a series of 12” singles and EPs, and in 2001 released their first album, “Soon Come”, a critically acclaimed debut, still widely considered a classic in many Hip Hop circles. In 2003, the group released their second album “48 Months”, followed by the “No Edge Ups in South Africa” album, a compilation album of other 7 Heads artists featuring the hit, “Mood Swing” with Talib Kweli. Asheru, both as a solo artist as well as with the group Unspoken Heard, has gone on to travel extensively throughout Europe, Canada, the US and Japan, performing alongside artists and groups like Common, Mos Def, Jill Scott, Bilal, Ludacris, Edo G, J-Live, Wordsworth, and The Roots, while collaborating and being featured on projects with Hip Hop greats such as Pete Rock, and Jazzy Jeff. His lyrics are categorized by reflection upon the state of affairs of the current-day Black American. Through his music, he demonstrates a desire to improve the attitude of Black people towards liberation through education and self-empowerment. He currently travels with a live band, The ELs, made up of a three (sometimes four)-piece band of accomplished veteran musicians and producers, namely Aquaman, Mr. Hu, and Zo!. The Boondocks Most recently, Asheru collaborated with Aaron McGruder to write and perform several songs for the hit TV series, The Boondocks, including the show’s theme song. Asheru’s contribution to the controversial "Return of the King" episode of the Boondocks series helped him to earn the prestigious Peabody Award for Journalism in 2006, making him the first rapper (emcee) to win such an award. Education Alongside his career as a Hip Hop artist, Asheru has also served as a teacher within Washington, DC Schools since 2001, specializing in curriculum development and arts-based instruction. In 2004, he went on to earn a Masters degree in Education from National-Louis University. He is the founder of his own community arts organization and independent music label, Guerilla Arts Ink, LLC. As an artist-educator, Asheru seeks to train and provide opportunities for artists of all media to deliver direct training and instruction in the classroom, and currently serves as Director of Vocational Arts at Rock Creek Academy in Washington, DC. He continues to advocate and mentor youth in schools and juvenile detention centers all over the country, with his unique message of promoting literacy as an intervention against youth violence, crime, unemployment, and incarceration. In 2005, Asheru co-founded Educational Lyrics, LLC, an independent publishing company that creates culturally relevant cross-curricular teaching materials, the first of which being [H.E.L.P., or the Hip Hop Educational Literacy Program'.][1]. In an effort to bridge the gap between Asheru’s two passions -- music and education, H.E.L.P. is a series of supplemental reading workbooks designed to HELP students of all reading levels through the innovative usage of Hip Hop lyrics for critical analysis, multicultural relevance, and effective literacy instruction.

Artist Soulution's ablum "Shine Through" , close to the Jazz hip-hop album by Cradle . Song features Project Move .

"cash rules everything around me" , whip c.r.e.a.m. by k-os off album "Yes"

Kevin Brereton, better known by his stage name k-os, is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. His given name may also be cited as Kheaven, a spelling he later adopted. The alias "k-os" (spelled with a lower case "k"), is pronounced "chaos" and is an acronym for "Knowledge of Self," although in a later interview he also said that it used to stand for "Kheaven's Original Sound." His music incorporates a wide variety of music genres including but not limited to rap, funk, rock, and reggae. The lyrics frequently focus on promoting a "positive message" while at times expressing criticism of mainstream hip hop culture's obsession with money, fame and glorification of violence.[1] A musician as well as a producer, k-os has written and produced nearly every part of all three of his albums. k-os usually performs with a live band, something that is uncommon in the hip hop genre. He sometimes plays guitar and keyboard both during live performances and in the studio.[2] k-os received his first musical exposure with the single "Musical Essence", released in 1993. After the release of his second single "Rise Like The Sun" in 1996 he withdrew from the industry because he was dissatisfied with his musical style. He reappeared briefly in 1999 and released his debut album Exit in 2002. The album received positive reviews but sold relatively few copies. He released his second album Joyful Rebellion in 2004, which received platinum status in Canada. Joyful Rebellion received positive reviews, and Atlantis: Hymns for Disco, was released in 2006. Kevin (K-os) was born at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on February 20, 1972 at 4:20am. He and his two younger brothers Joshua and Andrew Richard were raised by Trinidadian Jehovah's Witness parents. His father was a minister at two congregations in the Greater Toronto Area.[3] K-os moved along with his family to Trinidad while he was attending the third grade. In Trinidad, k-os surrounded himself with music to deal with being away from Canada.[4] Around the same time he also became a vegetarian at 8 years of age.[5] He returned to Canada with his mother in his teen years, taking up residence in Whitby, Ontario, a town east of Toronto. His father temporarily stayed behind in Trinidad to continue his work.[6] His father worked as a computer engineer and became Director of Communications for BWIA, the national Trinidadian airline, while his mother owned a cosmetics company. Growing up, k-os was a fan of artists and groups as diverse as New Order, Depeche Mode, Boogie Down Productions, Slick Rick, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Beatles.[3] He said that he was "insecure" in high school and he pursued his musical ambitions because after performing at an assembly in his high school gym he realized performing attracted people towards him and it made him feel "powerful and... secure".[7] In 1992, he attended Carleton University in Ottawa for one semester to please his father.[8] He returned to Toronto and enrolled into York University. Being friends with Nigel Williams, a member of the band Pocket Dwellers, Nigel encouraged k-os to continue to develop his musical abilities when he was confronted with "difficult forays."[4] Music career While attending York University, k-os gained his first exposure in the music industry in 1993 when he released the single "Musical Essence" sample (help·info) with a music video financed by a VideoFACT grant. The video can be viewed here.[9] He dropped out of the university shortly afterwards. The single was produced with friends Clarence Gruff and Kevin Risto; currently, Risto is one half of the production duo known as Midi Mafia (produced the 50 Cent single "21 Questions").[8] After winning a MuchMusic Video Award for the single, k-os was noticed by NBA player John Salley, who became his manager. With the single gaining moderate success, k-os was invited to perform in the 1995 Hip-Hop Explosion Tour, with other Canadian acts such as Rascalz and Ghetto Concept. Salley and Raphael Saadiq began work with k-os on his planned debut Missing Links,[4] eventually releasing his second single "Rise Like the Sun" in 1996. k-os suddenly withdrew from the music industry in 1996 after receiving an offer from BMG. k-os would later say that during this time he had already completed several albums but was dissatisfied with his music. He described his music as "pretentious and derivative," and stated at the time that he was "still trying to figure out who he was."[3] He continued to live with his manager Salley in Los Angeles. Soon after, Red1 of the Rascalz, who k-os befriended at the 1995 Explosion Tour, invited him to move to Vancouver. There he contributed a verse and chorus lines to the Rascalz Global Warning album, released in 1999. He had also been invited to contribute to Rascalz' groundbreaking single "Northern Touch", but was unable to participate due to other commitments.[10] k-os returned to the music scene by performing at the North by Northeast music festival in 1999. He took stage with the Vancouver band Namedropper.[3] Inspired by Michael Jackson, A Tribe Called Quest, The Beatles, The Roots and Stevie Wonder, k-os worked on a new debut album. He described his new musical focus on "doing stuff really obscure and making music for myself."[11] He recorded a demo tape and began looking for a record company to sign with, eventually settling on Capitol Records. Later, the parent company EMI transferred his record deal to another label, Astralwerks, co-owned by Virgin Records, after some management and scheduling issues.[12] After the transfer k-os was added to the roster of the Toronto based artist management firm Chris Smith Management. 2002–2003 On March 26, 2002, k-os released his debut album Exit in Canada to critical acclaim. The United States release followed the next year on January 28, 2003. The album incorporated several music styles, and was described as a "carefully blended pastiche of hip-hop, soul, rock, R&B, and a touch of reggae" by Stylus Magazine.[13] Billboard Magazine called the album "One of the finest hip-hop records Canada has ever produced."[14] The first single and promotional track for the album was "Heaven Only Knows" sample (help·info). Like the "Musical Essence" single, the video for "Heaven Only Knows" was sponsored by a VideoFACT grant. The second single, "Superstarr Pt. Zero," was then released, which won "Best Music Video" award at the 2003 Urban X-Posure Awards. After the Canadian release of the album, k-os toured with India.Arie across United States to promote his album. Despite receiving positive reviews, Exit sold only 40,000 albums in the U.S.[15] and 27,000 in Canada according to Nielsen SoundScan.[12] The album went on to win several music awards including the "Album Design of the Year" award at the Juno Awards of 2003. k-os won the "Best International Hip Hop Artist" award at the Source Awards the same year. k-os also appeared and performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live. In 2003, k-os collaborated with the The Chemical Brothers on their single "Get Yourself High." The track was nominated for "Best Dance Recording" at the 2005 Grammy Awards. k-os said, on the show "profile" on mtv, that the The Chemical Brothers sent him 5 tracks and he picked the one they wanted him to pick ("Get Yourself High") and he freestyled to it. 2004–2005 Despite suggesting that Exit might be his final album,[16] k-os released his second album Joyful Rebellion on August 24, 2004. The album was well received and became platinum in Canada in February 2005.[17] The album and the second album single, "Crabbuckit" sample (help·info), were rated the most downloaded "Hip Hop/Rap" album and track on the iTunes store in Canada upon their release. The album also earned the number two spot on Rolling Stone critic Karen Bliss' top ten album list for 2004, where she described the artist as a "destined superstar."[18] The album maintained the same formula as Exit; k-os himself later described Joyful Rebellion as being a "rant against the state of hip hop."[19] Joyful Rebellion featured a total of six singles. The debut single, "B-Boy Stance," was followed by "Crabbuckit," "Man I Used to Be," and "Love Song," each accompanied by a music video. The radio exclusive titles "Crucial" and "Dirty Water" were released shortly after. The single "Crabbuckit" went on to be nominated three times at the 2005 Canadian Radio Music Awards. k-os was nominated four times at the 2004 Canadian Urban Music Awards and won two awards for the single "B-Boy Stance". In 2005 k-os received three Juno Awards for the album. In the same year, the single Crabbuckit won the "Best Pop Video" award out of four nominations while Man I Used to Be won "MuchVibe Best Rap Video," "Best Director" and "Best Cinematography" at the annual MuchMusic Video Awards. He won the "Best Songwriter" and "Fan Choice Award" at the 2005 Canadian Urban Music Awards. On November 15, 2005, k-os released the ?Publicity Stunt? DVD. The DVD featured singles and concert footage dating back to 1998[12] and footage from the 2005 concert at the Molson Amphitheatre, Canada's highest attended Hip Hop concert.[20] According to the Canadian Recording Industry Association, the DVD became platinum on February 2006 in Canada.[21] In a relatively quiet dispute, some lyrics from the single "B-Boy Stance" were interpreted as an insult on the Toronto-based rapper K'naan. In the single, k-os rapped "They took cameras to Africa for pictures to rhyme / Over; Oh, yes, the great pretenders," and "Religious entertainers who want to be life savers." K’naan interpreted the lyrics as being aimed at him filming the music video for the single Soobax in Kenya. Friends say that k-os was simply expressing ideas about the LoveMovement (his videproduction team) who shot the video in Kenya and ex manager Sol guy who was managing K'naan at the time. k-os has been said to believe that hip hop allows friends to express their ideas to each other via song. He was very puzzled by Knaan's personal 'public' angle on the lyrics of "B-Boy Stance" especially because his song Revolutionary Avacado came after Knaan's repeated efforts to collaborate with k-os. Later on k-os told younger brother Josh that he believed it was a way for K'naan to 'get attention' very close to the release date of his album and that Sol guy who k-os left to be Managed by Chris Smith management pit the two against each other[22] K’naan responded in the song "Revolutionary Avocado" with the lyrics: "You the all-knowing with a beer bottle / Wishing you was Plato and me Aristotle? / ...Suburban negro turned hip-hop hero / Is there a reason he really hates me, though?".[22] Furthermore K'naan stated in an interview that he thought "k-os was out of line."[22] The two have since spoken and there is no conflict. 2006 Early in 2006, k-os collaborated with the CBC Radio Orchestra to compose "Burning to Shine."[23] A documentary chronicling the production and performance of the song aired on Canadian national television on February 2, 2006 and was titled after the song. k-os then traveled across Canada recording his third album, stopping mainly in Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax. In the proceeding summer, the first single from the upcoming album titled "ELEctrick Heat - the seekwiLL" was released. The single became the "#1 most downloaded Single of the Week" on iTunes.[20] During the year, k-os also recorded a version of John Lennon's song "Jealous Guy" for the Make Some Noise campaign of the human rights organization Amnesty International. Before the release of his third album, Atlantis: Hymns For Disco, k-os wrote derogatory comments on his MySpace page aimed at Jason Richards, a contributing writer at Toronto's NOW magazine, for his review of the album. k-os stated that he was angered by Richards referring to him in the review as a "crossover pop artist disguised as a true-school b-boy".He was also disillusioned when he remembered he had granted an interview to Richards when he was a teenager, and that they had similar small town Trinidadian upbringings. Nervousness about the experimental nature of Atlantis and the passive aggressiveness of Canadian media most likely led to his blow up.[24] Part of the comment called Richards "a black man ... manipulated by his indie rock nerd bosses"[25] and called on him to "eat a dick!".[25] after receiving advice from a psychologist on myspace k-os later removed the comments, stating in an interview that it was a "personal situation"[26] between himself and Richards and he was angered because the two had previously "had many discussions on music."[26] k-os' comments also received attention from the lead vocalist of the band Danko Jones, who wrote to NOW magazine saying that k-os "had too much sunshine massaged up his ass."[27] k-os responded to the letter, making sarcastic remarks discussing a band named "STANKO JONES", which referred to Danko Jones.[27] He also remarked again upon Jason Richards, comparing him to the "Arnold Jackson" character played by Gary Coleman on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes.[27] Jones stated in an interview that he thought k-os' comments were a "lame response," and that "a five-year-old could come up with something wittier."[27] k-os and Danko shared a rehearsal space and often had in depth conversations during their breaks outside the rehearsal space. He was very disappointed that someone whom he considered a friend spoke out in the press before trying to contacting him first. On October 10, 2006, Atlantis: Hymns For Disco was released in Canada, with a global release scheduled on February 6, 2007. The album went platinum in Canada during December of the same year.[28] Atlantis, written and produced by k-os, featured collaborations with Sam Roberts and Buck 65. The album debuted as number one and number five on the "Digital Albums" and "Current Albums" Canadian charts, respectively.[20] The album reached number five on Music World's top ten in its opening week.[29] While the album continued to merge several musical genres, k-os described the album as being more vocal due to him becoming more comfortable with his singing voice.[30] Atlantis was also described as leaving behind the "social commentaries" and hip hop critique present on his last two albums.[31] Subsequent singles are "Sunday Morning" sample (help·info) and "Flypaper". ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown has used the chorus of "Sunday Morning" as an intro returning from commercial break the past two seasons. k-os was one of the top 3 nominees for the Juno Awards of 2007 with five nominations although failed to win one.[32] 2007–2009 k-os 2007 Vans Warped Tour, in Las Cruces NM, 12JUL07.On February 20, 2007, he performed "Sunday Morning" on the Late Show With David Letterman. Crabbuckit can be heard in the trailer for the 2007 blockbuster Shrek the Third. In 2007, k-os toured with P.O.S., RX Bandits, and Gym Class Heroes on The Darryl Hall For President Tour His 2007 single "Born To Run" was featured in the soundtrack for FIFA 08. His song CatDieseL is featured in the opening of an episode of CSI: Miami titled Bloodline. In 2008 he designed a t-shirt for the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for OneXOne. His 4th studio album, entitled Yes!, was released on April 14, 2009. The first single off the album, "4, 3, 2, 1", was released in December 2008. The second single will be "Burning Bridges". K-Os also held an online contest in 2008-2009 at http://www.indabamusic.com/ in which he provided the public with 11 tracks from the album "Yes!" to be remixed. At the end of the contest, the most voted remixes of each song were selected to be on a remix album of "Yes!" entitled, "Yes It's Yours (Fan Remix Album)" which is set to be released in the Spring of 2009. The 11 contest winners were also awarded $1000 each.

Taalib Johnson (born September 16, 1977) better known by his stage name Musiq Soulchild or Musiq (IPA: ['mju:sɪk]) is a soul artist whose style blends contemporary R&B, soul, funk, alternative, blues, jazz and hip hop. Musiq is the eldest of nine children. “I always saw myself as the black sheep of the family; I was always doing my own thing.” At an early age, Musiq decided he would discontinue his high school education, which proved to make his road to success much more difficult, "I really wish I stayed, cause even though I didn't like it that much I still could've taken advantage of the many resources that being in school has to offer.” When Musiq was 17 he left home to live life on his own terms, finding himself having to depend on the kindness of friends, and sometimes strangers, as he struggled with everyday survival. "Man, I did what I had to, I slept on couches, the bus, the train, the park, whatever, it didn't matter, I just knew things wasn't gonna be that way forever.” It was during that time Musiq started to build a reputation for being musically gifted, beat boxing for MC's, free styling on the open mic circuit, scatting at a jazz club, or just performing a cappella in the streets of Philadelphia, which is where he got the name "Musiq" and later he added "Soulchild" which is intended to respect and represent the legacy and traditions of past great soul stars. Musiq Soulchild released his debut album, Aijuswanaseing (I Just Want to Sing), in 2000, which included the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop single, "Just Friends (Sunny)". Musiq's second single, "Love", spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Musiq’s sophomore album, 2002's Juslisen (Just Listen), debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Charts and went platinum; "Halfcrazy" and "Dontchange". In 2003, Musiq released his 3rd album, Soulstar. It included the singles "Forthenight" and "Whoknows". After a four year break and changing his management to Solqi Management and his record label to Atlantic Records, in 2007, Musiq's released his fourth album Luvanmusiq (Love and Music) which included the singles "B.U.D.D.Y.", "Teachme", and "Makeyouhappy". According to the singer himself, via his September 18 concert at the Warfield in San Francisco, his fifth album On My Radio will be released on December 2, 2008. The lead single, "Radio" has posted on both Musiq's MySpace page and official website. Musiq Soulchild has had 2 platinum albums, 2 gold albums and 7 hit singles. He has received awards from Billboard, BET, ASCAP, BMI, and Soul Train. Musiq has also earned award nominations from MTV, American Music Awards, NAACP, and 9 Grammy nominations, including 3 for his 2007 album Luvanmusiq. Besides being a successful recording artist, Musiq is notable for his creative and unique way of titling his albums and songs by ignoring the rules of capitalization, punctuation and spelling. He recently performed at the Antigua & Barbuda first Romantic Rhythms Music Festival in the Caribbean which was held from June 12-15,2008 which features legendary artists such as Kenny Rogers, Brian McKnight, Lionel Richie, Keyshia Cole, Maxi Priest, Destra, Heather Headly, Shaggy and many other local artist from the island including The Burning Flames. He has also made guest appearances on rapper Lloyd Banks's album Rotten Apple, Talib Kweli's Eardrum, The Roots's Phrenology, Black Ice's The Death of Willie Lynch and pays tribute to soul music legends Earth Wind and Fire on the tribute album Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire. Soulchild has also appeared on the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's movie Daddy's Little Girls and Ice Cube announced that Musiq will appear on his upcoming album, Raw Footage. He also lent a song from his latest album Luvanmusiq to the soundtrack for Perry's later movie Why Did I Get Married?. He then recorded a remake of Arrested Development's song "People Everyday" with British rapper/singer Estelle for the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns entitled "People Everyday (Metamorphosis Mix)". Outside of music, he has been featured in television and print ads for McDonald's, Nike, Inc., Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss & Co. and The Gap. He also made a special appearance in The CW's #1 comedy The Game on Monday, October 29, 2007. Saniya Jackson Awards and recognition He has received awards from Billboard, BET, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, BMI, and Soul Train. Musiq has also been nominated for awards by MTV, The American Music Awards, the NAACP, and has had 4 Grammy nominations.

Boot Camp Clik Feat the late , great , Aaliyah , off the "The Wonder Years" . Boot Camp Clik is an American hip hop supergroup from Brooklyn, New York. The group consists of Buckshot (of Black Moon), Smif-N-Wessun, also known as Cocoa Brovaz (Tek and Steele), Heltah Skeltah (Rock and Ruck, aka Sean Price) and O.G.C. (Originoo Gunn Clappaz) (Starang Wondah, Top Dog, and Louieville Sluggah). 1992 to 1996 BuckshotBlack Moon debuted in 1992 with the release of the single "Who Got Da Props?". The song became something of an underground phenomenon, and was also able to receive minor crossover success, charting on the Billboard Hot 100 at #86. The popularity of the single lead to a record deal with Nervous Wreck Records, which released the group's debut album Enta Da Stage in late 1993. The album was produced entirely by Evil Dee and Mr. Walt of Da Beatminerz, and featured the debut of Camp members Smif-N-Wessun, as well as an early appearance from Mobb Deep's Havoc. Enta Da Stage was highly acclaimed and influential over the burgeoning hardcore hip hop scene of its time. Preceding later classics like Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan, Illmatic by Nas and Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G., Enta Da Stage served as a precursor to the resurgence of the New York hip hop scene in the mid-90s. Along with "Who Got Da Props?", the album included other classic rap singles "How Many MC's...", "Buck Em Down" and "I Got Cha Opin (Remix)", the latter becoming the group's second Hot 100 hit. Buckshot and Nervous Wreck Records employee Dru Ha were both elemental in getting Smif-N-Wessun signed to the label, and in early 1994, the duo released their debut single, "Bucktown", which, like Black Moon's "Who Got Da Props?", became an underground phenomenon, and also charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #93. Following the single's release, "Bucktown" became a popular nickname for Brooklyn. "Bucktown" earned Smif-N-Wessun considerable underground hype for their debut album, Dah Shinin', released in early 1995. The album debuted at #5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and, along with "Bucktown", spawned a number of underground hits and music videos, with "Let's Git It On", "Wrekonize", "Sound Bwoy Bureill", "Wontime" and "Stand Strong". Da Beatminerz, which now also included Rich Blak and Baby Paul, produced the entirety of the album. Camp members Heltah Skeltah and O.G.C. made their debuts on the album, appearing on the tracks "Wontime" and "Sound Bwoy Bureill". Dah Shinin also marked the official formation of the Boot Camp Clik, with all eight members appearing on the posse-cut "Cession at da Doghillee". Heltah Skeltah and Ruste JuxxFollowing the release of Dah Shinin, Camp leader Buckshot and business partner Dru Ha founded Duck Down Records after leaving Nervous Records due to unpaid royalties, and signed both Heltah Skeltah and O.G.C. to the label. In mid 1995, the entire Clik (labeled as "Black Moon & Smif-N-Wessun") appeared on the Gold-certified soundtrack to the film New Jersey Drive, with the song "Headz Ain't Redee". In late 1995, Heltah Skeltah and O.G.C. teamed up to form The Fab 5, and released their debut single "Blah" b/w "Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka". The B-Side, "Leflah", became a surprise hit, peaking at #75 on the Hot 100, making it the most successful single released by any Boot Camp member or affiliate. The two groups split up for separate releases in 1996. Heltah Skeltah was the first to release an album, with Nocturnal dropping in June 1996. This was the first Camp-related album not to be produced entirely by Da Beatminerz. Evil Dee and Mr. Walt produced three tracks, while Beatminer-affiliate Baby Paul produced five tracks. Other producers involved in the project include Lord Jamar (of Brand Nubian), Shaleek, Shawn J. Period, Supreme (of the Representativz), and E-Swift (of Tha Alkaholiks). Like Enta Da Stage and Dah Shinin, Nocturnal was widely acclaimed, and has become a classic of underground hip hop. Along with "Leflah", the album featured a pair of minorly successful singles, the dark, harp-led "Operation Lock Down", and the introspective concept track "Therapy". Nocturnal also featured the debut from Camp affiliates Representativz and Illa Noyz, as well as appearances from O.G.C., Buckshot and Vinia Mojica. In the summer of 1996, hip hop superstar 2Pac personally invited Buckshot, Dru-Ha, Tek and Steele to his house in California to record for an album titled One Nation, which was intended to squash the supposed East Coast/West Coast rap conflict. Due to 2Pac's murder in September 1996, the album has never been released, though a number of tracks have leaked, most notably the title-track "One Nation" and "Military Mindz". The latter was later remixed and included on the posthumous 2Pac album Better Dayz. In late-1996, O.G.C. released their debut album Da Storm. led by leader Starang Wondah's charismatic delivery and the tandem rhyming of Louieville Sluggah and Top Dog, the album was popular with underground fans. Though not as successful or as acclaimed as the Camp's past work, the album has still garnered claims of classic status by some. Like Nocturnal, Da Storm featured a wider number of producers, which include E-Swift, Madlib, DJ Ogee, Lord Jamar, Supreme and Shaleek, as well as the usual lineup of Beatminerz members Evil Dee, Mr. Walt and Baby Paul. Album guests included Rock of Heltah Skeltah, Sadat X of Brand Nubian, Sean Black and the Representativz. The album's lead single, "No Fear", was a minor rap hit, but failed to reach the Hot 100, making O.G.C. the only Boot Camp group without a Hot 100 hit single. The album also featured the single "Hurricane Starang" b/w "Gunn Clapp" b/w "Danjer", which failed to make any Billboard chart. [edit] 1997 to 1999 In 1997, the entire Boot Camp came together for the release of their first group album, For the People. Unlike Nocturnal and Da Storm, which used Da Beatminerz sparingly, on For the People the group completely abandoned them, and strayed away from their grimy, sample-heavy basement sound. Instead, Boogie Brown and Buckshot laced the album with live instrumentation production. The new sound did not go over well with fans or critics, causing the album to receive lukewarm reviews and disappointing sales. Instead of only focusing on the core Camp members, the album showcased a wide number of the group's affiliates like Illa Noyz and the Representativz, and also featured debut appearances from BJ Swan, LS, The BTJ's and F.L.O.W. The album's lead single, "Headz Are Reddee Pt. 2" b/w "Down by Law" failed to reach any Billboard singles chart. Following the release of For the People, the Clik's groups split up once again for separate releases. Tek and Steele were the first to return, now recording under the name Cocoa Brovaz, due to a lawsuit over their previous name with the Smith & Wesson firearms company. The Rude Awakening was released in early 1998, and like the Boot Camp album, was met with mixed reviews, and failed to sell a significant amount of units, despite an opening bid at #3 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts. The singles "Won on Won" and "Bucktown USA" received very little success, and the album's lead single, the Raekwon-assisted "Black Trump", failed to reach any chart. Heltah Skeltah followed in late 1998 with the release of their second album Magnum Force. This album was met with the Clik's harshest reviews yet, with both critics and fans accusing the duo of toning down their hardcore content for more commercial success. The album featured a large amount of guest appearances, including the entire Boot Camp Clik, the Representativz, Doc Holiday, Method Man, Tha Dogg Pound, Outlawz, Anthony Hamilton and the MFC, leaving only five tracks without outside appearances. The album's lead single, "I Ain't Havin' That", utilized a sample from the A Tribe Called Quest track "Hot Sex", and became the group's second Hot 100 hit, peaking at #80 on the chart. Despite the success of the single, sales were limited. After they split from Nervous Records, Black Moon became entangled in a legal battle with the label over the licensing of their group name, which lasted for a number of years. The case was finally settled in 1998, with Duck Down receiving permission to license the name through Nervous. After a five-year hiatus, Black Moon returned in 1999 with their second album, War Zone. The album received moderate sales and good reviews, especially when compared to the Camp's three previous efforts. One factor in its positive reception was the return of Da Beatminerz, who produced the entirety of the album. The group recruited a number of fellow New York emcees for appearances, including Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip and M.O.P. The album's singles "Two Turntables and a Mic" and "This is What it Sounds Like (Worldwind)" received minor commercial success. O.G.C.O.G.C. were the last to return, releasing their second album, The M-Pire Shrikez Back, in mid-1999. Like War Zone, the album received good reviews, but little sales, and almost completely missed the radar commercially, barely cracking the Billboard 200 album chart. The album was produced by the Black Market production crew, and featured appearances from a number of Boot Camp and MFC members. The lead single, "Bounce to the Ounce" b/w "Suspect Niggaz", made little impact, peaking at #94 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts. Late 1999 saw the release of three more Boot Camp related albums. First, in September, a Duck Down Records compilation album, titled Duck Down Presents: The Album. The compilation received very mediocre reviews and failed to reach any Billboard album chart. The lead single, Black Moon's "Jump Up", was well accepted. In October, Buckshot released his solo debut, titled The BDI Thug, a moniker given to him by 2Pac during the summer of 1996. Like many Camp releases of its era, The BDI Thug received harsh reviews, and sold few copies, partly due to Buck's label being dropped from their distribution deal with Priority Records. Also in October, Camp affiliates the Representativz released their debut, Angels of Death, through Duck Down/Warlock Records. [edit] 2000 to 2005 After being dropped from their Priority distribution deal, the Clik took a lengthy hiatus from the rap game. Heltah Skeltah split-up in 2000, when Rock left Duck Down Records to pursue a solo career. O.G.C. retired (temporarily) as a trio, and has yet to release a third album. The Cocoa Brovaz signed a deal with then-leading independent rap label Rawkus Records, and released a successful single, "Get Up", from the Lyricist Lounge 2 compilation, but never released an album on the label. After dropping the group, Priority released the first Greatest Hits compilation of Boot Camp material, titled Basic Training: Boot Camp Clik's Greatest Hits, featuring 13 singles released between 1992 and 1999. Other than this, the only Clik related releases between 2000 and 2001 were a number of independent vinyl singles from various Boot Camp members. In 2002, Duck Down Records signed a new distribution deal with Koch Entertainment, paving the way for a new Boot Camp Clik group album. The Chosen Few was released in late 2002, featuring seven of the original "Great 8", with Rock being the only absent member. The album was possibly the most acclaimed Boot Camp related release since 1996, receiving strong reviews from a number of sources, including a 4 1/2 Star rating from Allmusic. Sales were moderately strong for an independent album, pushing over 60,000 units. The Chosen Few featured production from Da Beatminerz, as well as other star producers like Hi-Tek, The Alchemist and Bink. Videos for the album's singles "And So" and "Think Back" received rotation on BET's Rap City, and the group also hosted an episode of the program to help promote the release. In early 2003, Duck Down Records released a compilation titled Collect Dis Edition, which was a large collection of the Camp-related singles released during their 2000-2001 album hiatus. In late 2003, Black Moon returned with their third group album, Total Eclipse. Generally well received, the majority of the album was produced by Da Beatminerz, and also featured beats from Moss, Tone Capone, DJ Static, Nottz, Kleph Dollaz and Coptic. The album featured two singles and music videos, "Stay Real" and "This Goes Out to You", the former becoming an underground hit in '03. In early 2004, Black Moon member 5ft was sentenced to four-to-nine years in prison for sale of an illegal substance, delaying any chance of an official Black Moon album for a number of years. Smif-N-WessunAfter switching distributors from Koch to Navarre, Duck Down unveiled their 2005 "Triple Threat" campaign, featuring three new Boot Camp releases. The first was the long delayed solo debut from Heltah Skeltah's Ruck, now going by his birth name Sean Price, Monkey Barz. Largely due to Price's rough, humorous lyrics, the album was the most acclaimed of the three Triple Threat albums, and was named Independent Album of the Year by AllHipHop.com. Monkey Barz saw the reunion of Heltah Skeltah, with Rock appearing on the tracks "Jail Shit" and "Slap Boxing". The second of the Triple Threat albums was a collaboration between Buckshot and Little Brother's 9th Wonder, titled Chemistry. 9th produced all of the album's tracks while Buckshot provided the lyrics, with help from fellow Boot Camp Clik and Justus League members. The album was well-received, but did catch some mixed-reviews from underground audiences. The third and final release in the Triple Threat campaign was the long-awaited third album by Tek and Steele, who had now returned under their original moniker, Smif-N-Wessun. Smif 'N' Wessun: Reloaded was released in September 2005, and received good reviews, it featured the singles "My Timbz Do Work" and "Gunn Rap", as well as the Dead Prez collaboration "Warriorz Heart", and the Boot Camp posse-cut "Get Back". The three Triple Threat releases were met with similar sales, all reaching around 35,000-40,000 units sold. [edit] 2006 to present In early 2006, Duck Down released a DVD titled Video Surveillance, which included nearly every Boot Camp related music video between 1992 and 2005. The single-disc release featured videos for the tracks "Who Got Da Props?", "How Many MC's...", "I Got Cha Opin (Remix)", "Buck Em Down (Remix)", "Bucktown", "Let's Git It On", "Wontime", "Wrekonize (Remix)", "Sound Bwoy Bureill", "Blah", "Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka", both the official and an unreleased version of "Operation Lock Down", "Therapy", "No Fear", "Hurricane Danjer", "Headz Are Reddee Pt. 2", "Night Riders", "Won on Won", "Black Trump", "Spanish Harlem", "I Ain't Havin' That", "Two Turntables and a Mic", "This is What it Sounds Like (Worldwind)", "Bounce to the Ounce", "Get Up", "And So", "Think Back", "Stay Real", "This Goes Out to You", "Boom Bye Yeah", "Heartburn/Onion Head", "My Timbz Do Work" and "Gunn Rap". In July 2006, the Boot Camp returned for their third group album, The Last Stand, featuring all eight of the original Camp members. The album was well-received by fans and critics, and was also an independent success, reaching the top 50 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart and the top 20 on the Top Independent Albums chart. The Last Stand featured an all-star production lineup, which included Da Beatminerz, Pete Rock, Large Professor, 9th Wonder, Illmind and Coptic. The first track released from the project, "Trading Places", featuring Smif-N-Wessun and Heltah Skeltah, was also the first music video from the album. "Trading Places" and "Let's Go" were the B-Side to the album's official lead single "Yeah". 2007 saw three more Clik releases. The first was Sean Price's second solo album, Jesus Price Supastar. The album was originally scheduled for released in 2006, but due to a need for increased promotion, was pushed back to an early 2007 date, and released on January 30. The album became the first Clik-related album to reach the Billboard 200 album chart since 1999, and received considerable critical acclaim. The album featured the single "P-Body", and music videos were recorded for "Mess You Made", "One" and "King Kong". The second release was the fourth group release from the Clik, titled Casualties of War, which featured leftovers from The Last Stand recording sessions. The album produced the video "BK All Day", which featured Black Moon's 5ft (recently released from prison) and Ruste Juxx. The third and final release of 2007 was the fourth studio album from Smif-N-Wessun, titled The Album, released on October 23. The Album featured the singles "Gotta Say It" and "Stomp Thru" featuring Rock and Joell Ortiz. The album saw moderate acclaim due to Tek and Steele broadened lyrical topics, but was criticized for mediocre production work. 2007 also saw Duck Down Records pursuing numerous business ventures. Throughout the year, the label broadened their roster, signing deals with Special Teamz, Kidz in the Hall, KRS-One and Diamond D. In November, the group signed a deal with ESPN to record original music for their College basketball programming. The tracks "All Business" by Buckshot, "Getcha Team" by Heltah Skeltah, "Get in the Game" by Tek and "Push It" by Smif-N-Wessun will be played throughout the basketball season [1]. In December, Buckshot was signed on to record the theme for the History Channel's Gangland series [1]. Also in December, Duck Down joined YouTube's exclusive partnered clients list to create their own Duck Down channel on the website [2]. Two releases are currently scheduled for release in 2008. The first will be the second collaboration album from Buckshot and 9th Wonder, titled The Formula. The album will be released on March 18 and will feature the single "No Doubt" [2]. After officially re-signing to Duck Down as a duo, Sean Price and Rock began recording for a Heltah Skeltah reunion album, titled D.I.R.T., an acronym for "Da Incredible Rap Team". This will be the first Heltah Skeltah album released in a decade. The album is scheduled for release on Sept. 30th, 2008, and will feature production from Marco Polo, Evidence and Nottz [3]. A number of other projects are also rumored for release. Sean Price is planning the release of his third solo album, titled Mic Tyson, as well as a collaborative album with Detroit's Black Milk and Guilty Simpson [4]. Heltah Skeltah's Rock has been planning the release of his first solo album, tentatively titled Monstah Musik. In a 2006 interview, Duck Down CEO Dru Ha announced that O.G.C. were not retired, and mentioned the possibility of a group reunion, but made no mention of any recording for a third album. One Nation album which late rapper 2Pac was collaborating with Boot Camp Clik was intended to be released around 1996, in the midst of the East-West Coast Rap rivalry, is going to be released March 20, 2009.

Off 9th Wonders solo album "The Wonder Years"

Another banger from Statik Selektah - GTA The lost and Damned Talib Kweli Greene (born October 3, 1975)[2], better known as Talib Kweli, is an American MC from Brooklyn, New York. He is one of the best-known and critically, if not commercially, successful rappers in alternative hip hop. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker"; his middle name in Swahili means "true". Kweli first gained recognition through Black Star, a collaboration with fellow MC Mos Def. Kweli has two children. Kweli has supported the "Black August Benefit Concert" since its inception, and performs at the show consistently every year. Early life Born in Brooklyn, Kweli grew up in a highly educated household. His mother is an English professor and his father a sociology professor. As a youth, he was drawn to Afrocentric rappers, such as De La Soul and other members of the Native Tongues Posse and Gall whom he had met in high school. Talib Kweli was a student at Cheshire Academy, a boarding school in Connecticut. He was also a student at Brooklyn Technical High School, before he was kicked out. He later studied experimental theater at New York University (NYU). [3] [edit] Early career (1997-2001) Kweli made his professional debut in 1997, with featured appearances on "Doom," an album by Cincinnati, Ohio group Mood (Main Flow, Donte, Jahson). In Cincinnati, Kweli also met DJ Hi-Tek and the two collaborated on a few well received underground recordings as Reflection Eternal. Shortly afterwards, upon returning to New York, he reconnected with Mos Def and formed Black Star. Kweli brought along Hi-Tek to produce their first and only album, 1998's Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star. The album, released amidst a late '90s renaissance of conscious, Afrocentric hip hop, was immediately hailed by critics and achieved modest mainstream success. When Kweli and Mos Def parted ways shortly thereafter, Kweli and Hi-Tek continued their Reflection Eternal partnership on the 2000 album Train of Thought, which was likewise met with critical acclaim, but modest sales. [edit] Start of solo career (2002-2003) Following Train of Thought, Kweli and Hi-Tek split as well, and Kweli used his first truly solo debut to attempt a move toward a more mainstream sound. 2002's Quality, accomplished this goal to some extent, featuring production by a host of different producers, including DJ Quik and Kanye West. The album was met with wide spread critical acclaim and received some mainstream attention thanks to the West-produced single "Get By." [edit] Rise in cultural popularity In 2004, Talib Kweli, along with Bob Moore's Amazing Mongrels, supported the Beastie Boys on their "Challah At Your Boy World Tour," participated in a photo shoot by the amateur photographer Ben Fink Shaprio, and appeared in a few Dilated Peoples songs, including a live remix later featured on the video game NBA Street Vol. 2. Kweli has used television appearances extensively to increase visibility, notably on MTV's Wild 'N Out, and several performances on Chappelle's Show with long-time collaborator Mos Def; these performances were a product of host Chappelle's friendship with Kweli. Chappelle in turn participated in a number of skits on Kweli's albums "Train of Thought" and "Quality"- impersonating several people including Nelson Mandela. Kweli also had a guest spot on Kanye West's widely successful debut album The College Dropout on the track "Get 'Em High". West has produced some of Kweli's songs, including his biggest commercial hit "Get By". West also includes a nod to Kweli on the song "Breathe in, Breathe Out" from his album "The College Dropout". The lyrics read: "Golly more of this bullshit ice rap/ I got to 'pologize to Mos and Kweli", an acknowledgement of Kweli's meaningful message spread while part of Blackstar. Kweli can be seen in a commercial for the NCAA's Big Ten Conference, rapping about the league's basketball teams.[4] He also provided the voice of the protagonist in the graffiti-themed video game Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, released in 2006.[5] Talib and fellow rapper artist Mos Def purchased Nkiru, which is Brooklyn's oldest black-owned bookstore, and converted it into the Nkiru Center for Education and Culture.[6][7] Kweli's stature continued to grow, particularly fueled by a line from the track "Moment of Clarity" on Jay-Z's 2003 record, The Black Album: "If skills sold, truth be told/I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli." Kweli responded to this in his track "Ghetto Show" on his 2004 album The Beautiful Struggle by stating "If lyrics sold then truth be told/I'd probably be just as rich and famous as Jay-Z." [edit] Middle career (2004-2006) In 2004, he released his second solo album and final Rawkus release, The Beautiful Struggle, which debuted at no.14 in the billboard top 100. The album featured much more commercial production, and although Kweli's lyrics retained their socio-political content, he affected a somewhat harder persona. The album failed to cross over into the mainstream and suffered a critical backlash. In 2005, Kweli released a Mixtape-CD off of his newly formed Blacksmith Records. The project was called Right About Now: The Official Sucka Free Mix CD, a title which is considered likely a response to the criticism of The Beautiful Struggle. On Right About Now: The Official Sucka Free Mix CD, Talib Kweli sampled Ben Kweller's "In Other Words" for his own song "Ms. Hill". In part 7 of Kweller's video podcast series "One Minute Pop Song," Kweller said he found Kweli's use of the song "a little fucked up" due to the fact that it was sampled without permission.[8] [edit] Recent career (2007-2008) On December 31, 2006, Kweli released nine songs he recorded with acclaimed underground producer Madlib for free download in conjunction with the web site for Stones Throw Records, the label to which Madlib is signed. The album was entitled Liberation, of which Talib later was quoted by XXL magazine as stating releasing the album was liberating to him; "The idea that I could put out an album like that: record it in my house, put it out for free and get that type of response."[9] In 2007, the album was made available for purchase. For his newest release, Kweli formed his own record label, Blacksmith Records, and has recently signed acclaimed rapper Jean Grae and the group Strong Arm Steady. He also signed a new distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records for Blacksmith Records. His latest solo album is called Eardrum and was released on Aug 21, 2007. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. The first single was Listen!!!.[9] Kweli embarked on a national Australian tour in October, 2007. In 2007, a bootleg import CD containing rare and collaborative songs was released entitled Focus. Recently Talib has joined MTV's hit show MADE and filmed an episode in the small town of Arlington, Massachusetts, as well as SMT Studios in New York City. He was the coach of Colin Colt, a young man who wanted to be made into a rap star. In a rockumentary, Call+Response, headed by Justin Dillon, Kweli performed "Broken Glass" in support of the film's cause: a movement against slavery and human trafficking.[1] [edit] Future projects On a New Year's blog Talib Kweli confirmed that he has 3 albums planned for 2008: Prisoner of Consciousness, a second Reflection Eternal album, and Party Robot, though as of 2009 none have seen the light of day. In the blog, Kweli also confirmed that he will be working on new albums with Jean Grae, and Dion. Kweli confirmed in a recent interview with VIBE magazine that the title of his next album will be Prisoner of Consciousness, a title derived from Talib's constant labeling as a "conscious rapper" and based on Nigerian reggae artist Majek Fashek's album "Prisoner of Conscience."[citation needed] Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek have both said they are recording a second Reflection Eternal album which will be a follow-up to Train of Thought.[10][11] In March 2008, Kweli was featured on the 9th Wonder and Buckshot track "Hold It Down". Talib is currently recording a collaborative album titled Party Robot with R&B singer Res and musician Graph Nobel under the group alias Idle Warship. They have released one song, "Industry Diary" from the upcoming project. [edit] Reflection Eternal Reunion In 2009 Bootsy Collins collaborated with Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek on the track 'internet connection' which is featured on the Reflection Eternal reunion album. The track can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rla0zZyWTjY

A radio show by Statik Selektah on the Rockstar online game add-on for Grand Theft Auto - The lost and Damned Track Listing 1. Termanology - here in liberty city 2. Freeway - Car Jack 3. Saigon - Spit 4. Skyzoo - The chase is on 5. Consequence - I hear Footsteps 6. Talib Kweli - My favorite song

One more from Beyond the Horizon - hip-hop infused jazz from cradle . Interview- Tell us about how you got into hip hop. What attracted you to it? Pat: I started off listening to hip-hop music in the mid-90's. Some of the albums that got me into it were [Wu-Tang Clan's Enter the] 36 chambers,[Nas'] Illmatic and [Notorious B.I.G.'s] Ready to Die. After a while, I got into DJing and buying vinyl and then Iwas hooked. Melodiq: I became a fan of hip-hop back in the early to mid-80s. I originally started out as a breakdancer. I gradually moved on and started beat boxing. I joined a crew called the Funky Fresh Four Plus 1 More. I didn't start writing rhymes until my high school years. Hip-Hop was me and I was Hip-Hop. Plain and simple. Tell us about your emcee Melodiq and how you connected with him. Pat: Melodiq is a very talented emcee. I think he has the ability to do really well. His voice is perfect for the type of music he makes, real smooth and laid back. I had been checking out his tracks for a year or so and was really impressed with his sound and flow. At that time, I was still really new to beat making and didn't really have beats that would work for him. I kept at it and eventually sent him some beats over, we did a few tracks and gradually built up some work and took it from there really. Melodiq has worked with so many good beat makers, I'm really suprised nobody has released his work before. I guess 'this is the time'. Ha ha. What's you process for producing a new track? Pat: My process usually starts with finding samples. I buy records quite a lot and have built up a fairly solid collection. Finding a sample usually depends on my frame of mind. I usually search for any music that hits me straight away and if I'm not in the right mood I don't find an awful lot. When something hits me, I'll have a good listen to the track to see what I like about it and see what I can use. After that comes sampling it, for which I use Logic and an MPC. It usually takes me a while to EQ and sequence the sample. After that, I search for sample, EQ, etc., drums, add percussion and anything else I think the track needs. Where do you get your inspiration from musically? Pat: Everything around me. Music inspires me a massive amount. I love Jazz, Soul, Funk. I'm a big fan of what is labeled as chill-out music. Music is a big part of my life. I take influence from many aspects of it and find that listening to it, searching it out and sharing it inspires me a great deal. Melodiq: Life. My experiences growing up. Music has and always will be a big part of my life. And it's not just limited to Hip-Hop. I like Alternative, Classical, Classic Rock, R&B, Jazz, House, Techno, Acid Jazz and many others. I feel that if you limit yourself as to what inspires you musically the music that you put out will suffer and be limited. Tell us about your new EP, This is The Time. Pat: This is the time came about from me wanting to put my music out. I'd been working with various emcees and vocalists for a while and was trying to think of what to do with tracks I had done. I was really happy with what I had with Melodiq and didn't really want it sat around doing nothing. I felt it was good enough to be out there, so i told Melodiq my idea and he was good with it. The tracks I picked were my favorite ones we had done and they seemed to fit nicely together. I'm really happy with how it's turned out. I always said I wanted to make it a nice product too, and that was partly the reason for the artwork and it being on vinyl. Melodiq: This EP was basically a spur of the moment project. Pat emailed me one day and said that he wanted to get an EP done. Of course, I was amped about it and told him that whatever he needed from me would get it done. It just so happens that the tracks were already done but needed mastered. These were tracks done individually and not intended for an EP. Pat in his infinite wisdom chose which tracks he wanted and they happen to gel naturally. I think this EP speaks for itself. "This Is The Time" to change the hip-hop landscape as we know it and I want to be a big part of it. Why did you decide to do a vinyl release as opposed to CD? Pat: Part of the reason was as stated above, vinyl is a nice thing to have. I like the feel and sound that vinyl gives you. Another was that it's only an EP and I always feel it to be a bit of a waste when Isee CD's with only 4 or 5 tracks on. The main reason was however that as a DJ, it's a bit of a dream to have your own work on vinyl, which is maybe slightly selfish. Ha ha But overall I think vinyl is a much nicer format. Do you plan to do any touring

Aloe Blacc is an American soul singer and musician. His first album entitled Shine Through, was released by Stones Throw Records in 2006. Born Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III in 1979 to Panamanian parents. He began his career in 1995 as an MC in and indie rap group called Emanon. By the end of the 1990s, Blacc was a "stow away" on a Lootpack tour in Europe. He has been referred to as "the indie R. Kelly" by online music retailer Turntable Lab. His music is notable for combining several divergent styles. For example, his debut album Shine Through featured elements of R&B, jazz, soul, and hip hop. A result of his bi-lingual upbringing, he is fluent in Spanish. He famously recorded a cover version of the John Legend hit Ordinary People - entitled Gente Ordinaria. Aloe Blacc frequently colloborates with fellow Stones Throw artists such as Dudley Perkins and Georgia Anne Muldrow.

Cradle is back with one helluva mixtape! Real jazzy with that hip-hop flavor! Hip-hop and jazz fans will simply LOVE this one! Don't sleep on this here HEAT! Unreleased until later 09. Cradle - Beyond The Horizon 01-Cradle - Intro (feat. Aloe Blacc & Ayumi Kato) 02-Jazz Liberatorz - Let Them Eat Steak 03-J. Rawls - Capricorn's Reprise 04-Hocus Pocus - 73 Touches 05-Hocus Pocus - Mr Tout Le Monde 06-Aloe Blacc - Find Your Way 07-Crown City Rockers - B-Boy 08-Pat D - Relax Your Mind (feat. Melodiq) 09-Thes One - Hy-Vee 10-People Under The Stairs - Flex Off 11-SP - Motown (Unity Remix) 12-Think Twice - Supernova (feat. Coates) 13-J. Rawls - Still Talking It Ez 14-Pat D - Joint Thoughts (feat. Lady Paradox) 15-The Procussions - I'll Fly (feat. Tara Ellis) 16-Justis - Weekend 17-Starving Artists Crew - The Kick Clap 18-Thes One - Grain Belt Beer 19-Think Twice - Piano Break 20-Dagha - Playhouse 21-Jazz Liberatorz - I'm Hip Hop (feat. Asheru) 22-Crown City Rockers - Balance (feat. Scarub) 23-Moonstarr - Clappy 24-People Under The Stairs - Pumpin' 25-Rashaan Ahmad - The Crush 26-Hocus Pocus feat. Omar - Smile (Acoustic) (feat. Omar)

New Album from DEL of Hieroglyphics - The Funk Man The Stimulus Package (free album by Del due to economic crisis)

The Bonus track from "If heaven was a mile away" (Jdilla Tribute) .

Off the album "If heaven was a mile away" (JDilla Tribute) Daniel Carrillo (born October 8, 1982 in Lawrence, Massachusetts) is a rapper known by his stage name Termanology. He is known for his mixtape series Hood Politics and primarily working with DJ Premier. Daniel first met DJ Premier at a Gang Starr video shoot in 2003 where he handed Premier a demo, earning himself a cameo in the video. [2] Massachusetts-bred, New York-based rapper Termanology is putting the finishing touches on his official debut album Politics As Usual. One of this year's most anticipated albums, it drops Fall 2008 through a joint venture between Terms own ST. Records and indy powerhouse Nature Sounds. The record also features a who's who of production royalty, with DJ Premier, Hi-Tek, Pete Rock, The Alchemist, Havoc, Buckwild, Nottz and Large Professor providing tracks. "Termanology puts the MC back in MC'ing, he's a breath of fresh air in this dirty game." - Bun B Growing up in the streets of the post-industrial, predominantly Latino city of Lawrence, MA, the half-white, half-Puerto Rican MC transitioned from silly freestyles at age nine to full-fledged records by 15. Constantly traveling between Boston and New York to pursue his music business dream, he released his first 12-inch in 2002. Through his alliance with influential mixtape DJ (and fellow Massachusetts native) Statik Selektah, Term began earning the respect of Boston's hip-hop scene with several highly acclaimed 12" singles. At the onset of 2006, Term caught his big break when legendary producer DJ Premier, whom he met three years earlier, finally blessed him with one of his signature, scratch-laden beats. "Watch How It Go Down" instantly became an underground classic and Termanology appeared on hip-hop's international radar. The conscious hood anthem garnered the earnest MC tons of praise, landing him in The Source's "Unsigned Hype" and XXL's "Show and Prove" columns. Since then, Termanology has quickly climbed the industry ranks with his Hood Politics mixtape series and continued collaborations with DJ Premier and other big name producers. Term's hard work resulted in a joint venture deal with EMI-distributed label Nature Sounds, which he signed in late 2007. "I decided to go the indy route to have total control of everything related to my project," Term explains. "Term has a unique desire for the culture because he touches the issues that i can relate to as a TRUE HIP-HOP HEAD..his flows are nice, and he stays creative with his subject matter...he even speaks for me and not every new MC comin' up can do that." - DJ Premier

Masta Ace (born Duval Clear on December 4, 1966)[1] is a rapper from Brooklyn, New York. He appeared on the classic 1988 Juice Crew posse cut "The Symphony". The single that has earned him the most attention is called "Born to Roll". 1988-1994 Clear graduated from University of Rhode Island in 1988, after meeting Marley Marl in 1987 during his summer break. [2] Ace made his recording debut as Master Ace on the hip hop posse-cut "The Symphony", along with fellow Juice Crew members Craig G, Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane, released on Marley Marl's In Control album. The album also featured two additional Ace tracks, "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" and "Simon Says". In 1989, he released his first solo single, "Together" b/w "Letter to the Better". His debut album, Take a Look Around, was released through Marl's Cold Chillin' label in 1990, featuring production from Marl and DJ Mister Cee. The album featured two minor hit singles in "Music Man" and "Me & The Biz", the latter being a track with Ace's impersonation of Biz Markie, rather than a duet as previously thought the song would be. [1] In the early stages of his career, Masta Ace was very energetic (cf. "Jeep Ass Niguh", where, tongue-in-cheek, he taunts police officers for their knee-jerk predisposition to harass black youth on city streets.) He also recorded material with a six-member supporting entourage, Masta Ace Incorporated. In light of his newly claimed status as a veteran, he has gravitated toward an earnest, matter-of-fact plainspokenness in the new millennium. Many of the songs that have lent newfound heft to his reputation are simple, no-nonsense rumination on feelings and facts of urban American life, including "Soda and Soap" and "Beautiful".[1] During the years between his debut and his second album, Ace began having bitter feelings toward the commercial state of hip hop music, as well as the prominence of Gangsta rap, feelings which ruled the content on his second release, 1993's SlaughtaHouse, with the loose concept of the album seeing Ace taking the fake "gangsta emcees" to his "SlaughtaHouse". The album featured Ace's new crew, Masta Ace Incorporated, which included Eyceurokk, Lord Digga, Paula Perry and R&B vocalist Leschea. The singles "SlaughtaHouse", "Saturday Nite Live", "Style Wars" and "Jeep Ass Niguh" were taken from the album. The latter featured an unlisted remix titled "Born to Roll", which became a crossover single in 1994, peaking at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[3] In the same year, Ace became a member of a temporary crew Crooklyn Dodgers, formed for the release of Spike Lee's movie, Crooklyn, along with rappers Special Ed and Buckshot of Black Moon, and recorded the title track of the album soundtrack. The song became Ace's second Hot 100 hit in 1994, peaking at #60 on the chart. [edit] 1995-2000 Ace furthered his mainstream appeal in 1995, with his radio-friendly Sittin' on Chrome album. This effort was also released with the Masta Ace Incorporated crew, now also known as The I.N.C. The album was Ace's most commercially successful release, breaking into the Top 20 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. Sittin' On Chrome included "Born to Roll", as well as two other Hot 100 hit singles, "The I.N.C. Ride" and "Sittin' on Chrome". Following the album's success, Ace had a falling out with I.N.C. members Lord Digga and Paula Perry, leading to the break up of the crew. After the split, Ace was largely missing from the hip hop scene over the next five years, save for a number of random vinyl singles. During his vinyl days, he bounced from a number of labels, releasing his "Cars" single on Tape Kingz Records, his "Yeah Yeah Yeah" and "NFL" singles on the Union Label, his "NY Confidential" single on Replay Records, his "Express Delivery" single on Three Sixty Records, his "Spread It Out/Hellbound" single on Yosumi Records, his "Conflict" single on Mona Records, his "Ghetto Like" single on Fat Beats, his "So Now U A MC" single on Bad Magic Records, and his "Brooklyn Blocks" single on Buckshot's Duck Down Records.[1] [edit] 2001-present Ace's "Ghetto Like" single led to a misunderstanding with an underground emcee named Boogieman, who released a somewhat similar single titled "Ghetto Love" not long before. He thought that Ace was "biting" his track and released a diss song toward Ace titled "Just You Wait". Ace responded to Boogieman on the diss track "Acknowledge", which also dissed High & Mighty over a misunderstanding. The trading of records led to a rap battle between the two at a Lyricist Lounge event. "Acknowledge" was also included on "Disposable Arts."[1] Disposable Arts became one of the most acclaimed underground hip hop releases of 2001, beloved for its pure hip hop style and clever album concept, which served as a fictional story, chronicling Ace's time spent at a satirical rap school named the "Institute of Disposable Arts". JCOR Records folded soon after the release, leaving it out-of-print, until being re-released in 2005 on Ace's self-established M3 label. The album closer, "No Regrets", led many fans to believe that it would be Ace's final album, because of the line "I don't know if it's the end, but yo, it might be". Ace killed the rumors by returning in 2004 with his fifth album A Long Hot Summer, another highly acclaimed effort. The story concept, similar to that on his last release, served as a prelude to the story told on Disposable Arts, chronicling the "Long Hot Summer" that led to his character's incarceration at the beginning of the Disposable Arts album. Rumors once again spread about a retirement, which were again squashed, when Ace announced the formation of his new rap crew named eMC, including himself, Punchline, Wordsworth and his protege Strick. Ace remarked in a December 2006 interview that he would no longer record as a solo artist, only with eMC.[4] eMC's first group album, The Show, was scheduled for early 2007 but was released in February 2008 digitally and April 2008 physically. On June 5th 2007, Chinga Chang Records released "Official Joints" with new music from Masta Ace and other NYC rappers

Statik Selektah shows his geographical range, hooking with some of Golden State's finest for this new track off his Sophomore album, Stick 2 The Script. Charles Penniman (born in Watts, California), better known by his stage name Glasses Malone or G. Malone, is a West Coast rapper from the Watts District of Los Angeles, California.Traditionally associated with The Black Wall Street Records despite the fact that most the artists on the record label were Bloods, Malone signed with Sony Records for 1.7 million dollars in 2005[2], turning down offers from many labels like Def Jam Records[2], Interscope Records, J Records, Black Wall Street Records and Atlantic Records. Glasses Malone was found by the same record executive that found The Game. Along with his signing, he was also given his own imprint, Blu Division.[2] His decision to leave The Black Wall Street hasn't affected his relationship negatively with The Game. The Game had a few words to say about Glasses "using his label" on "120 Bars", but both sides are on good terms and have even performed together on stage.[3] G. Malone lit the underground on fire in 2005 with his mixtape White Lighting (Sticks), which sold over 30,000 copies.[4] Earlier, he released The Crack Mixtape.[5] Glasses Malone can be seen in the music video for Tha Dogg Pound's single "Cali Iz Active'. He also appeared on the soundtrack to Madden 2007 with a song called "Right Now" which was produced by Scott Storch. On August 4, 2006 Glasses Malone appeared on MTV's You Hear It First.[6] Malone's first album, The Beach Cruiser, was originally scheduled to come out on February 20, 2007. However, due to a change in record labels, Malone signed a new deal with Cash Money Records and Hoo-Bangin' Records[7] and his album release scheduled tentatively for April 2008. His album has now been pushed back to June 6, 2009 and there is now a new single featuring T-Pain, Rick Ross, and Birdman, as well as two new mixtapes before the album drops according to Dubcnn[8 Stanley P. Cox, (born January 23, 1982)[1] better known by his stage name Mistah F.A.B., is an American rapper from North Oakland, California. He attended Oakland Technical High School and Emery High School. He is signed to Bay Area rap legend Mac Dre's label, Thizz Entertainment and Atlantic Records. Mistah F.A.B. is an acronym for "Money Is Something to Always Have - FaEva Afta Bread." Mistah F.A.B. was born in North Oakland, California and raised by his grandmother and his mother, who sometimes worked four jobs to support him while his father was incarcerated. When F.A.B. was 12, his father died of complications of AIDS. Around that time, F.A.B. started writing and rapping. In high school F.A.B. competed in freestyle rap battles. On Friday February 6th, 2009 while traveling to Los Angeles CA from Bakersfield CA, FAB was riding in a car with his manager Stretch driving and another passenger. The car hit a pot-hole and hydro-planed flipping over 2 times and coming to a rest up-side down. Initially it was thought that FAB would be paralyzed from the waist down, this was later proven to be incorrect as FAB was released from the hospital the next day.

Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 1972 in Oakland, California),[1] better known as Del tha Funkee Homosapien, is an alternative hip hop artist.Cousin of renowned rapper Ice Cube, Del began his career writing lyrics for Cube's backing band, Da Lench Mob.[2] In 1991, with the help of Ice Cube, Del released his first solo album, I Wish My Brother George Was Here,[2] at the age of 18. The album was a commercial success, largely due to the popularity of the hit single, "Mistadobalina". Ultimately Del, who was not pleased with the limited musical range of the album, took matters into his own hands, and severed his production-artist relationship with Ice Cube for his next album, No Need for Alarm. No Need for Alarm also saw the introduction of the famous Oakland clique Hieroglyphics,[2] whose original members included the widely acclaimed Souls of Mischief, Domino, Casual, Snupe, and Pep Love. No Need for Alarm was a bold move on Del's part as it allowed him to develop, display, and solidify his unique style as an MC, and also helped to expose both the regional Oakland sound of hip hop, as well as the freestyle based, "golden era-97" style of hip hop being expanded at the time. Due to touring, mundane activities, and frequent psychedelic drug use, it would be another five years before the release of his third album. About a month before the release of his third album Future Development Del received an auspicious letter from his label, Elektra, stating that his contract had been terminated.[2] Del's third solo album Future Development became available in 1998. The album was only available on the Hieroglyphics website for download, and in tape form in Japan. Future Development was re-released in 2002 under the Hieroglyphics Imperium label. Del also released another collaborative work with the Hieroglyphics crew in 1998, 3rd Eye Vision, it was the Hieroglyphics crew's first album. Two years later, Del released his fourth solo album, Both Sides of the Brain, as well as Deltron 3030 which was a collaborative work with artists Dan “the Automator” Nakamura and Kid Koala, featuring a special guest appearance by Scotty "the Great Gatsby" Beezle. Exposure from the 3030 project helped to expand Del's fan base—the 3030 project worked well as a marketing move because the CD capitalized on the growing interest of computer technology, incorporating motifs of science fiction, telling stories about life and hip hop based in the year 3030, and infusing much of the popular internet terminology and culture in circulation at the time. Del collaborated with trip hop-group Gorillaz for two songs on their debut album, both of which became singles: "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock the House". In their cartoon-based videos he is portrayed as a ghost. Del later commented in an interview on the success of "Clint Eastwood" by saying to the interviewer that he actually wrote the song with the book "How to Write a Hit Song," a book that he bought with a coupon his mother gave him. After the song went platinum he gave the plaque to his mother[1]. As part of Russel Hobbs' backstory, the character of Del was one of Russel's friends that was gunned down in a drive-by shooting, whose ghost possessed Russel. When Del was not invited to work on the Demon Days album, a story was written that Del and the other spirits that possessed Russel were exorcised in 2003. 2003 also saw the release of Full Circle, the second full-length album from the Hieroglyphics crew. In 2004 Elektra released The Best of Del The Funky Homosapien: The Elektra Years without the approval of Del. The CD only includes songs from his first two albums, along with a handful of b-sides from that era. Del was not pleased and advised people to not buy the CD, saying it was just Elektra trying to make money off of him due to his newfound fame. Together with his crew, Del has established his own independent record label, Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings, which primarily consists of an expanded Hieroglyphics roster and a few other artists with whom the group collaborates regularly.The Homosapien's songs repeatedly appear in video games. In 2000, the song "Catch All This" from Both Sides Of The Brainwas featured in the game Street Sk8er 2In 2000, the song "Jaw Gymnastics", featuring Casual, was featured in the game Knockout Kings. In 2000, the song "Positive Contact" from Deltron 3030 was featured in the game Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX. In 2001, the song "If You Must" was featured in the game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. In 2003, the song "Positive Contact" from Deltron 3030 was featured in the game Tony Hawk's Underground. In 2005, the song "At the Helm" featuring Hieroglyphics was featured in the game Tony Hawk’s Project 8. In 2006, the song "Catch A Bad One" was used in the game Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. Also in 2006 his song "Dr. Bombay" was used in the movie Beerfest and more recently a Hieroglyphics song "At the Helm" was featured in commercials for and is used in Tony Hawk's Project 8. A Hieroglyphics song "Don't Hate the Player" was also featured in NBA 2K7. Also, his song "Burnt" was featured in Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. Del has also had many songs featured in snowboarding movies. "Press Rewind" was the song for Eero Ettala's part in the film White Balance and "If You Must" was featured in DC Mountain Lab. Currently there is a DVD available called 11th Hour, which DVD contains some live footage, footage of him in the studio and around the house, as well as footage of him recording 11th Hour. It was his first solo album in more than seven years. In 2008, 11th Hour was released first, with the new Deltron album, Deltron Event II to be released afterwards. "11th Hour" was released by Definitive Jux instead of the usual Hiero Imperium. CEO and MC El-P all but confirmed Del's signing recently in a cryptic myspace blog post[citation needed]. Del is also currently on tour with Embedded/Def Jux artists Iller than Theirs and Junk Science. On November 6, 2007 there was a post on the Definitive Jux website that stated Del had signed with Definitive Jux. When asked about working with Def Jux, Del commented: "I look at this as an opportunity to spread the gospel a little thicker. El-P and I have known each other for a long time and I respect what he does. I see Def Jux out there doing their thing, I think we can help each other build new audiences. I'm looking forward to working with El-P and Def Jux on future projects as well." El-P added, "Del is and always has been one of my favorite artists and people. It's amazing to get a chance to release Del's vision on Jux. The 11th Hour 100% Del. Conceived and produced completely by the man himself. My hope is just to get the record out to as many people as possible and to support the legacy Del and the whole Heiro Emporium have created. He's one of hip hop's true originals and a legitimate leader of the new and true school that we all love." Del is currently touring the U.S. on the 11th Hour Tour.[when?] Del was recently seen on an episode of the MTV show MADE in Canada, where he encouraged the youth to drop-in on a mini ramp and later performing and dedicating "If You Must" to the main character. He also provided songs for the soundtrack.

Daniel Dumile (pronounced /duːməleɪ/) is a British-born American hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM (now simply known as DOOM) , where the "MF" stands for Metal Face or Metal Fingers. He has also been known as Viktor Vaughn, Zev Love X, King Geedorah, Metal Fingers, and the Supervillain. He has appeared in several collaborative projects such as Danger Doom (with Danger Mouse) and Madvillain (with Madlib). He is one of the most prolific and critically acclaimed hip hop artists of the 2000s . [edit] Early years with KMD Dumile was born 1971 or 1972 in London, England, the son of a Trinidadian mother and Zimbabwean father.[1]. He then moved with his family to New York and was raised on Long Island, New York. As Zev Love X, he formed the group KMD with his younger brother DJ Subroc and another MC called Onyx the Birthstone Kid.[1] A&R rep Dante Ross learned of KMD from the hip hop group 3rd Bass, and signed the group to Elektra Records.[2] Dumile and KMD's debut on record came on 3rd Bass's song "The Gas Face" from The Cactus Album[1], followed in 1991 with KMD's album Mr. Hood, which became a minor hit through its singles "Peachfuzz," "Who Me?" and heavy video play on cable TV's Yo! MTV Raps and Rap City. Subroc was struck and killed by a car in 1993 while attempting to cross a Long Island expressway before the release of a second KMD album, titled Black Bastards.[1] The group was subsequently dropped from Elektra Records that same week. Before the release of the album, it was shelved due to controversy over the its cover art,[2] which featured a cartoon of a stereotypical pickaninny or sambo character being hanged from the gallows. With the loss of his brother, Dumile retreated from the hip-hop scene from 1994 to 1997. He testifies to disillusionment and depression, living "damn near homeless, walking the streets of Manhattan, sleeping on benches."[1][3] In the late 1990s, he left New York City and settled in Atlanta. According to interviews with Doom, he was also "recovering from his wounds" and swearing revenge "against the industry that so badly deformed him."[1] Black Bastards had become bootlegged at the time, leading to Doom's rise in the underground hip-hop world. [edit] Birth of MF Doom Dumile began to rap at open mic events at the Nuyorican Poets Café in 1998 where he obscured his face by putting a stocking over his head. His new identity was influenced by Marvel Comics supervillain Doctor Doom. He wears the mask while performing and isn't photographed without it, except for very short glimpses in videos such as Viktor Vaughn's "Mr. Clean" and in earlier photos with KMD[1] The release of Operation: Doomsday in 1998 by independent label Fondle 'Em marked the official turning point for Dumile in his reinvention of himself from a major label recording artist of minor status to independent artist, where he would find his greatest success. In 2000, Doom released his first collaboration with MF Grimm, entitled MF EP. Since then, the MF's have begun a bitter feud.[citation needed] The feud has expanded to MF Grimm's executive producer, Adam Olis. [edit] Mainstream recognition Doom's first commercial breakthrough came in 2004, with the album Madvillainy together with producer Madlib under the group name Madvillain. Released by Stones Throw Records, the album was a critical and commercial success. MF Doom was seen by mainstream audiences for the first time as Madvillain received publicity and acclaim in publications such as Rolling Stone, New York Times, The New Yorker, and Spin. A video for "All Caps" and a four-date U.S. tour followed the release of Madvillainy. Additional videos for "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Accordion," both directed by Andrew Gura, were released on the DVDs Stones Throw 101 and "Stones Throw 102: In Living the True Gods," respectively. In the same year, MF Doom's second solo album MM..Food was released by the Minnesota-based label Rhymesayers Entertainment. As Viktor Vaughn (another play on Doctor Doom, whose "real name" is Victor von Doom) he has released two albums Vaudeville Villain & Venomous Villain (also called VV2). Another alias MF Doom has taken character as, is a three-headed space monster called King Geedorah, which plays on the name by the Godzilla monster "King Ghidorah". In the disguise of this alien figure, he's done the album Take Me to Your Leader where he mainly plays the role as a producer only appearing on a couple of songs. Though still an independent artist, MF Doom took a bigger step towards the mainstream in 2005 with The Mouse and the Mask, a collaboration with producer DJ Danger Mouse under the group name Danger Doom. The album, released on October 11, 2005 by Epitaph, was done in cooperation with Cartoon Network's [adult swim] and frequently references characters from its programs (mostly Aqua Teen Hunger Force). Doom also made an appearance in "November Has Come," a track on Gorillaz's 2005 album Demon Days. In 2006 Doom hosted the [adult swim] Christmas special and he could be seen in between shows, usually talking about what was up next, and making jokes. [edit] Current and upcoming projects MF Doom produced tracks for both of Ghostface Killah's 2006 albums, Fishscale and More Fish; and the two are currently at work on a collaboration album entitled Swift & Changeable. So far only one track has been released from the album, "Angels", which appeared on a Nature Sounds compilation in late 2006. Doom has also revealed plans for a second Madvillain album with producer Madlib, with one song, "Monkey Suite", first appearing on the Adult Swim/Stones Throw Records album Chrome Children. Other potential projects mentioned by Doom include new albums from Danger Doom[4], The John Robinson Project and KMD, as well as further albums under both his Viktor Vaughn and King Geedorah aliases. However, many such Doom projects have been rumored in recent years without materializing. Despite no new Doom releases in 2006, Kidrobot and Stones Throw released an 8" tall Madvillain toy available to coincide with the release of the Chrome Children CD/DVD (hosted by Peanut Butter Wolf) which featured a DVD performance of Madvillain and several other Stones Throw artists. MF Doom also continued to work with [adult swim] doing voice-over work as Sherman the Giraffe on Perfect Hair Forever, being the voice for The Boondocks ads and previews and hosting their Christmas Eve 2006 programming. MM..Food was reissued under the Rhymesayers label on July 24, 2007 as a special edition CD & DVD package. MF Doom will also be in production on the second album of past collaborator Kurious which is due early 2008. He has also made an appearance on Stones Throw's B-Ball Zombie War on a track called "Mash's Revenge" along with Guilty Simpson and the late J Dilla. Lately, Doom has co-won a mtvU Woodie Award with Madlib in the category Left Field Woodie for Madvillain's "Monkey Suite" video. A track was also released by Stones Throw through digital download on June 2008 entitled "Sniper Elite", it is part of the J Dilla / Ghostface Killah / MF Doom collaboration project called Sniperlite, which contains only three songs. [edit] Born Like This In late January 2009, Lex records confirmed DOOM's new album title to be Born Like This, and that the "MF" would be dropped from his name, now just DOOM.[5] The album was released worldwide on March 24, 2009.[6] As a teaser, the track "Ballskin" was posted on DOOM's Myspace page on 13 January 2009.[7] Snippets of the entire album were made available for streaming on DOOM's MySpace on the album's release date. The title for the album was inspired by the poem 'Dinosauria, We' by 1960s and '70s poet Charles Bukowski. DOOM samples a performance of the poem by Bukowski on the track "Cellz." Previously, DOOM used a Bukowski sample for a vocal interlude on 2004's "All Outta Ale." [8] Thom Yorke of Radiohead remixed the track "Gazillion Ear" which is available as an iTunes only bonus track

Statik Selektah feat- M.O.P and Jadakiss . M.O.P., short for Mash Out Posse, is an American hardcore hip hop duo. The duo, comprising Billy Danze and Lil' Fame, is known for the angry, aggressive delivery typically employed by both emcees. Although they maintain a strong underground following, they are mainly known for the song "Ante Up," released on 2000's Warriorz, and for which they had some mainstream success. The group has frequently collaborated with DJ Premier. Fame sometimes goes under the production moniker Fizzy Womack, and has produced on several M.O.P. releases as well as for other artists.Jason Phillips,[1] also known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. Jadakiss is one of three owners of the imprint known as D-Block. He recently signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, an imprint under Def Jam Recordings.By the age of 17, Jadakiss was a freestyle rapper engaging in competitions. He and some of his friends were given the opportunity to compete in the "Jack the Rapper Competition" in Florida, where Jadakiss was noticed for his battle rap ability. He met Dee and Wah of the Ruff Ryders (then a management company), and began hanging out and battling outside of the Ruff Ryders' studio where artists like DMX made their first hits. Jadakiss founded the rap group The Warlocks in 1994 with friends Sheek Louch, Chris "Lil Mac" Pelkey, and Styles P. They later signed to Bad Boy Entertainment, where it was suggested that they change their name simply to "The LOX", which came to stand for Living Off eXperience. They made their first appearance on The Main Source's 1994 LP Fuck What You Think on the track "Set it Off". The group, especially Jadakiss, developed a close relationship with The Notorious B.I.G., during which time Jadakiss was taken under Biggie's wing. The LOX's first multi-platinum hit was the tribute to Biggie called "We'll Always Love Big Poppa" (the B-side to Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You") in 1997. In 1998, the LOX released Money, Power & Respect. Following this album, they left Bad Boy Records. Jada's debut solo album, Kiss Tha Game Goodbye, was released in August 2001 under the Ruff Ryders/Interscope label. The album featured popular guests and producers such as DJ Premier, The Alchemist, Snoop Dogg and Swizz Beatz, but was written off as repetitive and uninspired. Jadakiss has acknowledged the criticism as, generally speaking, valid, saying the record was done less out of inspiration and more out of contract obligations to Bad Boy. The album produced the single "Put Ya Hands Up." Jadakiss' second album, Kiss of Death, was released in June 2004. His song "Why?" (featuring Anthony Hamilton) became one of the biggest hits of 2004, spawning a remix featuring Styles P, Common, Nas, and Hamilton. "Why?" remains Jada's biggest hit, peaking at #11 on the Hot 100. Another single from the record, "U Make Me Wanna" featured Mariah Carey and was a much more commercially driven love song. Kiss of Death did not reflect the popularity of its lead single, but it was better-received than his first effort. Recently, in late 2007, Jadakiss signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, a move Jay had been trying to arrange for a long period of time.[2] He will release his latest album, The Last Kiss, on Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella Records in April 2009, executive produced by both Jay-Z and the Ruff Ryders CEOs/management team of Dee and Wah.[3] The move comes on the heels of increased D-Block/Roc-a-Fella collaborations; in 2006, Kiss and former rival Beanie Sigel collaborated on DJ Khaled's album Listen..., and in 2007, on Freeway's album Free At Last, while Styles P has appeared on a radio freestyle with Freeway and Sigel. He has also appeared briefly in Jay-Z's latest video for his American Gangster second single, "Roc Boys," in which he appears throwing up the famous Roc-a-Fella sign, "the Diamond."

Consequence (born Dexter Raymond Mills, Jr. on June 14, 1977) is an American hip hop artist from Queens, New York. Biography Early life Dexter Raymond Mills was born on June 14, 1977 in Queens, New York. He grew up in a very poor section of the area. Mills is the younger cousin of fellow emcee Q-Tip. When he was younger, Dexter developed a love for hip hop music and was a huge fan of Rakim. In his early years he used to follow his cousin and his group, A Tribe Called Quest. Soon after, they got a record deal and he tagged along for the ride. Music career Dexter soon developed the stage name, Consequence. At the age of sixteen, he made his first official appearance on the Tribe's 1993 album. He would go on to make numerous appearances on their songs and albums. After the group disbanded in 1998, Consequence was forced to search for a label on his own. Consequence soon earned a deal at Elektra Records. He recorded an album's worth of material to be released in 2000, but the label cut back that year and by 2004, the label had ceased operations. In 2004, he released the mixtape, Take 'Em To The Cleaners, which would find its way into the hands of Kanye West. After this West offered him a guest spot on his debut album The College Dropout. He went on to appear on West's second album. In 2005, Kanye signed Consequence to his label GOOD Music through a deal with Columbia Records. In 2007, Consequence finally released his debut album, Don't Quit Your Day Job!. Singles from the album were "Callin' Me" and "Grammy Family." His debut album received mixed reviews and gained him comparisons to Nas as the poor man's version. The album sold over 7,000 copies in its first week. Since the release of his debut album, he has begun working on his second album, You Win Some, You Lose Some, which is set to be produced by Kanye West and Q-Tip. It's slated for release in spring 2009 on G.O.O.D Music and Universal Motown

Mike Relm is an American DJ, turntablist, and VJ from San Francisco, California. He has performed with notable hip-hop artists Lyrics Born, Money Mark, Gift of Gab, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, and D-Sharp. In 1999 he won the International Turntablist Federation's USA competition. More recently he toured as part of Mike Patton's Peeping Tom project. As a solo artist, Relm is known for live performances which feature a series of audio mashups paired with video images, manipulated in real-time with a turntable-like device (e.g. Pioneer DVJ1000). Mike Relm toured with Blue Man Group from 2007-2008. He performed at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Bonnaroo, as well as the renowned Audiotistic-Future Sound Festival which featured Outkast and Mos Def. In 2005 he released a DVD called Suit Yourself, which documents his time on the "Fourth Dimensional Rocketships" tour with Gift of Gab. He most recently appeared at YouTube Live at San Francisco as a DJ mixing YouTube favorites like 'Charlie Bit My Finger'.

Full Circle is the second album released by the Oakland, California-based, underground hip hop collective, Hieroglyphics. The album was released on October 7, 2003 by the group's own independent record label, Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings. Track listing "Prelude" (D. Siguenzai, P. Peacock) – 1:46 "Fantasy Island" (O. Lindsey, D. Thompson, P. Peacock) – 4:28 "Powers That Be" (D. Siguenzai, O. Lindsey, T. Massey, T. Jones, P. Peacock) – 4:54 "Make Your Move (Featuring Goapele)" (D. Siguenzai, J. Owens, P. Peacock, G. Mohlabane) – 4:29 "Shift Shape" (D. Siguenzai, J. Owens, P. Peacock, A. Carter, O. Lindsey) – 5:22 "Classic" (D. Siguenzai, T. Massey, T. Jones, P. Peacock) – 3:08 "Chicago" (A. Carter, O. Lindsey, D. Thompson, T. Massey) – 2:55 "Heatish" (O. Lindsey, P. Peacock, J. Owens) – 4:53 "Halo" (O. Lindsey, D. Thompson, J. Owens, T. Jones, A. Carter, T. Massey) – 4:50 "Love Flowin'" (O. Lindsey, J. Owens, P. Peacock, A. Carter) – 3:43 "100,000 Indi (Featuring Abstract Rude)" (J. Owens, D. Thompson, A. Pointer) – 3:48 "Let It Roll" (D. Siguenzai, T. Massey, P. Peacock) – 3:46 Contains a sample from: "Human Behaviour" by Björk "Maggie May (R.I.P. Faith)" (A. Carter, D. Thompson, O. Lindsey, T. Jones) – 3:47 "Jingle Jangle" (A. Perez, T. Massey, J. Owens, A. Carter, P. Peacock, T. Jones) – 4:38 "Full Circle" (A. Carter, P. Peacock, J. Owens, O. Lindsey, G. Mohlabane) – 4:39 "7 Sixes" (D. Siguenzai, P. Peacock, T. Massey, J. Owens, O. Lindsey, T. Jones, D. Thompson, A. Carter) – 4:48

Hieroglyphics, also known as the Hieroglyphics Crew and Hiero, are an American underground hip hop collective based in Oakland, California. The collective was founded in the early-1990s by rapper Del tha Funkee Homosapien. The Hieroglyphics combine fundamentally sound deliveries and lyrical content with original and sometimes jazzy or funky beats and samples.[1] Since their inception, Hieroglyphics have found a following largely through their live concerts, podcasts ("Hierocasts"), and promotion through their website. The collective uses a three-eyed, straight-lipped face logo that figures prominently on their albums, website, stickers, and clothing. As a collective, the Hieroglyphics have released two studio albums: 3rd Eye Vision in 1998, and Full Circle in 2003. In 2005, the collective released a live DVD and accompanying CD of the Hiero's 2003 Full Circle Tour. The collective has also released five compilation albums: Hieroglyphics B-Sides and Hieroglyphics Oldies, Vol. I in 1997, Hieroglyphics Oldies, Vol. II in 1998, The Building in 2004, The Corner in 2005, and most recently, Over Time, in March, 2007. Individual Hiero members have released several albums of their own, either through solo projects or outside group projects, all released on the collective's own label, and available for purchase through the collective's website. Hieroglyphics' LogoThe collective's ubiquitous, third eye logo was created by Del tha Funkee Homosapien, the son of an abstract artist, and has been used to promote the collective through reproduction on the Hieroglyphic's album covers, website, promotional materials, stickers, and clothing.[3] In a 2000 interview with the SF Weekly, Del commented: “ When I invented that symbol, I never thought it would get this big. I've seen about 20 people with that tattoo. I saw a comic book -- like Clerks or something -- and one of the fools in there had a Hiero shirt on. I saw a Redman and Method Man video, and there's somebody in the crowd with a Hiero shirt on. I think slowly but surely people are starting to pay attention to us. ” The Clerks comic in question was drawn by underground comic artist Jim Mahfood who has worked various rap and hip hop items into his work over his career and has had his live art shows compared to hip hop musicians. In an interview with halftimeonline in 2004, Mahfood mentioned Del and the Hieroglyphics by name: “ Working in comics, especially the way I do, is totally comparable to an underground emcee or rap crew because you can actually make a living off of it without selling out or compromising your vision. Some of my heroes are Del The Funkee Homosapien from the Hieroglyphics crew, Jurassic 5, or my homeboy Z-Trip are all people who have developed a following for doing something really specific.

7L & Esoteric (7LES) are a Boston-based hip-hop duo, notorious for battle rhymes and boom-bap production. 7L is the duo's DJ/Producer and Esoteric the emcee.The duo formed in 1992 when Esoteric (known at the time as Seamus the God Awful) DJed a hip hop show at a college radio station north of Boston. 7L, a DJ and producer who listened to the show, contacted Esoteric in the interest of collaborating. The two found they shared a common love of the golden age of hip-hop and decided to form a group. After performing for some time in the Boston underground, the duo, with MC Karma known at the time as God Complex, released their first single in 1996. This led to the release of the Rebel Alliance LP, featuring acts such as Virtuoso, Mr. Lif, Tony Infamous and Force Five. Also at this time the two dropped the God Complex moniker becoming simply 7L & Esoteric. Soon after, 7L & Esoteric put out their first 12” with re-mastered versions of their Rebel Alliance songs “Protocol” and “Be Alert.” "Be Alert", the B-side on the record, began to receive significant radio play, due to its unique sampling of the Transformers TV theme song. The track, which was produced by Beyonder, became very popular in the underground scene. The duo then dropped the “Def Rhymes” single which got them press in the Source. “Def Rhymes” was also featured on the EP, Speaking Real Words, released in 1999. The album also featured Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck on the title track. They released their debut LP The Soul Purpose in the summer of 2001. The album received the Boston Music Award for “Best Hip-Hop Album,”[citation needed] and led to the duo touring the United States and Europe. Upon their return, they recorded and released their second LP in the fall of 2002 entitled Dangerous Connection. After taking a break from recording the duo released their third LP DC2: Bars of Death in the spring of 2004 with Babygrande Records. The album received overall positive reviews and was lauded by long-time fans.[citation needed] In 2006, "Moment of Rarities" was also released with Babygrande. This CD was a collection of previously unreleased tracks. Esoteric has stated that this CD was put out to fulfill contractual obligations with Babygrande Records. "Too Much Posse" was released in 2006, under Esoteric's own label, Fly Casual. This CD was a collection of songs where Esoteric rapped alongside other artists. It also contained a few previously unreleased remixes and freestyles. Later in 2006 "A New Dope" was released, taking the duo in a new direction with more a more electro influenced sound and the production shared between both 7L and Esoteric. The album featured Kool Keith on the track "Daisy Cutta". 7L & Esoteric are both prominent members of the underground hip-hop groups the Demigodz and Army of the Pharaohs. Their work also features a long list of collaborations with artists such as Jedi Mind Tricks, Apathy, Celph Titled, Outerspace, and even World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler John Cena. Le Tigre is an American dance-punk band, formed by Kathleen Hanna (formerly of Bikini Kill) and Johanna Fateman in 1998. It also featured Sadie Benning from 1998 until 2001, and JD Samson for the rest of the group's run. Le Tigre is known for its socio-political lyrics, dealing with issues of feminism and the LGBT community. The band is currently on hiatus. Initially envisioned as a live back up band for Hanna's solo project Julie Ruin, Le Tigre mixed the politics and feminism of riot grrrl with fun electronic samples and lo-fi beats. Other members included Johanna Fateman and JD Samson. JD joined Le Tigre as a full member when co-founder Sadie Benning left the band before the Feminist Sweepstakes album was recorded. JD had previously worked with the band as a roadie and the operator of Benning's slide show during live performances in support of their first record. The self-proclaimed "underground electro-feminist performance artists" combined visuals, music and dance in their performances. JD is a gay rights activist, and the excerpts in "New Kicks" are from an actual protest that JD recorded herself. Kathleen is a public speaker against sexual abuse. The song "Hot Topic" on Le Tigre's self-titled debut pays tribute to dozens of female visual artists, musicians, writers, feminists and others who have inspired them. Among the honorees are: Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, Aretha Franklin, Vaginal Cream Davis, Yayoi Kusama, Angela Davis, Sleater-Kinney, Billy Tipton, Laura Cottingham, James Baldwin, and Hanna's close friend, Tammy Rae Carland. In a similar fashion the song "FYR" off the album Feminist Sweepstakes is a tribute to the chapter and ideals put forth in Shulamith Firestone's Fifty Years of Ridicule in her 1970 feminist work The Dialectic of Sex. The album contains a sample of an essay written by Mark Rothko in response to a negative review in 1942 where he debuted the style he would become famous for. The first two recordings by the band were released on the independent label Mr. Lady Records, run by Kaia Wilson of The Butchies and her girlfriend, artist Tammy Rae Carland. Feminist Sweepstakes (2001) came out on Chicks on Speed's record label. The album This Island (2004) was Le Tigre's first on a major label (Universal Records). Ric Ocasek of the Cars produced one track, "Tell You Now." Even after signing with Universal, Le Tigre continued to work with independent labels. In 2005 they released This Island Remixes with Chicks on Speed. In the second half of 2006, the band decided to take an extended break starting early 2007.[1] Since then Kathleen has participated in The Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls and taught an art class at NYU. JD Samson has toured as keyboard player with Peaches and made many DJ appearances, while Johanna Fateman has kept busy with a hairdressing salon in NYC's Greenwich Village.[2] In 2008 JD and Johanna formed a new project, Men, that will do a DJ tour and record

The Last Emperor is the recording name of Jamal Gray, Philadelphia-born hip-hop artist. He is renowned for his quick wit and lyrical skill. The Last Emperor took his moniker from the Bernardo Bertolucci film epic of the same name (The Last Emperor). He attended and graduated Overbrook High School (Philadelphia) then went on to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science/International Relations from Lincoln University. After moving to New York he began performing at open mic nights. It was at the Lyricist Lounge that he became known mainly for his eminent stage presence and hypnotizing live shows. The Last Emperor quickly gained a verse on KRS-One's 'C.I.A. (Criminals In Action)' with Zack De La Rocha. Two years after graduating from Lincoln he obtained a major recording contract from Aftermath Entertainment. Jamal amazingly became a protégé of Dr. Dre, a pioneer of hip-hop music, co-founder of Death Row Records, and the legendary producer of artists such as Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, and Eminem. In 2003 official word came out that The Last Emperor had signed to Rawkus Records, but unfortunately, due to distribution problems, the record was kept off the rack. Last Emperor has his own label Red Planet Music Corp. which is distributed by Raptivism. Last Emperor's brother Que is his partner on the label. He has opened for such acts as the former Def Squad (Redman, EPMD, Das EFX and K-Solo), Common, The Roots, and KRS-One. He has performed at the Lyricist Lounge on several occasions. He’s traveled around the world from Denmark [Roskilde Festival], London [Jam in the park], and Norway [Quart Festival] to North America as the Guest MC for the popular rock group, Gorillaz. He's currently signed to Raptivism Records, but was signed to two different well known labels in the past: Aftermath Records and Rawkus Records. Last Emperor released his debut album Music, Magic, Myth (Palace of The Pretender in Europe) in 2003.

One more from "other side of the game" , produced by Jay Quest . The forthcoming release, his third full-length as a solo artist, contains several collaborations with high profile producers, including fellow Gang Starr Foundation member DJ Premier, who contributes four tracks. Those who want to hear more of Shug should tune in to DJ Premier's Sirius Satellite Radio show, "Live From HeadQCourterz," on which the emcee holds down cohosting duties every Friday night from midnight to 2:00 AM. Otherside of the Game tracklist: 1.) Intro 2.) Soundcheck (produced by DJ Premier) 3.) When I Strike (produced by DJ Premier) 4.) What it Means f/Billy Danze of M.O.P. & Frankie Wainwright (Produced by Soul Professa) 5.) Like A Muhf*cka (produced by DJ Premier) 6.) Murdapan (produced by MoSS) 7.) 123 Bang f/Bumpy Knuckles & Hectic of ST. (produced by MoSS) 8.) Bring It Back (produced by MoSS) 9.) My Boston f/Termanology & Singapore Kane (Produced by DJ Premier) 10.) Better (Produced by Lee Bannon) 11.) Lonely Heart (Produced by Purpose) 12.) The Meaning Of Hardcore (produced by MoSS) 13.) Protection (produced by Lee Bannon) 14.) Militant Soldiers II f/Blaq Poet and Singapore Kane (produced by MoSS) 15.) Keep Calling Me (produced by Jay Quest) 16.) Young Death (produced by Gemz)

Big Shug (born Cary Guy) is a hip hop artist from Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of the Gang Starr Foundation collective. Guy spent much of his early life in Boston's Mattapan area (known locally as "Murdapan").[1] Growing up, he forged a friendship with future Gang Starr MC, Guru. The two were separated when Shug was imprisoned and Guru moved to New York, forming Gang Starr with DJ Premier. On his release, Shug again hooked up with Guru, joined the Gang Starr Foundation, and contributed to each of Gang Starr's albums, beginning with Hard to Earn in 1994 (on "F.A.L.A."). He also appeared on "The Militia" from 1998's Moment of Truth, and contributed to Guru's "Jazzmatazz" albums. During the 1990s, Shug recorded a few 12-inch singles produced by DJ Premier for Payday and Chrysalis, but his first solo album proper, Who's Hard was not released until 2005.[1] He signed to New York's Babygrande in 2007, and released his second album, Streetchamp. The album was produced by MoSS and DJ Premier and features guest appearances from DJ Premier and Sean Price. A third solo album, Otherside of the Game, was released in November 2008, and features DJ Premier, Bumpy Knuckles, Billy Danze of M.O.P., Termanology, Blaq Poet, and Singapore Cane. This album is a gem and was hard for me to choose just one track to podcast .

A remix album of American Gangsta by Japanese DJ's - Cut Creator (LL Cool J's former Dj) and DJ MURO . Muro's real name is Takayoshi Murota. In 1987 DJ Krush, Microphone Pager, , TWIGY and others formed the "KRUSH POSSE", a crew of rappers and Dj's.During this time he excelled at DJing hip-hop and began producing hip-hop beats. His solo debut appeared 1993. In the late 1990s he worked extensively with Nitro Microphone Underground, one of Japan's most successful hip-hop crews. In addition to producing he also was active as a designer.

A day in the life feat . RZA , Mars Volta , and A.G. Handsome Boy Modeling School was a hip hop collaboration between Dan the Automator and Prince Paul, producer of rap trio De La Soul. Handsome Boy Modeling School is a conceptual hip hop duo that parodied and acted as a commentary on vain, consumerist, materialistic, and self-absorbed members of upper class society, such as supermodels and people from old money. The pair often satirized upper class snobbery and perceived beauty. In 1999, they released the concept album So... How's Your Girl?, which was loosely based on an episode of the Chris Elliott sitcom Get a Life entitled "The Prettiest Week of My Life." The episode also contains the origin of the name Handsome Boy Modeling School, where Chris Elliott's character enrolls to become a male model. In the album, Dan and Paul assume the characters of Nathaniel Merriweather and Chest Rockwell, respectively. A number of guest musicians appear, including Del tha Funkee Homosapien, J-Live, Sean Lennon, Miho Hatori (of Cibo Matto), Mike D (of the Beastie Boys) and Don Novello (as comic character Father Guido Sarducci). Their 1999 single "The Projects" in collaboration with Trugoy, De La Soul and Del tha Funkee Homosapien was featured in the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven. Their second album, White People was released in November 2004. Some collaborators from the first album returned, and new collaborators included RZA, Cat Power, Casual, Alex Kapranos, Chester Bennington, Mike Shinoda, Jack Johnson, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mike Patton, El-P, Pharrell, John Oates, Chino Moreno, Lord Finesse, Black Sheep, and comedy actor Tim Meadows. In 2006, Prince Paul announced his retirement from Handsome Boy Modeling School due to business conflicts with Dan the Automator. Featured Artists Info- Mars Volta -is an American progressive rock group formed in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala. They incorporate various influences including punk rock, jazz fusion, funk and Latin/Salsa into their sound. They are known for their energetic and improvisational live shows, as well as their concept-based studio albums. In 2009, the band won a Grammy in the "Best Hard Rock Performance" category for the song "Wax Simulacra." They were named rock music's "Best Prog-Rock Band" by Rolling Stone magazine in 2008.The roots of The Mars Volta are found in the band At the Drive-In.[4] ATDI members Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez formed an experimental, dub reggae-influenced side project called De Facto, which featured Bixler-Zavala on drums, Rodriguez-Lopez on bass, Isaiah "Ikey" Owens on keyboards, and Jeremy Michael Ward on vocals, loops and sound effects. Due to creative differences and discomfort with mainstream success,[citation needed] Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala quit At the Drive-In in 2001. The remaining members of ATDI formed Sparta. By the time bassist Eva Gardner joined De Facto, they had changed their name to The Mars Volta. During 2001, the band recorded two songs with drummer Blake Fleming and producer Alex Newport, which became their first demo. The lineup for their first public show at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California was Rodriguez-Lopez, Bixler-Zavala, Owens, Gardner, Ward, and drummer Jon Theodore. This lineup recorded three more tracks with Alex Newport, which became the EP Tremulant, released as a limited edition in early 2002. Since the demise of At the Drive-In, Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala found themselves once again starting from the ground up, touring and performing in smaller venues. The early years of the The Mars Volta were characterized by chaotic live shows and heavy drug use.[ A.G. from - Showbiz and A.G. (also known as Show and A.G.) are an American hip hop duo from The Bronx, New York City. Showbiz is a producer and A.G. (short for André the Giant) is a rapper. The two debuted on Lord Finesse's Funky Technician album in 1990. Show and A.G. are members of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) along with Finesse, Diamond D, Fat Joe, O.C., Buckwild and the late Big L.The duo's first release was an EP titled Soul Clap, released in 1992, also known as Showbiz & A.G. They released their debut album, Runaway Slave, the same year. A short version of their track "Soul Clap" was included on the album, as well as past recordings such as "Fat Pockets" and "Party Groove". The posse cut "Represent" featured the first album appearance of rapper Big L. Other album guests included Black Sheep's Dres, Diamond D, Lord Finesse and Deshawn. In 1993, Showbiz became popular for producing KRS-One's single Sound of da Police. In 1994, Showbiz & A.G. made a guest appearance on Black Sheep's second album Non-Fiction, on the track "E.F.F.E.C.T.". Showbiz soon shortened his name to Show, changing the group name to Show & A.G. Their 1995 album, Goodfellas, featured a darker sound than their debut. Guest artists on the LP included D-Flow, Lord Finesse, DJ Premier, Roc Raida, Dres, Method Man and Diamond D. The most successful song from the album is DJ Premier's Nyte Time Remix to the track "Next Level", the instrumental was later featured in a battle scene in the movie 8 Mile. Despite critical success for both of their albums, the duo were not very successful Good Hygiene (skit) - feat Tim Meadows from SNL

Feat . Skyzoo , Joell Ortiz , and Talib Kweli. Patrick Baril (born January 23, 1982 in Lawrence, Massachusetts) is an American hip hop dj and producer. He goes by the name of Statik Selektah and is the son of Owen and Kathleen Baril. He got his start in Exeter, New Hampshire, and then moved to Boston, Massachusetts at the age of 18. Now residing in New York City, Statik Selektah is best known for his mixed CDs with rappers Nas, Boston rapper Termanology, Royce Da 5'9" and G-Unit Records, as well as his mixshows on FM and Satellite Radio. He founded Showoff Records in 2004 and has released projects from Termanology, Granite State, and Reks. His partners in Showoff Marketing(based in Boston) are Brandon Matthews, and Walace Nogueira Jr.

New Biggie and Sheek remix , you have to enjoy this

Camp Lo is an American hip hop duo, formed in 1995, which hails from The Bronx, New York. The duo consists of rappers Sonny Cheeba (Salahadeen Wilds) and Geechi Suede (Saladine Wallace). This album is hot shit , I have watched the progression of this group for over 10 years . On March 24, 2009 Camp lo highly anticipated CD "Stone & Rob: Caught on Tape" will be released.The album features from Brooklyn, NY hook singer Yazarah. Apple Juice Kid and Rob Chaseman are the producers.

"Since you been gone , lately you been on my mind" Rapper Big Pooh from Little Brother off debut album "Sleepers" Rapper Big Pooh (born Thomas Jones) is an American rapper, who, along with fellow rap artist Phonte, is a member of the acclaimed North Carolina hip hop group Little Brother. In addition to numerous records and EPs by Little Brother, Pooh released a solo album in 2005 entitled Sleepers to positive critical review [1]. Furthermore, he has been guest featured on numerous tracks by other artists. In January 2007, in response to the departure of Little Brother member, co-founder and main producer 9th Wonder, Pooh stated in an interview that "there are no hard feelings and no beef", adding that "this is just a decision that had to be made so all three of us could move forward and continue to provide the world with dope music."[2] Pooh has most recently appeared on the Little Brother download-only mixtape entitled And Justus for All, which was released free on the internet February 13th, 2007, mixed by DJ Mick Boogie.

Little Brother is an American hip hop group from Durham, North Carolina that consists of Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh. Producer 9th Wonder was a part of the group since its inception, but left before recording the album Getback. Their debut album The Listening (2003) was highly acclaimed, and was followed by The Chitlin Circuit 1.5 mixtape in 2005 and the group's second album, The Minstrel Show, also released in 2005 and received a "XL" from XXL magazine and 4.5 Mics from The Source. The group tours frequently with their official DJ, Flash. In an interview with MVRemix.com, Phonte explained the origins of his group's name: "Tribe, De La, P.E....were like our big brothers in the game so now we are the little brothers of that movement...carrying on the tradition of good music." [edit] Early career Little Brother formed in Durham, NC at North Carolina Central University in 1998. The group began as a trio, featuring members Phonte (Phonte Coleman), Big Pooh (Thomas Jones), and producer 9th Wonder (Pat Douthit). They are founding members of the North Carolina hip hop collective called The Justus League, under the umbrella music group Hall of Justus.[citation needed] Their official debut came in August 2001 with their first recording, "Speed". They continued to work the local scene and were picked up by ABB Records. In 2002, they released the cult hit 7" single Atari 2600, with lyrics centering around video games. In 2003, the group released their first full length album, The Listening. This record boosted the group to higher acclaim, but national recognition came when Jay-Z tapped 9th Wonder for the song "Threat", off of his eighth studio album The Black Album. [edit] Success That fall, they opened for the Hieroglyphics on their Full Circle national tour. Little Brother's second album, The Minstrel Show, saw increased success due to their raised popularity. Its theme compares present day rap music and the music industry to the minstrel shows of the late 1800s. In 2005, Little Brother became embroiled in a short-lived feud, when Young Jeezy's protege Slick Pulla challenged the group to a battle after hearing an interview in which Phonte voiced some disapproval concerning drug rap and the Young Jeezy's "snowman mascot". Little Brother did not respond, and instead, Phonte called Slick Pulla and the pair resolved the misunderstanding.[citation needed] Outside of the group, Phonte collaborated with producer Nicolay as the The Foreign Exchange, and Rapper Big Pooh released a solo album entitled Sleepers. 9th Wonder has produced songs for major artists like Jay-Z, De La Soul and Destiny's Child, as well as underground artists such as Sean Price. In addition, 9th has produced whole albums for Jean Grae (Jeanius), MURS (Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition), Buckshot (Chemistry) and a remix album of Nas' God's Son entitled God's Stepson. He is also working on a second Buckshot/9th album, to be called The Formula. In late 2006, Little Brother began recording their third album, and second for Atlantic Records, Getback. However, in a drastic turn of events, the group announced in January, 2007 that they would be parting ways with Atlantic[2]. The move from Atlantic was likely due to the commercial failure of The Minstrel Show, and creative differences over their future material. Big Pooh was quoted as saying "We as a group just felt that it was not in our best interest to remain in a situation where our needs were constantly being overlooked. We didn't have an A&R for The Minstrel Show. We don't have any type of relationship with our current A&R. There are just a lot of internal issues that ended up working against us." Their manager Big Dho added that there were no "ill feelings towards their (Atlantic) company." On October 23, 2007 Little Brother released "Getback," the long awaited follow-up to the Minstrel Show. With no major video or radio airplay, Getback moved about 9,600 copies during its first week in stores and will land at No. 89 on the Billboard 200 charts. The album consists of 11 songs, and features several guests, most notably New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne had been long time fan of the group's work and was invited to spit the third verse for "Breakin My Heart". Little Brother is currently on a promotional tour along with L.A.- based hip hop artist Evidence. Little Brother is currently working on becoming completely independent artists and putting out records on their own. Big Pooh is quoted as telling L.A. Record in an April 2008 interview that "For the next record, we definitely want ownership—the first record we’ll have 100% ownership of."[3] [edit] 9th Wonder's departure More of a surprise to fans was news that the group has also parted ways with their longtime producer 9th Wonder. Although 9th Wonder's role in the group was that of a producer, the group's tours only consisted of the other two members and his contribution to recent Little Brother releases such as Separate But Equal were less than before (although it is worth noting that this release was a mixtape and not an official album). Nonetheless, news that he would be playing a smaller role and contributing less to their third album indicated a divide between the members. Big Pooh stated that the decision was amicable on both sides, saying "This is just a decision that had to be made so all three of us could move forward and continue to provide the world with dope music." [2] [edit] ...and Justus For All After releasing "Getback" Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh decided to officially release their 2007 mixtape "...and Justus For All" This time it will be released through Hall of Justus and they will have 100% ownership of the project. "We decided to officially release And Justus For All for the fans. Since all of our mixtapes are more like actual albums, many people have been requesting us for deejay free versions of these mixtapes. So to all of the fans out there that's been asking for it, you're welcome," Rapper Big Pooh told HipHopDX. "...and Justus For All will feature 5 new songs as well as enhanced mastered versions of songs on their 2007 mixtape with DJ Mick Boogie. The Cd Version will have 5 New songs for the album and the iTunes version will have 7 news songs. The iTunes version will link former groupmate 9th Wonder with the group with "Black Light Special". Now slated as an official album it is scheduled for release on June 10, 2008. [edit] 2008 Phonte and Big Pooh are scheduled to release about 5 albums in 2008 but only one as Little Brother (And Justus for All). Phonte Plans to release the follow-up to his album with Nicolay as "The Foreign Exchange" titled "Leave It All Behind". Phonte then plans to release an album of 80's covers with Detroit Producer Zo! Titled "Zo! & Tigallo Love The 80's". Rapper Big Pooh is planning his second solo album "Dirty Pretty Things" due in fall 2008. He is also planning an album with another Detroit based producer Young RJ with their collaboration "The Recipe". Then, Big Pooh is planning a mixtape with DJ Mick Boogie in promotion of "Dirty Pretty Things". The mixtape is still untitiled but Pooh held a contest on his myspace page for his fans to name the project. Then he plans to record an album with Virginia producer Nottz Called "Home Sweet Home" sometime in late 2008 or early 2009. [edit] Future of Little Brother During a May 2008 interview with hiphopgame.com, Rapper Big Pooh hinted that he and Phonte may never record another album together. "That's so far in the future. We don't know if we are even gonna do another Little Brother album at this point. We are working on our personal projects right now. Next year sometime, after we went through and had time to do our thing, we're gonna come together and sit and try to figure some things to as making or putting out another Little Brother Album".[