Like a few other West Coast rap acts, including the Pharcyde and Jurassic 5, Blackalicious has generally favored what hip-hoppers call the "positive tip"; in other words, its lyrics have often been spiritual and uplifting rather than violent or misogynous. Like a lot of experimental alternative rappers, Blackalicious can be quirky and eccentric;... [+] Read More

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Common (originally Common Sense) was a highly influential figure in rap's underground during the '90s, keeping the sophisticated lyrical technique and flowing syncopations of jazz-rap alive in an era when commercial gangsta rap was threatening to obliterate everything in its path. His literate, intelligent, nimbly performed rhymes and political... [+] Read More

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Das EFX's wildly playful, rapid-fire stuttering -- dense with rhymes and nonsense words -- was one of the most distinctive and influential lyrical styles in early-'90s hip-hop. While the duo completely rewrote the MC rule book, they themselves were increasingly pegged as a one-dimensional novelty the longer their career progressed, despite... [+] Read More

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Cousin of renowned gangster rapper Ice Cube, Del tha Funkee Homosapien (real name Teren Delvon Jones) was born in Oakland, CA, on August 12, 1972, and got his start with Ice Cube's backing band, da Lench Mob. But Del's rap isn't as grim or violent as Ice Cube's is, in fact, he's been known to include something in his music that's far too... [+] Read More

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June Howard lays in Sunny Southern California, Inglewood to be exact. It's easy to say that June have a great vibe to please all audiences around . Everyone starts somewhere. June Howard went around Los Angeles to Search for Hip Hop ,he came across a place called J.U.I.C.E.(Justice by Uniting In Creative Energy), Giving his time he was joined... [+] Read More

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Though there's actually six of them, Jurassic 5 got everything else right on their self-titled debut EP. Part of the new rap underground of the late '90s (along with Company Flow, Mos Def, Dr. Octagon, and Sir Menelik), the sextet -- rappers Marc 7even, Chali 2na, Zaakir, and Akil, plus producers Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark -- came together in... [+] Read More

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Members of the prodigiously talented Solesides/Quannum collective, Latyrx went sorely underrecognized for their restlessly experimental brand of hip-hop. Their lone album was far too eccentric for the masses, but even in underground circles, it fell prey to poor distribution (it went out of print twice) and poor timing (Quannum mates DJ Shadow... [+] Read More

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Monstrosity is from a time unknown and a place too far to remember!

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The East Oakland backpacker crew are members of the loose underground hip-hop consortium known as Hieroglyphics. The group consists of four erudite but hardcore MCs: A-Plus, Phesto, Opio and Tajai. Their debut album in 1993, '93 Til Infinity, produced an early-'90s anthem of the same name and spawned a movement towards bohemian yet rugged... [+] Read More

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Party rappers from the West Coast, tha Alkaholiks entered the hip-hop field by working with King Tee on his 1993 Tha Triflin' Album; after touring with KRS-One, Ice Cube, and Too Short, they found a major-label contract with Loud/RCA. The group came together in the early '90s, after DJ E-Swift (born Eric Brooks) and Tash (born Rico Smith) --... [+] Read More

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An influential alternative rap quartet from South Central Los Angeles, the Pharcyde was formed by MCs/producers Tre "Slimkid" Hardson, Derrick "Fatlip" Stewart, Imani Wilcox, and Romye "Booty Brown" Robinson. Hardson, Wilcox, and Robinson were all dancers and choreographers who met on the L.A. underground club circuit in the late '80s, worked... [+] Read More

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Though popular success has largely eluded the Roots, the Philadelphia group showed the way for live rap, building on Stetsasonic's "hip-hop band" philosophy of the mid-'80s by focusing on live instrumentation at their concerts and in the studio. Though their album works have been inconsistent affairs, more intent on building grooves than pushing... [+] Read More

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