Although he never became a household name, Rakim is near-universally acknowledged as one of the greatest MCs -- perhaps the greatest -- of all time within the hip-hop community. It isn't necessarily the substance of what he says that's helped him win numerous polls among rap fans in the know; the majority of his lyrics concern his own... [+] Read More

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3 out of 3 people agree

Hip-Hop is dead. We've reached the point where we realized why it's dead, who killed it, and how much it meant to a generation that was lost and needed to express the pain of not having anything and loosing it all. Revelation! But good comes out of eveen the worst case scenarios, we've found that God has givin us the ability to ressurect what we... [+] Read More

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2 out of 2 people agree

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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1 out of 1 people agree

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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1 out of 1 people agree

In a short span of time, Kanye West went from hitmaking producer to just plain hitmaker, as his stellar production work earned him a solo record deal and soon his beats were accompanied by his own witty raps on a number of critically and commercially successful releases. His flamboyant personality also made a mark. West showcased a dapper... [+] Read More

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1 out of 1 people agree

LP aka L Perfex was born in Allentown Pennsylvania in the late 70's. Always a huge fan of hip hop he started writing songs at age 10 inspired by Rakim , Krs ONe .. Kool G. Rap and others.. In 1998 L Perfex relased his first single "Swivelin Doors" with Jinx the Ryhmesayer. Bitten by the music bug L would go on to release 6 solo albums .. a dozen... [+] Read More

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1 out of 1 people agree

Trinity Muzik Entertainment is a group of people (KizZ/Ravage/Rekamzy) who see hip hop the way it was meant to be scene, not super glamourous but gritty, not what is depicted on T.V. and Radio but Reality, and we hope to gain followers and grow an army of intelligent people to see hip hop as Life and not a fantasy, This is Ravage and...ITS TIME... [+] Read More

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A member of Fat Joe's DITC crew, rapper Big L was born Lamont Coleman on May 30, 1974. He made his solo debut with 1995's Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous, scoring a series of underground hits including "No Endz, No Skinz," "Street Struck" and "Da Graveyard"; Big L's best-known effort, the single "Ebonics," followed on his own Flamboyant label... [+] Read More

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The hardcore rap duo Da Cocoa Brovaz paired Tek and Steele, who together first emerged from Brooklyn in 1993 under the name Smif-N-Wessun. Debuting two years later with Dah Shinin', they immediately ran into interference from Smith & Wesson firearms, resulting in a three-year legal battle which ended with the adoption of the name Cocoa Brovaz;... [+] Read More

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One of the most influential rap groups of the late '90s, Company Flow laid the groundwork for nearly all the experimental hip-hop that followed. They were an instrumental force in revitalizing underground hip-hop as a whole, and in making Rawkus Records the new movement's most prominent indie label. Company Flow's sound -- dense, abstract lyrics... [+] Read More

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Cleveland's Indie-rap scene hasn't been the same since lyricist D.
Roof shot to the top of the pack. Versed in both wisdom and
vocabulary that most artist could only dream of, D. Roof has managed
to take Ohio by storm at twenty-one years of age.
His subject matter strays from today's radio singles laced in false[+] Read More

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MCs Babe-Face Kaos, Y-Tee, and Mister Man grew up in the West Indies (Y-Tee in Jamaica, Mister Man and Kaos in Trinidad), so reggae was a strong inspiration to their early years; hip-hop also figures in, however. All transplanted New Yorkers, they formed in 1992 when Mister Man saw Kaos perform. The two began collaborating, and after Mister Man... [+] Read More

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J.O of E-Nation is a 24 year old Artist/Producer and is considered to be the shooting guard of E-Nation. His life long passion for music, especially rap, can be credited to his father who used to DJ rap in the late 80's and early 90's. Hearing rap music before he could read or write has had an everlasting, profound and permanent affect on him... [+] Read More

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Frequently and rightly placed in the same context as DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and Kanye West, Jay Dee built and sustained a high standing as a producer's producer while maintaining a low profile. When Pharrell Williams appeared on BET's 106 & Park in 2004, he excitedly declared that Jay Dee was his favorite producer and told an audibly stumped... [+] Read More

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KizZ is a Brooklyn Born emcee who raps about any and everything. Mostly ranging from social issues and life struggle. Some would call it positive or concsicous while other see it as hard battle rapping, but KizZ Calls it "Babbling"as he feels its just sounds like whatever he is feeling at the moment of writing. Raised in the Brooklyn Projects of... [+] Read More

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The first member, of the highly regarded, Mudface camp to manifest a solo album. Kulture Free-dem from Queens ,N.Y describes himself as a hip-hop aficionado, a true soldier on the front lines in the fight to preserve the soul of the music. Born into a family of revolutionary thinkers Kulture recalls his first memory of pictures of Elijah... [+] Read More

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Mac Nitti hails from Rochester, NY. He is the self-proclaimed Pharaoh of Rochester. He belongs to his own label, Pyramid Entertainment. Mac Nitti is best classified as a “positive rapper”, though he considers himself to be a Socially Conscious Poet. Mac is also a producer and has displayed his talents on the albums of many local... [+] Read More

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Newkleus is a 23-year old MC from Carey, Ohio. He has been writing rhymes and laying down tracks since the age of 14. In July 2007, he released his mixtape "The 11-Year Old Boy in the Trunk of My Car". He is currently unsigned and will release an full-length album in Summer 2008, titled "Fungus Trunkus".

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Thad Reid is the streets. Not only is he a grimy Richmond boulevard, he’s a cracked rural Amherst County road, a rustic Clifton Forge trail and a smoothly paved parkway in Fairfax. Aptly nicknamed, “The Voice of the Commonwealth,” Reid’s rap style exhibits the depth of Common, the clarity of Ludacris, and the passion and knowledge of... [+] 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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