Ise Lyfe

Coming out of Oakland, Ise Lyfe is one of the most promising young wordsmiths in hip-hop today. After years spent honing his skills on the slam poet circuit, he recorded his first album, spreadtheWORD, on which he raps, sings, and does spoken word. Lyrically, he is one of the few new artists who places a firm emphasis on empowerment and positivity, (without coming off corny or preachy) at a time when too much rap music is dominated by glamorous ignorance.

After selling thousands of CDs independently, he was picked up by Hard Knock Records, who gave the album a proper release, complete with bonus DVD. In recent months, Ise has toured with fellow Bay Area freedom fighters The Coup, appeared in the dead prez documentary It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop, put out a new mixtape called Forward Ever, and started recording his sophomore full-length. In our exclusive video podcast interview, he discusses his life, his music, and his message.

Similar Artists:

dead prez, Immortal Technique, The Coup