Edan (born Edan Portnoy) is an independent emcee, DJ and producer based in Boston, USA. He is a former member of the band Fiber 2001 and is known for his eclectic mix of classic mid-80s till early 90s hip-hop with 60s rock, funk and other styles. His mix-tape "Sound of the Funky Drummer" collects hip hop tracks sampling James Brown's "Funky Drummer", which has been called the most-sampled record of all time.
dead prez is a hip-hop duo from the United States, composed of stic.man and M-1, and formed in 1996 in New York. They are known for their sometimes confrontational style, combined with socialist lyrics focused on both militant social justice, and also positivity. The duo maintains an ethical stance against corporate control over the media, especially hip-hop record labels.
Jayceon Terrell Taylor (born November 29, 1979 in Compton, California), better known by his stage name Game (formerly The Game), is an American gangsta rapper. He rose to fame in 2005 with the success of his debut album, The Documentary, and his two Grammy nominations. Since then he has released two more critically acclaimed albums, 2006's Doctor's Advocate and 2008's LAX, which he claimed to be the final album he would release, but in mid-2009 he started recording The R.E.D. Album, which has been released on the 23rd of August this year(2011).
The Last Kinection are an Indigenous hip hop trio made up of brother and sister Weno and Nay, as well as DJ Jaytee.
No strangers to the music industry, The Last Kinection have had significant success and experience for years before the group formed. Naomi (MC Nay) was one half of R&B Pop group Shakaya and signed with a major multinational label at the age of 16, quickly climbing the ARIA charts and selling platinum singles and a debut album.
Tony Touch, also known as Tony Toca, is an American hip hop DJ and producer from Brooklyn's Bushwick/ Knickerbocker section who is of Puerto Rican descent. He worked with many groups and rappers as Funkdoobiest, Cocoa Brovaz and Cypress Hill. He is known for his mix tapes. On The Peacemaker 2, Rubén Blades appears, as well as rappers and reggae dee jays such as P. Diddy, Hurricane G, Dead Prez, Slick Rick, Sean Paul, and reggaetón rapper Don Chezina, who also appeared on The Piecemaker.
An original member of New York's new-school pioneers the Ultramagnetic MC's, "Kool" Keith Thornton is best known as a solo rapper. His signature style is stream-of-consciousness lyrical flow and complex vocals, two skills that earn him a perennial nod from the underground hip-hop community. The average Kool Keith album is peppered with bizarre, disjointed, even delusional or disassociated themes, concepts, and references. Nearly all of his albums incorporate a satirical dislike for more commercialized strains of hip-hop, as well as major record labels.
Phat Kat (a.k.a. Ronnie Cash), (b. Ronnie Watts) is a rapper from the east side of Detroit. His career began in the mid 90's as part of 1st Down, which consisted of Phat Kat on vocals and Jay Dee on production. The group was short lived however, possibly because of insufficient support/promotion from their label, Payday, but the two continued to collaborate on many occasions afterwards, starting with an appearance on "Fat Cat Song" and it's remix, from Slum Village's Fan-Tas-Tic (Vol. 1). He also appeared on Jay Dee's Welcome 2 Detroit on the song "Featuring Phat Kat".
The Far*East Movement (also known as FM), hailing from the clubs and streets of Los Angeles, are one of the freshest crews representing the next generation of artists and “fly music.” Members Kev Nish, Prohgress, J-Splif, and DJ Virman have created a huge industry buzz with major companies, radio stations, and club djs worldwide through their international appeal and energetic live shows.
Finding their inspiration from the diverse city blocks and night club scene of Southern California...
Dr. Octagon is one of Kool Keith's many alter egos. His initial release as Dr. Octagon was 1996's Dr. Octagonecologyst, on which he collaborated with Dan The Automator Nakamura and dj q-bert. After the name was dropped in favour of Dr. Dooom, it was widely believed that it wouldn't be used again until the release of 2006's The Return of Dr. Octagon, which Keith maintains was changed and released without his consent.