underground hip-hop | Musicosity

underground hip-hop

Livewire

The Livewire Gang consists of many artists from various neighborhoods in North, East, and West Oakland; J Stalin, Shady Nate, Jay Jonah, Philthy Rich, Stevie Joe, Lil Rue, Lil Blood, Ruben Stunner, R.O.B., Ronald Mack, Kiwi, HD, and Mayback. Livewire Records was founded in mid 2004 during the splurge of the Hyphy Movement By West oakland native artist and rapper J Stalin. He created the label for him and his camp J Jonah and Shady Nate to debut there music, and a way to keep all there business within the family.

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La Coka Nostra

La Coka Nostra (or short LCN) is an American hip hop supergroup, comprised mainly of all former members of House of Pain, Ill Bill, former member of Non Phixion, and various other MCs and producers. Founded by Danny Boy in early 2006, La Coka Nostra is a new project that has reunited him, Everlast and DJ Lethal for the first time since House of Pain's split. The group's name is derived from the notorious criminal organization (La) Cosa Nostra, which means "This Thing Of Ours"...

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Dr. Octagon

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.

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Murs

Murs (born Nick Carter on March 16, 1978), is an underground mc from Mid-City Los Angeles. The name 'MURS' is an acronym for Making Underground Raw Shit. Even though his discography spans almost an entire decade he only had limited recognition up until three years ago when he released both the full length Def Jux release The End Of The Beginning and the more introspective Varsity Blues EP, which helped open up a lot of people's eyes to him as a solo artist.

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Edan the Dee-Jay

Edan, born Edan Portnoy, is a Jewish-American alternative hip-hop performer, based in Boston. He is active in three hip-hop disciplines: rapping, DJing, and production. He is a former member of the band Fiber 2001 and is known for his eclectic mix of classic mid-eighties til early nineties 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.

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R.A. the Rugged Man

R.A. the Rugged Man, real name R.A. Thorburn, is a rapper from Stony Brook, Long Island. He began his music career at age 12. At 18, he signed to Jive Records. R.A.'s legend, perpetuated by the P.R. biographies at his various labels, say he was dropped due to violent and disgusting behavior, but in interviews he disputes many of the more extreme stories told about him, adding that Jive just didn't know how to break new artists at the time.

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Pete Rock

Rapper, DJ, and producer Pete Rock first emerged in 1991 as one half of a duo with C.L. Smooth, debuting with the All Souled Out EP. A hit LP, Mecca and the Soul Brother, followed before the two went their separate ways in the wake of 1994's The Main Ingredient, with Rock remaining a prolific studio presence prior to the release of his solo debut, Soul Survivor, on Loud/rca four years later. Dropped from the label, he continued his career as an independent producer, and later signed to Rapster/Bbe in 2001 for PeteStrumentals.

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M-Phazes

M-Phazes is the perfect example of a diamond in the rough. Born and raised in the Gold Coast of Australia and relatively isolated from Hip-Hop culture, M-Phazes has carved a place for himself among Australia's Hip-Hop elite and is undeniably responsible for putting Gold Coast Hip-Hop on the map. His style is best described as a combination of Neo-Soul & Boom Bap with a modern twist. Drawing inspiration from producers like J Dilla, DJ Premier & Kanye West, M-Phazes has forged an original sound that is uniquely his own. As soon as the beat drops, you know it another M-Phazes classic.

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Spank Rock

Spank Rock is an American hip-hop group consisting of rapper Naeem Juwan and producer Alex Epton (XXXchange). Their style is generally described as a mix of underground hip hop, party rap and electro. Spank Rock began performing in Philadelphia, where their reputation quickly increased. They later toured with Hollertronix and M.I.A.; they also toured with Beck in 2006. Their lineup currently consists of Armani XXXchange (Alex Epton), Spankrock (Naeem Juwan), Chris Rockswell (Chris Devlin), Ronnie Darko (Ronald Rubarth), and Amanda Blank (Amanda Mallory).

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