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Throughout their ten-year history, A Tribe Called Quest were undoubtedly one of hip-hop's most influential groups. As part of the Native Tongues Family along with De La and the JBs, Tribe were among the first to fuse hardcore jazz elements with positive lyricism. Their early material combined mellow production by Ali Shaheed Muhammad with intelligent, socially conscious and witty flows from Phife and Q-Tip. They soon delved deeper into jazz, even sporting the bass work of living legend Ron Carter on their 1991 release
The Low End Theory, an album many consider to be one of hip-hop's finest as well as the group's masterwork. 1998 saw the release of their final LP
The Love Movement, a triple-vinyl concept album that included the single "Find a Way" as well as older remixes and B-sides. Although they've since disbanded, Tribe's musical impact and influence on hip-hop will be heard indefinitely.
- Brolin Winning
One of the most recognizable voices in hip-hop, Q-Tip has been blessing mics since the late 1980s, first as a member of the legendary A Tribe Called Quest and later as a solo artist. His mellow flow and nasal tone have graced many classic tunes, including "Bonita Applebaum" and "Scenario." Tip has also collaborated with a wide variety of acts, from Native Tongues breathren like Black Sheep and the Jungle Brothers to mega-star Janet Jackson. In addition to his microphone abilities, he's an excellent producer, with Nas' "One Love" and Mobb Deep's "Drink Away The Pain" to his credit. Following Tribe's break-up in 1999, he released his first solo LP,
Amplified. It was a flashier, more "commercial" sounding record that alienated many of his longtime fans but found sales success thanks to the hit single "Vivrant Thing." With his career moving into the 21st century, Q-Tip has changed his name to Kamaal The Abstract and dropped a new album loaded with singing and extended live jams. Though reactions to his new sound were mixed, he continues to evolve as an artist in dramatic ways. Meanwhile, rumors continue to swirl about a Tribe reunion and new LP.
A biracial, half-Canadian, half-American heartthrob offspring of a multigenerationally musical family who first shot to fame in the early '00s playing an injured high school basketballer on TV's
Degrassi: The Next Generation, the rapper born Aubrey Drake Graham is an unlikely candidate to serve as hip-hop's latest great hope. But that's what he's been shaking out as, ever since his self-released 2007 mix tape,
Comeback Season, brought him to the attention of Lil Wayne, the first of several superstars he has managed to collaborate with before even releasing a debut album. The list now includes Kanye West, Mary J. Blige and others, and it shows no signs of letting up, especially given Drake's starring role in two of 2009's more inescapable summer hip-hop singles: his own "Best I Ever Had" and Young Money Entertainment's "Every Girl." As with the early Kanye, Drake's persona bridges the gap between street smarts and backpacker emo; it's clear, too, that he can sing as nimbly as he raps. Talk about a future multithreat; he doesn't even need to cross over to acting, because he's already been there. All this from a guy whose debut album,
Thank Me Later, isn't due until late 2009.
- Chuck Eddy
The emcee now simply known as DOOM hasn't shown his face to the public in over a decade, choosing instead to hide behind a metal mask at all times. The subject of constant speculation by a rabid fan base, the man born Daniel Dumile is among hip-hop's most mythologized rappers. DOOM's story starts in 1993, when Sev Love X's brother and KMD groupmate Subroc died in a car accident and their sophomore album,
Black Bastards, was shelved by their record label. Sev Love went into hiding, emerging years later as the masked "super villain" MF DOOM. His first album, 1999's
Operation Doomsday, was a lo-fi hip-hop classic, featuring a cadre of reworked quiet-storm beats and oblique word puzzles. As an emcee, his flow is a blunt instrument, rumbling over a track's rhythm, oftentimes oblivious to the beat. He relies on words to draw out rhythm, cramming lines with inner rhymes and alliteration. The album acquired a cult following, and when DOOM returned in 2003, the world was ready. He released classics
Madvillainy,
Take Me to Your Leader and
Vaudeville Villain under different aliases within a 10-month period in 2003 and 2004. His latest is 2009's
Born Like This.
- Brolin Winning
A New York emcee admired for his champion mic skills and conscious lyricism, Talib Kweli has been a very busy man, dropping hot tracks at an astounding rate. He is one half (along with Mos Def) of Black Star, whose 1998 debut garnered worldwide critical acclaim. Kweli has also contributed tracks to some of the most important hip-hop compilations in recent years, including both
Soundbombing collections,
Lyricist Lounge Vol. 1 and
New York State of Mind 1 and 2. An outspoken supporter of many sociopolitical issues (both on and off the mic), and he's also appeared on
The Unbound Project and
Hip Hop For Respect. As if that's not enough, his other group Reflection Eternal (a collaboration with DJ Hi-Tek), have stepped out with several 12-inches and an excellent debut LP. Talib released his long-awaited first solo album
Quality in 2002, and found radio love with the single "Get By." His second full-length,
The Beautiful Struggle hit the scene two years later, followed by 2007's
Eardrum.
- Brolin Winning
Washington, D.C., had yet to boast a rapper that made a national impact until now. Setting the Internet on fire, Wale has already gotten cosigns from Jay-Z, the Roots' Black Thought, Bun B and Mark Ronson (who signed him to his Allido Records label) with his contagious enthusiasm for rippin' mics. Rapping over everything from Go-Go's to Justice beats, Wale combines wit, sharp insight and thought-provoking lines to show a side of Chocolate City that has nothing to do with guns and drugs. After scoring a hit with "Nike Boots," which featured Lil Wayne on the remix, Wale brought a lot of exposure to the city's hip-hop scene.
- Toshitaka Kondo
For the latter half of the '90s, many considered Mos Def to be hip-hop's savior. It was a ridiculous expectation, sure, but it also reflects the intelligence, charisma and emotion that the emcee puts into every line. In 1998 he teamed up with Talib Kweli for the excellent
Black Star LP, followed by his critically acclaimed solo disc,
Black on Both Sides (1999). The most appealing aspect of Mos's lyrics wasn't that they largely focused on issues of class and race disparity, but that they infused an emotional poignancy to these potentially dry and pedantic topics. Fans felt his style a viable alternative to stagnant mainstream hip-hop fare, and his records are regarded as underground classics. And while he was entrusted with the keys to the backpack kingdom, he rejected cult status and instead focused on his budding acting career. His two subsequent albums, 2004's
New Danger and 2006's
True Magic found the emcee moving further away from typical hip-hop claptrap and toward an experimental template that attempted to fuse numerous strands of black music. Oddly,
True Magic was pulled off shelves two weeks after it was initially released in 2006. It was slated to be re-released in 2007.
- Sam Chennault
Bringing a politically charged message, Flobots first formed in 2005. The group has seven members, including two emcees and five instrumentalists, who play everything from the trumpet to the violin. Their live instrumentation and socially conscious songs helped build a loyal following in their hometown of Denver, Colo. After selling 3,000 copies of their EP
Flobots Present: Platypus, they began touring all over Colorado. They followed
Platypus with another well-received full-length project,
Fight with Tools, in 2007. All the attention Flobots were getting eventually led to a major-label offer after they performed at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood, Colo., in 2008.
- Toshitaka Kondo
Though he'd made guest appearances with West Coast indie stalwarts Tha Alkoholics, most people first noticed Madlib when his group Lootpack released
Soundpieces: Da Antidote in 1999. Madlib's rickety lo-fi productions were looser and funkier variations on the jazzy hip-hop pioneered by his NYC producers, but it wasn't until
The Unseen dropped in 2000 that Madlib's M.O. became apparent. Released under the Quasimoto moniker,
The Unseen was a concept album based on a helium-voiced hedonist who enjoyed "astro traveling." It was equal parts Prince Paul, Sun Ra and Cheech Marin, and remains among the most inventive hip-hop albums ever made. Madlib would continue to follow his weird muse unbridled by either commercial interest or fan expectations. In the past eight years, he recorded numerous jazz albums under different aliases, collaborated with J Dilla on
Champion Sound, recorded a broken-beat album under the moniker DJ Rels, reworked both the Blue Note and Trojan catalogs, linked up with MF Doom for
Madvillainy and recorded two widely acclaimed instrumental hip-hop albums. Madlib continues to push boundaries.
- Sam Chennault
One of the foremost practitioners of Midwest horrorcore, Kansas City's Tech N9ne has been frightening listeners with his warped ghetto tales for nearly a decade, though casual listeners wouldn't know it from his paltry recording output. Like most artists who gravitate towards the bloody extremes, Tech (ne Aaron Yates) was brought up in a very strict, religious household with a fundamentalist Christian mother and a Muslim stepfather. Despite their best attempts to shelter him, Tech was exposed to rap early when an uncle brought over a copy of proto-rapper Blowfly's "Rap Dirty." Tech was immediately captivated and soon picked up a mike and started spitting his own rhymes. At 17, he left home and soon got involved in the drug game. But during this time, Tech's rap career was beginning to take off and the young rapper moved to New Orleans for the sake of his career. He has lent his unique perspective to tracks by such artists as Eminem, D12 and Tupac. Unfortunately, it would be the first of many false starts, and he would soon be forced to return to Kansas City sans record deal. Tech refused to give up his dreams, though, and he hooked up with longtime collaborator Icy Rock and producer Dan Juan, who would help the rapper record his 2001 debut,
Anghellic. Based on the success of advance singles, the album received major label distribution via Interscope Records.
Anghellic was predictably dark, opening with the invocation "Welcome to hell" and refusing to relent thereafter. Tracks such as "Psycho Bitch," "Suicide Letters" and "Tormented" were ghoulishly sinister, approaching the tone and themes of fellow Midwesterner Eminem's more extreme tracks. Though the album was lauded in underground circles, it didn't catch on in the mainstream and Tech was dropped from his contract. Undeterred, he quickly re-entered the studio and independently released 2002's
Absolute Power. That album opened with the anti-industry screed "The Industry Is Punks." Throughout both of his two proper full-lengths, Tech's vocal cadence displayed an unusual pliability. From the double-time rap of "The Industry Is Punks" to the growl of "Trapped in a Psycho's Body," Tech's flow was unpredictable. The only common denominator among the songs was Tech's ability to project a sense of impending menace. We can only hope that this Midwestern madman will once again be resurrected.
- Sam Chennault