hiphop

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.

When Substantial was recording his debut album, …To This Union a Sun Was Born, he was driven by adversity. The Maryland native was struggling to balance school with a budding music career, was homeless at times and still reeling from having buried more than ten friends and family members. The resulting album—produced by Nujabes and Monorisick of Hyde Out Productions and released in October, 2001—earned Substantial international critical acclaim and a particularly devoted following in Japan, where it was recorded and distributed.

There is more than one artist with this name: 1. Sol is a Seattle, Washington based hip-hop artist. His signature sound maintains a marriage between the core values of hip-hop and the mainstream sensibility of pop(ular) music. Sol says that he grew up on a combination of 90