indie hip hop

King Britt is a pioneer of all things soulful, rhythmically textured and melodically provocative. This Philadelphia native has found a way to escape the strictures of a single category of music by expressing his creations through deep house, hip-hop, broken beat, nu-jazz, funk and afro-tech. Whether it’s film scoring for Hollywood, rocking the playa at Burning Man or consulting for the leading urban lifestyle brands, there are no limits to what King Britt will do next.

Read more about King Britt on Last.fm.

Mac Lethal is a hip-hop/folk artist from Kansas City, MO. After getting his start as a battle rapper at the prestigious, world renowned freestyle battle festival Scribble Jam, he shattered the stigma that battle rappers cannot write quality songs and began to self-release his own quirky music. Quickly he began to catch the attention of artists like Sage Francis, P.O.S, and Atmosphere, who he subsequently toured with.

Read more about Mac Lethal on Last.fm.

Gift Of Gab (Tim Parker) and Chief Xcel (Xavier Mosley) met at John F. Kennedy High School in 1987 in Sacramento, California and formed the group in the early 1990s. They released their first recording, "Swan Lake", on solesides records. The Solesides Crew consisted of the duo, as well as other friends of theirs they had met at University of California - Davis, including DJ Shadow, Lyrics Born and Lateef The Truth Speaker. The single was an underground hit, but label trouble prevented the duo from immediately capitalizing on their fame.

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.