Timothy Jerome Parker, better known by his stage name Gift of Gab, is an American rapper best known for performing in the Bay Area hip hop duo Blackalicious along with DJ Chief Xcel. He is also a member of Quannum Projects, a Bay Area hip hop crew and record label, and has performed and recorded as a solo artist.
Okayplayer is an online hip-hop and alternative music website and community established in 1999 by The Roots' drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and author Angela Nissel. The company, described by Rolling Stone as a "tastemaker" and "an antidote to dull promotional websites used by most artists," is dedicated to discovering and defining culture through a musical lens.
Lateef Daumont, better known by his stage name Lateef the Truthspeaker, or mononymously as Lateef, is a hip hop artist from Oakland, California. He is a member of several hip hop groups such as Latyrx, Lateef and the Chief, and the Mighty Underdogs. He was one of the founding members of the Solesides collective, which became Quannum Projects.
Latyrx is an alternative hip hop duo consisting of Lateef the Truthspeaker and Lyrics Born. The roots of their partnership lay in the formation of the Solesides collective at the University of California, Davis.
Solesides was an underground hip hop label based in Northern California, founded in 1991. It comprised various DJs and MCs, the most notable being DJ Shadow, MC–producer Lyrics Born, and the duo, Blackalicious. The members of Solesides all met via the radio station, KDVS, the 5000-watt community radio station of the University of California at Davis. During high school, Davis-natives DJ Shadow and The 8th Wonder used to frequent the station to support Orus Washington's hip-hop show. In college, journalist and then-grad student Jeff Chang, broadcast a weekly hip-hop radio show that got the attention of DJ Shadow and The 8th Wonder, freshmen Xavier Mosely, Tom Shimura and Joseph Patel. They all shared a like-minded passion for hip-hop that pushed beyond the sounds of mainstream commercial music.
Lateef and the Chief is an American hip hop group from California. Originally known as Maroons, it consists of rapper Lateef the Truthspeaker and producer Chief Xcel. In 2004, the duo released their debut album, Maroons: Ambush.
Later That Day is the debut solo studio album by Lyrics Born. It was released on Quannum Projects in 2003. It peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.
Quannum Spectrum is a 1999 compilation album by artists associated with American hip hop record label and collective Quannum Projects. It was the first release on the Quannum label after its name was changed from Solesides. In addition to Quannum artists, the album features contributions from Jurassic 5, Divine Styler, Souls of Mischief, and El-P.
The Album is the first studio album by Latyrx, an American hip hop duo consisting of Lateef the Truthspeaker and Lyrics Born. It was released on Solesides in 1997, and it was re-released on Quannum Projects in 2002.
"Enuff" is a song by the American hip hop producer DJ Shadow featuring the American rappers Q-Tip and Lateef the Truthspeaker, released on September 25, 2006 as the second single from his third studio album The Outsider (2006).
The Mighty Underdogs are an American hip hop supergroup from the San Francisco Bay Area. It consists of rappers Gift of Gab from Blackalicious and Lateef the Truthspeaker of Latyrx and producer Headnodic of Crown City Rockers.
Corey Scoffern, better known by his stage name The Grouch, is an American rapper and producer currently based in Maui, Hawaii but grew up and spent most of his time in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a founding member of Living Legends, an underground hip hop collective based in Los Angeles, California.
Parallel Uni-Verses is a collaborative studio album by Del the Funky Homosapien and Tame One. It was released by Gold Dust Media in 2009. The album was entirely produced by Parallel Thought. A music video was created for "Flashback".
The Next Logical Progression is the third solo studio album by American rapper Gift of Gab. It was released on Quannum Projects on March 27, 2012.
General Elektriks is the musical project of French-native keyboard player, composer, singer and producer Hervé Salters.
Plateau Vision is a studio album by Lushlife. It was released on Western Vinyl on April 17, 2012. It includes guest appearances from Styles P, Heems, Shad, and Cities Aviv. Music videos were created for "Still I Hear the Word Progress" and "Magnolia".
Droppin' Science Fiction is the first studio album by The Mighty Underdogs, an American hip hop group consisting of producer Headnodic and rappers Lateef the Truthspeaker and Gift of Gab. It was released by Definitive Jux on October 14, 2008. It peaked at number 50 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart.
Jeff Chang is an American journalist and music critic on hip hop music and culture. His 2005 book, Can't Stop Won't Stop, which won the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award, chronicles the early hip hop scene. His writing has appeared in URB, BOMB, San Francisco Chronicle, The Village Voice, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Vibe, Spin, The Nation, and Mother Jones. He has also been featured on NPR.
Blackalicious is an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes. The duo have released four full-length albums.
Tsutomu "Tom" Shimura, better known by his stage name Lyrics Born, is a Japanese-American rapper and producer. He is one half of the duo Latyrx with Lateef the Truthspeaker.
