Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) are an American underground hip hop group from Philadelphia, founded in 1996 by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz and producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind. In 1999, rapper Jus Allah joined the group to record their second studio album, Violent by Design. Jus left the group shortly after, but returned in late 2006 and began working on the sixth studio album, A History of Violence. In 2011 Stoupe left the group because "his heart wasn't in making JMT records anymore". In 2013, Jus split from the group indefinitely, and Stoupe returned in 2015.
Army of the Pharaohs is an American underground hip hop collective originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed by Jedi Mind Tricks founder Vinnie Paz in 1998. The collective has strong links to other underground east coast groups such as OuterSpace, Snowgoons, La Coka Nostra, Demigodz, 7L & Esoteric, and JuJu Mob. AOTP's affiliations and member roster has changed several times since its formation.
Nappy Roots is an American alternative Southern rap group. The group met in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1995 while attending Western Kentucky University. They have worked with Rob Run Corleone of Empire Distribution. On the South Rituals mixtape. They are best known for their hit singles "Po' Folks", "Awnaw", "Roun' The Globe" and "Good Day". The group consists of Milledgeville, Georgia native Fish Scales and Kentucky natives Skinny DeVille, B. Stille and Ron Clutch.
OuterSpace is an underground hip hop duo from North Philadelphia. Originally a trio consisting of three Puerto Rican friends that then took the artist names Planetary, Jedeye and Crypt the Warchild. The founding member Mario Collazo (Planetary) was then attending 10th grade, while the other two, Richard Cruz (Jedeye) and Marcus Albaladejo, were in 8th grade.
Violent by Design is the second album by underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. Despite never reaching any Billboard album chart, the album sold 50,000 copies in its first week on shelves. The album was originally released on JMT's self-run Superegular Records on October 3, 2000. JMT's previous label, Babygrande Records, re-released the album on May 25, 2004. The original vinyl release featured twenty tracks, while the original CD release featured two extra tracks: the "Heavenly Divine Remix", originally released on the B-Side to JMT's "Heavenly Divine" single, and "War Ensemble", originally released as the B-Side of the Army of the Pharaohs Five Perfect Exertions EP. Babygrande's Deluxe Edition featured three more bonus tracks: "Untitled", "Retaliation Remix" and "Blood Runs Cold", the latter two originally featured on the "Retaliation" single. The Deluxe Edition also included a bonus DVD, featuring a video scrapbook from their Visions of Gandhi tour, and the music video for the group's 1997 track "I Who Have Nothing".
James Bostick, better known by his stage name Jus Allah, is an American rapper from Camden, New Jersey. He is best known for being a former member of Philadelphia-based hip hop groups Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) and Army of the Pharaohs (AOTP).
Kevin Baldwin, better known by his stage name Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind or simply Stoupe, is an American hip hop producer, DJ, and member of the underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. Stoupe has worked with only a limited number of artists outside of Jedi Mind Tricks, including Stove God Cooks, 7L & Esoteric, Canibus, Virtuoso, Guru of Gang Starr and Switch.
Vincenzo Luviner, better known as Vinnie Paz, is an Italian-born American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He is also the frontman of the hip hop collective Army of the Pharaohs.
David Albaladejo is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of Puerto Rican descent. He is a member of the underground hip hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs (AOTP), having featured on all their studio albums. He is known for his frequent collaboration with AOTP members; OuterSpace. Outside of rap, Albaladejo works as a member of a trade union which has inspired the names of many of his studio albums.
Blue Sky Black Death was a production duo with ties to the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington. It consisted of Ryan Maguire, better known by his stage name Kingston, and Ian Taggart, better known by his stage name Young God, or, later, Televangel. They are known principally for their hip-hop and instrumental music, made with a mixture of live instrumentation and sampling. Their name is "a skydiving phrase alluding to beauty and death."
"Genghis Khan" is a single by hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. The original press, distributed through JMT's Superegular Recordings, was released as a promo in early 2000. The group's second and former label, Babygrande Records, re-released the single in 2003 with wider distribution. The track is named after 13th century Mongol leader Genghis Khan. The song contains a sample from "Downloading", a symphonic composition by Harald Kloser, taken from the film The Thirteenth Floor.
"Retaliation" is a single by Hip Hop group Jedi Mind Tricks, the third released from their second album Violent by Design, following "Heavenly Divine" and "Genghis Khan". Released in 2001, the single was the group's last release on self-run Superegular Recordings. The following year, the group migrated to Babygrande Records. "Retaliation" contains a musical sample from "El Rio Y Las Rosas" by Rosita Peru, a vocal sample from "Cross My Heart" by Killah Priest, and a vocal sample from "Money in the bank" by Kool G. Rap. The single also contains the edited "Retaliation (Remix)", and the B-Side track "Blood Runs Cold", featuring Heltah Skeltah's Sean Price, both originally only available on this single. Babygrande Records re-released Violent by Design in 2004, including both "Retaliation (Remix)" and "Blood Runs Cold" as bonus tracks.
All Fates Have Changed is the debut solo studio album by American underground rapper Jus Allah. It was released on May 10, 2005 via Babygrande Records. Production was handled by Agallah, Zach Johnson, NME-REK, Slipwax, Kingston, Ray Fernandes, Virtuoso, Mr. Burns and Panik, with Chuck Wilson serving as executive producer. It features guest appearances from Bomshot, Evil Dead, Agallah, Chief Kamachi, GZA, Lord Jamar, Shabazz the Disciple, T-Ruckus and Virtuoso. The album spawned two singles: "Pool of Blood" b/w "Hell Razors" and "G-O-D" b/w "Supreme".
D.I.R.T. is the third and final studio album by American hip hop duo Heltah Skeltah. It was released on September 30, 2008 via Duck Down Music, making it their first album in ten years since the release of Magnum Force in 1998.
Melvin Lewis Calhoun Jr., better known by his stage name Kutt Calhoun, is an American rapper from Kansas City, Missouri. He began his career in the late 1990s as part of the city's underground rap scene, and signed with fellow Missouri-based rapper Tech N9ne's Strange Music as the label's first artist in 2004. Calhoun's debut studio album, B.L.E.V.E. (2004), and its follow-up, Feature Presentation (2008), were both met with critical praise; the latter debuted at number 60 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Calhoun's third album, Raw and Un-Kutt, entered the Billboard 200 and peaked at number 19 on the Top Heatseekers chart.
Snowgoons is a German underground hip hop production team composed of DJ Illegal and Det Gunner. In 2011, producers Sicknature from Denmark and J.S. Kuster from Germany joined the group.
Violence Begets Violence is the seventh studio album by underground Philadelphia hip hop duo Jedi Mind Tricks. This is their only album to not feature production from Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind because "his heart wasn't into making JMT records anymore" as well as the fact that both Vinnie Paz and Jus Allah grew tired of waiting. Two singles were released, "Target Practice" and "When Crows Descend Upon You," for which a video has been made. In addition, Shuko remixed the song "Target Practice".
In Death Reborn is the fourth studio album by the underground hip hop collective Army of the Pharaohs. The album was released on April 22, 2014, via Vinnie Paz's independent record label, Enemy Soil. The album features members Vinnie Paz, Apathy, Blacastan, Block McCloud, Celph Titled, Crypt The Warchild, Demoz, Des Devious, Doap Nixon, Esoteric, King Magnetic, King Syze, Planetary, Reef the Lost Cauze and Zilla, with a guest appearance by Lawrence Arnell. The only member who did not appear on the album was Jus Allah, also affiliated with Jedi Mind Tricks; it was later confirmed that Allah had left both groups.
Czarface is the debut studio album by American hip hop supergroup Czarface. The album was released on February 19, 2013, by Brick Records. The album features guest appearances from Roc Marciano, Oh No, Ghostface Killah, Action Bronson, Cappadonna and Vinnie Paz. The album's production comes from 7L, Spada4 and DJ Premier.
The Thief and the Fallen is the eighth studio album by American Philadelphia-based underground hip hop duo Jedi Mind Tricks. It was released on June 2, 2015 through Enemy Soil Entertainment. Production was handled entirely by Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind, who had left the band before their 2011 album Violence Begets Violence. It features guest appearances from Yes Alexander, Eamon, A-F-R-O, Dilated Peoples, Lawrence Arnell, R.A. the Rugged Man and Thea Alana. The album peaked at number 105 on the Billboard 200, at number 11 on both Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Independent Albums charts, at number 10 on both Top Rap Albums and Tastemakers charts, and at number one on the Heatseekers Albums chart in the United States.
