Fishbone is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1979, the band plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s. With their hyperactive, self-conscious diversity, goofy sense of humor, and sharp social commentary, the group gained a sizable cult following".
The Last Poets is a poetry collective and musical group that arose in the late 1960s as part of the African-American civil rights movement and black nationalism. The name was inspired by revolutionary South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile who believed he was in the last era of poetry before guns took over.
Dead Prez is an American hip hop duo composed of M-1 and stic.man, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant social justice, self-determination, and Pan-Africanism. The duo maintains an ethical stance against corporate control over the media, especially hip hop record labels.
William Otis Laswell is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, world music, jazz, dub, and ambient styles.
Tim Skold is a Swedish musician and record producer who produces solo work and has also collaborated with multiple musical groups including Shotgun Messiah, KMFDM, Marilyn Manson and Motionless in White.
Pharoah Sanders was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", Sanders played a prominent role in the development of free jazz and spiritual jazz through his work as a member of John Coltrane's groups in the mid-1960s, and later through his solo work. He released more than thirty albums as a leader and collaborated extensively with vocalist Leon Thomas and pianist Alice Coltrane, among many others. Fellow saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world".
Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin was an American poet and musician. He was one of the founding members of The Last Poets, a group of poets and musicians that evolved in the 1960s out of the Harlem Writers Workshop in New York City.
John Paul Larkin, known professionally as Scatman John, was an American musician. A prolific jazz pianist and vocalist for several decades, he rose to prominence during the 1990s through his fusion of scat singing and dance music. He recorded five albums, which were released between 1986 and 2002.
Carl Henry is a Canadian R&B singer born in Jamaica and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Cory McKay, better known by his stage name Cormega, is an American rapper.
Axiom was a record label founded by musician Bill Laswell in 1990 with the support of Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records.
Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool is a compilation album in the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series with performers from jazz, pop, rock, and rap. "Stolen Moments" is a jazz standard composed by Oliver Nelson, and is best known for its inclusion on the 1961 album The Blues and the Abstract Truth.
The Last Poets is the debut studio album by spoken word recording artists The Last Poets. It was released in 1970 through Douglas Records. Recording sessions took place at Impact Sound Studio with production by East Wind Associates, managers of The Last Poets at the time of recording. The album peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and at #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the United States.
"Be-Bop-a-Lula" is a rockabilly song first recorded in 1956 by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps.
Funkcronomicon is a 1995 various artists collection of tracks produced by Bill Laswell under the name Axiom Funk, after Laswell's associated record label. It is a 2-CD set that was released by Island Records. Funkcronomicon features heavy participation from various members of Parliament-Funkadelic, to the degree that Funkcronomicon is widely considered to be a full-fledged P-Funk album. The album features what may be Pedro Bell's last authentic artistic renderings, as well as P-Funk guitarist Eddie Hazel's last recordings before his death in 1992. The album comprises newly recorded tracks, as well as tracks that have been featured on other Bill Laswell productions. Produced and compiled at Greenpoint Studio in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, Funkcronomicon contains songs that were recorded as early as Maceo Parker's For All the Kings Men (1989) period. The album title is a play on Necronomicon, a fictional book.
Craig Edward Mabbitt is an American singer and the lead vocalist for the rock band Escape the Fate. He was formerly the lead vocalist for the bands Blessthefall and The Word Alive. He is also the current lead vocalist of his side-project band Dead Rabbitts.
Holy Terror is an album by rap/spoken word pioneers The Last Poets, released in 1995. The album was financed and released by P-Vine Records in Japan and then released by Rykodisc Records in the United States and the United Kingdom later that same year, with a rerelease in 2004 by Innerhythmic. The U.S. and UK releases contain a bonus track titled "Black and Strong (Homesick)."
Get Scared was an American post-hardcore band from Layton, Utah, formed in 2008. After their formation they released their first EP Cheap Tricks and Theatrics in 2009. A self-titled EP followed several months later in 2010. The band's debut studio album, Best Kind of Mess, was released on July 12, 2011. Following Nicholas Matthews' first departure to join Blacklisted Me, the band released Cheap Tricks and Theatrics B-Sides on December 19, 2011, without any previous announcements. Matthews was replaced by Joel Faviere near the end of 2011. The band's third EP and first with Faviere, Built for Blame, Laced With Shame, was released in 2012; Faviere was kicked out a few months after the EP's release when Matthews rejoined the band. Following Matthews' comeback, the band signed with Fearless Records and released their second full-length album, Everyone's Out To Get Me, on November 11, 2013. The band's third studio album, Demons, was released on October 30, 2015, and marked a departure from the band's post-hardcore sound featured on Built for Blame and Everyone's Out to Get Me in favor of a more metalcore-like sound. Their fourth and final album, The Dead Days, was released on April 19, 2019, amidst a hiatus; it was later stated by vocalist Nicholas Matthews that the band had broken up due to multiple issues between the band members. Though the band announced a reunion in 2022, plans ultimately fell through.
Talib Kweli Greene is an American rapper. He earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with solo success including collaborations with producers and rappers Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Pharrell Williams. In 2011, Kweli founded his own record label, Javotti Media.
Be Bop or Be Dead is the debut solo album by the American musician and Last Poet Umar Bin Hassan, released in 1993. Hassan had spent many of the preceding years isolated from his group and his music while dealing with drug and personal issues. The album was a commercial disappointment.
