Z-Man (given name Zamon) is an underground rapper and painter from the San Francisco Bay Area. He has released many full-length studio albums, several of which were self-recorded and released, and he has worked with numerous underground Bay Area rap legends.
He is a frequent collaborator with other artists in the Gurp City collective, composed of Sacred Hoop, Grand Invincible, G-Pek, Conceit, TOPR, MC Oroville and Bay Area legend Eddie Def. [1] He has also worked with Hieroglyphics Crew, Disflex.6, and Refill Records.
Z-Man is also a painter with a broad body of acrylic-on-canvas paintings that portray cartoon-style hybrid creatures in vibrant, bold color schemes that often have thematic references to black culture. He paints all of his album covers and T-shirt designs, and has painted and drawn many album covers for other hip hop artists.
Z-Man's first album appearance was in 1996, with his group 99th Demention, which consisted of Z, King Maz, Young Slim, Rated R, Rev Cope and P.B.F.-1. The group released one album and was compared to The Pharcyde early on. [2]
In 2003 and 2004 he released two solo albums produced by the Hieroglyphics label, Dope or Dog Food? and Anti-Nerd. In 2008 his group One Block Radius signed with Mercury/Island/Def Jam Records. In 2008, he signed as to San Francisco label Machete Vox Records, working on an album titled Six Pack Of Dynamite, produced by BOAC and Dnae Beats.
Along with his many collaborations he has also worked with Bay Area producer G-Pek and released two albums, 2008's Don't Forget to Brag and 2012's In Case You Forgot. [3]
Dutch hip hop or Nederhop ("Netherhop") is hip hop / rap music created by Dutch speaking musicians in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium). Although the first Dutch rappers in Europe typically wrote in the English language, this began to change when Osdorp Posse gained a big following of fans. They were the first to record and release hip hop in the Dutch language, perform for big crowds and to achieve chart success with their albums.
Nathaniel Thomas Wilson, better known by his stage name Kool G Rap, is an American rapper. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MCs of all time, and a pioneer of mafioso rap/street/hardcore content and multisyllabic rhyming. On his album The Giancana Story, he stated that the "G" in his name stands for "Giancana", but on other occasions he has stated that it stands for "Genius".
Leslie Edward Pridgen, better known by his stage name Freeway, is an American rapper. Originally hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he first gained recognition after appearing on Jay-Z's fifth album, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia in 2000. The following year, he became a member of the Philadelphia-based hip hop collective State Property, which were signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings. After releasing their debut album, Pridgen signed to Roc-A-Fella as a solo artist and began work on his debut album, Philadelphia Freeway (2003). Upon release, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and saw positive critical response. He released a follow-up, Free at Last (2007) to moderate reception before him and fellow State Property cohorts were dropped from the label.
Pinoy hip hop or Filipino hip-hop is a style of hip hop music performed by musicians of Filipino descent, especially Filipino-Americans.
Reginald Noble, better known by his stage name Redman, is an American rapper, DJ, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame in the early 1990s as an artist on the Def Jam label.
Australian hip hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and was initially largely inspired by hip hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of music that is no longer restricted to the creative underground, with artists such as Onefour, Hilltop Hoods, Kerser and Bliss n Eso and having achieved notable fame. Australian Hip-Hop is still primarily released through independent record labels, which are often owned and operated by the artists themselves. Despite its genesis as an offshoot of American hip-hop, Australian hip hop has developed a distinct personality that reflects its evolution as an Australian musical style. Since the inception of the Australian hip-hop scene, Australian Aboriginals have played a prominent role.
Hieroglyphics, also known as the Hieroglyphics Crew and Hiero, is an American underground hip hop collective based in Oakland, California. It was founded in the early 1990s by rapper Del the Funky Homosapien. The collective is currently composed of rappers Del the Funky Homosapien, Casual, Pep Love, producer/manager Domino, DJ Toure, and the four individual members of the rap group Souls of Mischief: Phesto, A-Plus, Opio, and Tajai.
Def Jam Recordings is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
Rap-A-Lot is a hip hop record label co-founded by James Prince and Cliff Blodget in 1986. Smoke-a-Lot Records is a subsidiary.
Def Wish Cast, are an Australian hip hop group from Western Sydney.
Reggie Gibson, better known as Saafir, was an American rapper, producer, and actor. He was also a member of the rap group Golden State Project with Ras Kass and Xzibit.
One Block Radius is an alternative hip hop group made up of Marty James, MDA, and emcee Z-Man. Both Marty James and MDA were part of the group Scapegoat Wax. One Block Radius was formed in late 2003. They have toured and done shows with Hiero, Maroon 5, Living Legends, Matisyahu, De La Soul, Trick Daddy, Pigeon John, Aceyalone and more. And Marty James also featured in the song called Fantasy Girl with Baby Bash in 2010.
Damian Siguenza, known by his stage name, Domino, is an American record producer, manager, DJ, and one of the members of the Oakland, California-based underground hip hop collective, Hieroglyphics.
Eli Nathan Nachowitz, better known as Eligh, is an American rapper and producer from Los Angeles. He is a member of the underground hip hop group Living Legends.
Andre Lamond Adams, better known by his stage name Andre Nickatina, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. He previously performed under the stage name Dre Dog.
Jerome Foster, better known as Knobody, is an American music producer and A&R. Knobody has produced records across different genres including soul, R&B, hip hop and rock for several multi-platinum artists including Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Akon, The Game, Big Pun, Mýa and R.E.M. Knobody worked as an A&R at SRC Records/Universal. Due to the enormous success Akon experienced following the release of his debut album, Knobody was recognized as a World Top 10 A&R. He is not to be confused with Bay Area rapper/producer and Hieroglyphics crew affiliate who also goes by the name Knobody.
Jason Connoy, professionally known as MoSS, is a Canadian hip hop record producer from Toronto, Ontario.
Jonathan Owens, known by his stage name Casual, is an American rapper, producer, and one of the founding members of the alternative hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. He also reads and has been studying Egyptian Hieroglyphics for many years, makes videos on the subject on his YouTube channel Smash Rockwell as well writing about it on his blog Rap God. As a rapper Casual initially became known for his freestyle battle rhymes in the Bay Area hip hop scene and later developing into a solo artist. He is known for diverse lyrics, a complex multisyllabic East Coast influenced flow but with a distinctive Oakland accent. Casual's debut album Fear Itself released on Jive records in 1994 when he was 17 years old garnered both critical and commercial success. Along with Del the Funkee Homosapien Casual went on to become one of the most prominent and recognizable faces of the Hieroglyphics crew, releasing three albums all on the Hieroglyphics crew's own label, Hiero Imperium. He has released thirteen solo albums as of 2023.
For the Record is the debut studio album by American rapper Torae, released on November 1, 2011 via his own imprint Internal Affairs Entertainment, in conjunction with Fat Beats Distribution. It was preceded by the collaborative project Double Barrel in 2009 with producer Marco Polo.
Cydel Charles Young, known professionally as CyHi the Prynce, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Stone Mountain, Georgia. He signed a major label recording contract with Akon's Konvict Muzik, in a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings in 2009. The following year, he gained mainstream attention for his guest appearance alongside Jay-Z, Pusha T, Swizz Beatz, and RZA on Kanye West's 2010 song "So Appalled" from his album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). He was then credited with extensive songwriting work on West's further releases, resulting in five Grammy Award nominations for Best Rap Song, as well as one additional nomination for his work on Travis Scott's 2018 single "Sicko Mode."