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 speaking rappers in Europe typically worked in English, this began to change after 1986, at first in an underground scene. The Osdorp Posse were the first to record and release Dutch language hip hop singles, from around 1990, but it took until 1995 for a Dutch language rap single to achieve a main chart top ten hit: Spraakwater by Extince.
Filipino hip-hop or Pinoy hip hop is hip hop music performed by musicians of Filipino descent, both in the Philippines and overseas, especially by 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.
Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop music characterized by subject matter considered of interest to nerds and geeks. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term in the 2000 song "Nerdcore Hiphop". Frontalot, like most nerdcore artists, self-publishes his work and has released much of it for free online. As a niche genre, nerdcore generally holds to the DIY ethic, and has a history of self-publishing and self-production.
Australian hip hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and is 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 The Kid Laroi, Manu Crooks, Onefour, Iggy Azalea, Hilltop Hoods, Bliss n Eso and Youngn Lipz, 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.
7L & Esoteric (7LES) are an American underground hip hop duo from Boston, Massachusetts, known for battle rhymes and boom bap production. 7L is the duo's DJ/producer and Esoteric is the MC. 7L & Esoteric are both prominent members of underground hip-hop collectives Army of the Pharaohs and Demigodz, as well as being 2/3 of Czarface along with Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck.
Hieroglyphics, also known as the Hieroglyphics Crew and Hiero, is an American underground hip hop collective based in Oakland, California. The collective 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.
Seamus Padraic Ryan, better known by his stage name Esoteric, is a Boston-based underground hip-hop artist. Esoteric is half of the hip hop duo 7L & Esoteric, a third of Czarface and is a member of underground hip-hop collectives Army of the Pharaohs and Demigodz. He started his solo career in 2007.
Def Wish Cast are an Australian hip hop group from Western Sydney.
Reggie Gibson, better known as Saafir, is an emcee, producer, and actor. He is also a member of the rap group "Golden State Project" with Ras Kass and Xzibit. Born in Oakland, California, he lived with Tupac Shakur and became a dancer for Digital Underground. Saafir took part in one of the most notorious Bay Area rap battles, when he and members of the Hobo Junction went against Casual and members of the Hieroglyphics Crew. The battle took place live on KMEL.
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.
Damani Thompson, known by the stage names, Phesto and Phesto Dee, is an American rapper and producer. He is one of the founding four members of the Oakland, California-based underground hip hop group Souls of Mischief, and, with the Souls of Mischief, a part of the eight-person, alternative hip hop collective, the Hieroglyphics.
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, better known as MoSS, is a Canadian hiphop record producer from Toronto, Ontario.
Jon 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. After his debut album Fear Itself garnered both critical and commercial success, Casual went on to become one of the most prominent and recognizable faces on the Hieroglyphics roster, releasing five full-length LPs over the span of his twenty-year career. Despite the lackluster sales of the LPs following his debut, which were preceded by an absence of both critical and popular acclaim, Owens has garnered a following amongst devoted hip hop fans, particularly in the Bay Area hip hop scene, largely due to his specialization in hardcore battle rhymes.
Cydel Charles Young, known professionally as CyHi the Prynce, is an American rapper and singer. In 2009, Young signed his first major-label contract with Konvict Muzik, with the backing of Def Jam Recordings. In 2010, he began to gain more attention with his work alongside fellow American rapper Kanye West. Young went on to appear on West's highly acclaimed album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) and has released nine mixtapes, with the latest being BHP II: NAACP (2015), a conscious hip hop concept mixtape about the history of black people in America and the sequel to Black Hystori Project, released in February 2014. He was released from his Def Jam contract in August 2015. In November 2017, he released his debut album, No Dope on Sundays, under Sony Music, following years of label disputes and series of mixtapes spanning his career.
Brad Terrence Jordan, better known by his stage name Scarface, is an American rapper and record producer best known as a member of the Geto Boys, a hip-hop group from Houston, Texas. He grew up in Houston and is originally from the city's South Acres neighborhood. In 2012, The Source ranked him #16 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time, while About.com ranked him #6 on its list of the 50 Greatest MCs of Our Time (1987–2007).