Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) are an American underground hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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.
Babygrande Records is an American independent record label based in New York City, founded by Chuck Wilson. Babygrande is distributed by The Orchard and represented by the Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood.
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.
Ryan Andrew Thorburn, better known by his stage name R.A. the Rugged Man, is an American rapper and producer. He began his music career at age 12, building a reputation locally for his lyrical skills. Thorburn signed with major label Jive Records at age 18, but his debut album, Night of the Bloody Apes, was never released.
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".
Visions of Gandhi is the third studio album from underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks, and their first album on the Babygrande record label. Jus Allah split from the group after the release of their album Violent by Design (2000), returning the group back to its original lineup of Vinnie Paz, Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind and DJ Drew Dollars. Producer Stoupe expands his dark sounds, including beats with grand orchestral samples and Latin-tinged production. Vinnie Paz lessens his lyrical topics to focus on his thug persona. Album guests include Canibus, Kool G Rap, Percee P, Ras Kass, and Tragedy Khadafi, as well as underground peers Crypt the Warchild, Planetary of OuterSpace, and Non Phixion members Ill Bill, Sabac Red, and Goretex.
The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness is the debut album of underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks, consisting of rapper Vinnie Paz and producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind. The original version of the album was released in 1997, limited to 1,000 copies on vinyl by Superegular Records, and was re-released on CD in 2003 on Babygrande Records with six bonus tracks, featuring songs recorded by the group before their debut release. It has been a common misconception that the vinyl version was re-issued in 2001, possibly because the back of the vinyl release says "2001 Superegular." The album’s often esoteric lyrics focus on conspiracy theories, astronomy, religion, and violence, themes that JMT would expand on in later albums. The album was inspired by a lot of "crazy books" mentioned by Vinnie Paz in an interview, and is named after one of those books, a 1,900-page tome entitled "Matrix III - The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electromagnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness,” by Valdamar Valerian.
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 7L & Esoteric, Canibus, Virtuoso and Guru of Gang Starr.
Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell is the fifth studio album by hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. It was released September 19, 2006 through Babygrande Records. The first single, "Heavy Metal Kings", featuring Ill Bill of La Coka Nostra, was released in early August through iTunes and a limited edition vinyl pressing. Additional guest appearances on the album are provided by Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, Sean Price, R.A. the Rugged Man, Block McCloud and Army of the Pharaohs members Chief Kamachi and Reef the Lost Cauze.
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.
"Before the Great Collapse" is a single by hip hop duo Jedi Mind Tricks, released in 2004 through Babygrande Records. The single was the lead-off for the group's fourth album, Legacy of Blood. The song's intro contains a sample from "Freeman's Farm" by David Elon Preston, and the song's music contains a sample from "No Me Des Tu Adios" by Perla. "Before the Great Collapse" was the first JMT single to be solely performed by group vocalist Vinnie Paz, who uses the track as a suicide letter, written to his mother. The track is followed up on JMT's Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell with the track Razorblade Salvation, in which Vinnie Paz retracts his suicide note, citing his obligations and goals as reasons to "stick around for a while."
A History of Violence is the sixth studio album by Philadelphia hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks, released on November 11, 2008 on Babygrande Records. The album followed multiple summer releases from the Jedi Mind Tricks camp, including the group's first DVD, titled Divine Fire: The Story of Jedi Mind Tricks, and the Vinnie Paz-executive produced projects Jedi Mind Tricks presents Doap Nixon: Sour Diesel, Jedi Mind Tricks presents King Syze: The Labor Union, and Jedi Mind Tricks presents OuterSpace: God's Fury. The album's first single Monolith was released on October 2, 2008. Their second single Godflesh was released on their website and it featured King Magnetic and Block McCloud. The album features former Jedi Mind Tricks member Jus Allah's return to the group.
Legendary Classics Volume 1 is a compilation album by American rapper R.A. the Rugged Man, released on 27 October 2009, on Nature Sounds. The album is a collection of unreleased and rare tracks from R.A. the Rugged Man. The album features The Notorious B.I.G., Havoc, Kool G Rap, Buckwild, Ayatollah, Jedi Mind Tricks, Sadat X, Akinyele, Tragedy, J-Live, Human Beatbox Bub and others. "Uncommon Valor", featuring hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks, was originally released on their 2006 album Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell.
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".
R.A. the Rugged Man is an American hip hop artist based in Suffolk County, Long Island. His discography consists of three commercial studio albums, two unreleased albums, one compilation album, numerous physical singles, and many guest appearances on other artists' tracks.
Heavy Metal Kings is an underground hip hop duo which consists of veteran rappers Ill Bill and Vinnie Paz. In 2006, Ill Bill was featured on the single "Heavy Metal Kings" by hip hop duo Jedi Mind Tricks, released through Babygrande Records. The single was released in a limited edition blue vinyl pressing, with every copy signed by group vocalist Vinnie Paz.
"Heavy Metal Kings" is a single by hip hop duo Jedi Mind Tricks, released in 2006 through Babygrande Records. The single was released in a limited edition blue vinyl pressing, with every copy signed by group vocalist Vinnie Paz. "Heavy Metal Kings" is the lead single from the group's fifth album, Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell. The song features a sample from "Boiling Rage " by German composer Carl Orff, taken from his famous cantata Carmina Burana, and a vocal sample from "Front Lines " by Mobb Deep for the chorus. "Heavy Metal Kings" features a guest verse from former Non Phixion member Ill Bill. The song's music video was released shortly before the album's release, and featured guest appearances from the group's DJ, DJ Kwestion, and R.A. the Rugged Man.
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.
The Bridge and the Abyss is the ninth studio album by underground American hip hop duo Jedi Mind Tricks. The album contains a feature from Sean Price on the track "Legacy of the Prophet", who died in 2015.
