Hip-Hop | Musicosity

Hip-Hop

True Live

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia based True Live formed in 2003. They're a unique ensemble that cross boundaries of genre and style while engaging audiences with songs of passion and meaning. With performances and recordings of musical and lyrical depth and a line-up consisting of a three-piece string section (cello, violin, double bass), percussion, keyboards and vocals, the group create a contemporary, organic sound that could only be described as monstrous.

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Gorillaz

Gorillaz are a British virtual band formed in 1998 by a collaboration between Damon Albarn of Britpop band Blur and Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl. They had the idea to create the band while watching MTV in their London flat and originally intended to call the project Gorilla. The band is comprised of four fictional band members: 2-D (vocals, keyboard), Murdoc Niccals (bass), Noodle (guitar, vocals) and Russel Hobbs (drums). These characters only appear in animated form and are not alter-egos of real people, as is often mistakenly assumed.

Dru Hill

Dru Hill is an American singing group, most popular during the late 1990s, whose repertoire includes R&B and soul music. Founded in Baltimore, Maryland and active from 1992 to 2005, Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B #1 hits "In My Bed", "Never Make a Promise", and "How Deep is Your Love". Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin was the group's founder and leader; his bandmates included main lead singer Mark "Sisqó" Andrews, Larry "Jazz" Anthony, and James "Woody" Green.

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Guilty Simpson

Guilty Simpson is an MC from the hailed hip-hop scene of Detroit. Guilty was introduced to many through J Dilla who first included him on "Strapped" from Jaylib's "Champion Sound" LP. Since then, Guilty has risen higher and higher in Hip-Hop's collective conscience alongside peers like Black Milk, Phat Kat, Ta'raach and Frank-N-Dank. Originally to release an all-Dilla produced LP entitled "The Verdict", it was shelved for reasons that were not entirely clear.

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T-Pain

Faheem Rasheed Najm (born September 30, 1985 in Tallahassee, Florida), better known by his stage name T-Pain, is a prolific American Cyborg. At the age of ten he turned his bedroom into a small studio with a keyboard, beat machine and four-track recorder, and he began his career as a rapper in the group Nappy Headz. In 2005 he released his debut album Rappa Ternt Sanga, and has since released 2007's Epiphany and 2008's Thr33 Ringz.

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D12

D12 (aka The Dirty Dozen and D-Twizzy) was initially formed in 1991 by Proof who invited local Detroit rappers such as Bizarre, Eminem and other members who would leave the crew before it achieved success including Eye Kyu, Killa Hawk and FuzZ. The group was a loose collective in the vein of Wu-Tang Clan. Several members began making names for themselves in hip hop during the late 1990s. Bizarre was named Inner City Entertainment's "Flava of the Week". He would also release an album entitled Attack Of The Weirdos and become a member of Tha Outsidaz with Eminem and Rah Digga.

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Chiddy Bang

The notion of "traditional hip hop" has changed forever. Whether you're talking about genre bending projects from superstars like Kanye and Lil Wayne or new artists like Kid Cudi hip-hop has reached a tipping point and its followers are expanding their horizons. Chiddy Bang is a Philly based duo comprised of Chiddy (emcee) and Xaphoon Jones (DJ/producer) who combine elements of indie and electronica with some good al fashioned "spitting".

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John Smith

There are at least three artists called John Smith: 1. John Smith is an up and coming guitar player and singer from Devon. His technical adventurousness and passion as a live performer have secured him support slots with John Martyn amongst others. His debut album (2007), The Fox and the Monk was followed up by the 2009 release Map or Direction. 2. John Smith is a Canadian emcee with releases on Peanuts & Corn Records. After the first release, Blunderbus, which met with critical acclaim, came School Day 2 Garbage Day 4 (2000) with mcenroe and DJ Hunnicutt (as Park-Like Setting).

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Nas & Damian Marley

Nas & Damian Marley came together to record an album titled Distant Relatives (released May 18, 2010). Distant Relatives is a collaborative studio album by American rapper Nas and Jamaican reggae artist Damian Marley, released May 18, 2010, on Universal Republic and Def Jam Recordings. Production for the album took place during 2008 to 2010 and was handled primarily by Damian Marley and Stephen Marley. Fusing musical elements of hip hop and reggae, Distant Relatives features lyrical themes concerning ancestry, poverty, and the plight of Africa.

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