A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Mos Def, De La Soul, Rakim, Method Man, Redman, Murs, Spank Rock, Supernatural, DJ Green Lantern, Scr

The Pharcyde
An influential alternative rap quartet from South Central Los Angeles, the Pharcyde was formed by MCs/producers Tre "Slimkid" Hardson, Derrick "Fatlip" Stewart, Imani Wilcox, and Romye "Booty Brown" Robinson.

Redman
New Jersey rapper Redman made his initial impact with Whut? Thee Album in 1992. He blended reggae and funk influences with topical commentary and displayed a terse, though fluid rap style that was sometimes satirical, sometimes tough, and sometimes silly.

Kid Sister
Kid Sister is from Markham, IL but currently resides on Chicago's north side. She makes club rap and works at a childrens clothing store slanging bibs and teething rings. Yes, her DJ (J2K of Flosstradamus) is her real brother, and yes that does rule.

Nas
Beginning with his classic debut, Illmatic (1994), Nas stood tall for years as one of New York City's leading rap voices, outspokenly expressing a righteous, self-empowered swagger that endeared him to critics and hip-hop purists.

A Tribe Called Quest
Without question the most intelligent, artistic rap group during the 1990s, A Tribe Called Quest jump-started and perfected the hip-hop alternative to hardcore and gangsta rap. In essence, they abandoned the macho posturing rap music had been constructed upon, and focused instead...

De La Soul
At the time of its 1989 release, De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, was hailed as the future of hip-hop. With its colorful, neo-psychedelic collage of samples and styles, plus the Long Island trio's low-key, clever rhymes and goofy humor, the album sounded like nothing...

R.K.M.
RKM, formerly known as Rakim, is half of the popular reggaeton duo RKM & Ken-Y. Whereas the chief role of Ken-Y is to sing the hooks of the songs, the role of RKM is to rap the verses.

Method Man
Method Man was the first -- and biggest -- solo star to emerge from the groundbreaking Wu-Tang Clan. His mush-mouthed, sandpaper-rough bellow (at times recalling EPMD's Erick Sermon) and imaginative rhymes easily made him one of the most recognizable, unpredictable MCs in the group...

Mos Def
Initially regarded as one of the most promising rappers to emerge in the late '90s, Mos Def turned to acting in subsequent years as music became a secondary concern for him. He did release new music from time to time, including albums such as The New Danger (2004), but his output...

Murs
A longtime friend of Definitive Jux leader El-P, rapper Murs first appeared as a solo artist in 2003, after nearly a decade of working with various groups in the underground. Based in Los Angeles, his first single was released in 1993, and came from a self-released album by his first...

Spank Rock
Reflecting the party rap atmosphere of Baltimore's club scene, Spank Rock arrived as one of the best things to happen to both underground hip-hop and dirty rap, a pair of styles that rarely intermingle.

Kidz in the Hall
In the mid-2000s, alternative hip-hop duo Kidz in the Hall became the new face for the revamped Rawkus Records, the underground rap powerhouse responsible for introducing groundbreaking acts like Mos Def and Talib Kweli before its operations were temporarily closed in 2004.

Wale
In an era when critics and rappers themselves jump to declare the death of hip hop, 22 year-old Wale Folarin has been breathing new life into the genre through dazzling wordplay, a fresh sound steeped in DC's legendary go-go scene, and boundless on-stage energy.

Amanda Blank
Amanda Blank is a flamboyant dirty rapper from Philadelphia who is closely associated with Spank Rock and who has ties to the Baltimore club scene. Born Amanda Mallory, she began to establish herself nationally in 2006 with a guest feature on "Bump," a song from Spank Rock's...

The Cool Kids
Part of the mid-2000s hip-hop movement that found kids in all-over prints rapping about their shoes and their favorite forms of transportation (which often weren't cars), the Cool Kids proved to be both an Internet and live show phenomenon.