Hailing from Kwa-Thema, east of Johannesburg, Kevluv epitomizes the African dream, embodied in a Hip-hop artist.The name Kevluv described simply means “Kevin doing what he loves”. Currently wrapping up work on his much anticipated debut mixtape, titled NODAYZOFF which will be independently released ushering in a new era through his own label Eargazm Entertainment.

For Princeton, New Jersey native Kyle Rapps, recording a song with one his top influences and heroes in h-hop, The Teacher himself, Blast Master KRS-One was easily a full circle move for him. “I used to study his song structures, rhyme patterns and live shows,” remembers Kyle.

The Cowboys, the Grassy Knoll, J.R. Ewing, the Stanky Leg… Dallas, Texas, is known for lots of things. Progressive, forward-thinking hip-hop has, until now, not been one of them. Quirky yet streetwise, fun-loving yet dead serious, A.Dd+, the duo of Paris Pershun and Slim Gravy, may just be leading the city towards a rap renaissance.

Born into a musical family from Brooklyn NY, Q-Unique realized at a very early age that he wanted to entertain through song; “When I was 3 or 4 years old, whenever we had company, my parents would give me a microphone and I’d sing for the guests, and I loved it”.

Kokayi (Carl Walker) is a Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter, emcee, producer and educator. Pronounced “Ko-Kah-Yee” (or KOKE for short), this Washington D.C. native takes his name from the Swahili word meaning “to summon the people”.

Selected as one of 106 KMEL’s Top 10 Freshman Rappers of the Bay Area, 21-year-old San Francisco native Roach Gigz has gone from virtually unknown to one of the hottest artists on the West Coast in just four years.

Norfolk Virginia native, Nottz’ first major placement was in 1998 with Busta Ryhmes, when he was just beginning a successful production career that now spans over a decade. Nottz’s consistent success over the years stems from not only his natural gift for production and great relationships built with the artists he has worked with but also his love of music, his humility, and his manager, Darryl Sloan, who he has worked with for over a decade.

After taking a break from being one half of Grammy Award nominated and Grammy Award winning Deep Dish, the most successful US dance duo in history, DJ Sharam has continued to delight and confound critics in equal measure – and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jern Eye was born in 1978, raised in Los Angeles during the 80′s through the advent of gang culture and the rising underground hip-hop scene. Immersed in all facets of hip-hop, Jern Eye developed his craft by attending freestyle battles at underground clubs in L.A. such as The Foundation, UNITY, and Project Blowed. After meeting fellow emcee Spear Of The Nation in high school, where heated rap battles would usually take place, Jern Eye and Spear came to form the hip-hop group Lunar Heights shortly after graduating in 1996. After recording many demo tapes together and playing local shows, they decided to migrate to Oakland in 2000 to further pursue their careers by becoming part of the Bay Area independent hip-hop scene.

For musicians today, a record deal can be like a used car; it might get you from point A to point B, but most likely the salesman took your money and poured sawdust in the transmission. Fortunately, while the industry is gridlocked in filesharing, the members of iLL-Literacy can teleport. And by teleport, they mean “make music that would inspire passionate love with a Silverback gorilla…if it was socially acceptable.” And like any good Silverback gorilla lovemaking, iLL-Literacy’s music somehow recalls our primal past, while leaping forward (and sideways) into a future marked by inter-racial babies and Twitter.