A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Mos Def, De La Soul, Rakim, The Pharcyde, Method Man, Redman, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Dead Prez,

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.

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...

Raekwon
Raekwon may not have achieved the solo stardom of his fellow Wu-Tang Clan mates Method Man or Ol' Dirty Bastard, but along with Genius/GZA and frequent partner Ghostface Killah, he's done some of the most inventive, critically acclaimed work outside the confines of the group.

Ghostface Killah
As one of the original members of the seminal '90s rap crew the Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah (aka Tony Starks) made an impact before he released his debut album, Ironman, late in 1996.

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...

Dead Prez
The Florida-based political rap duo Dead Prez consists of Stic.man and M-1, a pair of rappers inspired by revolutionaries from Malcolm X to Public Enemy. They immersed themselves in political and social studies as they forged their own style of hip-hop.

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...

Immortal Technique
Born Felipe Coronel in a military hospital in Lima, Peru, in 1978, Immortal Technique moved to Harlem with his parents when he was two years old. At age nine he started rapping, though he didn't start to take it more seriously until he was in high school.

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...

Santogold
As a solo project comprised of a revolving door of members, the heart and face of Santogold is vivacious frontwoman Santi White. Paired with John Hill, her former counterpart from ska-punk band Stiffed, the two use their common backgrounds as production-savvy musicians to make bombastic...

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.

Jay Electronica
One of the most talked-about rappers of 2008, Jay Electronica built his reputation via the Internet and word of mouth, without so much as a single commercial release to his credit. Born Je'Ri Allah in 1976, he grew up in the Magnolia projects of New Orleans, where he lived until age 19.