RapStation

When did you fall in love with Hip Hop and why? I think the time I fell in love with it was during my high school years of hitting Nuyorican Poets Cafe with Braggin Rites rap competition my boy Yak was involved with. It was very similar to 8 Mile style battles, but instead there were 32 emcees with 8 advancing and then thenfinal 2 advancing. I would buy tapes from the DJ and it was the music that I was so hooked on. I also listened Sunday night to Bobbito on 89.9 Columbia University radio. I really picked up my flow from that.   Who or what made you decide to pick up the mic and start performing? My buddy Yak was the guy who was rapping, and was signed to Fondle'Em and then Def Jux, which was run by EL-P for a single deal. I was hooked on that life of performing and battling. As o

As the only female member of the Minneapolis hip-hop collective, Doomtree, Dessa is used to smelly vans and crude humor. After all, she tours with 6 other guys all over the world. Since the group's 2001 inception, Dessa (born Margaret Wander) has taken a stab at a solo career several times, beginning with 2005's False Hopes EP. The short 5 track, 15 minute effort provided enough time to highlight Dessa's biggest asset: her songwriting. With a background in spoken word and poetry, it's not surprising. In the meantime, she released a book of creative non-fiction titled Spiral Bound at the fourth annual Doomtree Blowout in 2008. Spiral Bound was published the following year on Doomtree Press. A seventy-page collection of fiction and poetry, it contains several personal revelations. Dessa's fi

Originally born in Houston, Texas, Fat Pimp is a Dallas-based producer/rapper who was given his artist name in high school from a classmate. Fat Pimp's interest for music primarily began as a producer, but extended to his daily lunchtime freestyles. While attending college at Texas Southern University, Fat Pimp began to sharpen and develop his skills. This is where he produced his first hit, "Rack Daddy," which got its exposure via YouTube, then followed up with his club oriented hit "Roll Me Up."  Fat Pimp's singles have been getting the attention of club DJs and radio stations ranging from Dallas all the way to Alaska. When did you fall in love with hip-hop and why? I fell in love with hip-hop around 1994 when I got my Snoop Dogg Doggystyle CD. Hip-hop took over my lif

MC Frontalot is a big dork. And that's awesome. He wouldn't have it any other way. There's a certain level of charm that comes along with the Brooklyn-based "nerdcore" emcee. He is the self-proclaimed "579th greatest rapper" and his lyrics heavily revolve around modern day pop culture absurdities such as video games and Flickr. He doesn't tour much, but when does perform, he plays with a full ensemble, including keyboardist and frequent collaborator Gminor7, bassist Blak Lotus, and drummer The SturGENiUS. Other occasional band members include G.LATINusKY00B, The Categorical Imperative, Vic 20, and 56K- whatever that means. As the more or less godfather of the "nerdcore" genre, MC Frontalot has been asked to speak on many panels to address that type of music. He makes another trip to SXSW

Zion I is emcee Zumbi and producer extraordinaire Amp Live. Coming at you from Oakland, California, the duo has been putting out bass heavy bangers since 2000 when they released the critically acclaimed Mind Over Matter. Since then, they've been on a tireless mission to get their music to the masses. With several collaborations with Grouch and Eligh of The Living Legends and countless underground legends like Blackalicious' Gift of Gab and Talib Kweli, Zion I is always pushing the boundaries of its craft. Zumbi's often metaphysical lyrics combined with Amp Live's futuristic beats lends Zion I a fresh sound unlike any other. 2009’s The Takeover produced the single "Juicy Juice," which showcased the duo just having fun and doing what they like to do. Their new album, Shadowboxing, is out n

For those of you that are fans of MF Doom's Mmm...Food (Rhymesayers, 2004), the third track on that album featured production work from the Tennessee-based artist, Count Bass D. Layers of short MPC samples and film snippets characterize his production style, which is complemented by live instrumentation and eccentric lyrics. While he never garnered significant commercial success, he is an underground powerhouse with a huge catalog of music. He never stops. Music is admittedly his life and it shows. He isn't limited to production, he sings and raps. With a voice reminiscent of Mos Def, there's a lot more to Count Bass D then people know. Check out "Down Easy" from 2005's Begborrowsteal. He took a few seconds to answer Rap Station’s SXSW survey. –Kyle Eustice When did you first fal