Rakaa

Rakaa Taylor, better known by his stage names Rakaa, Rakaa Iriscience, and Iriscience, is a rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of Dilated Peoples alongside Evidence and DJ Babu.

Career

Rakaa released the solo debut album, Crown of Thorns, on Decon in 2010. It featured vocal contributions from Aloe Blacc, KRS-One, Chali 2na, Evidence, and Fashawn. It was produced by Exile, DJ Babu, Oh No, El-P, and The Alchemist.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Guest appearances

Crown of thorns

According to three of the canonical Gospels a woven crown of thorns was placed on the head of Jesus during the events leading up to the Crucifixion of Jesus. It was one of the instruments of the Passion, employed by Jesus' captors both to cause him pain and to mock his claim of authority. It is mentioned in the gospels of Matthew (27:29), Mark (15:17), and John (19:2, 5) and is often alluded to by the early Church Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and others.

In later centuries, relics believed by many to be all or part of the Crown of Thorns have been venerated.

Christian symbolism

Christian writers associated thorns with the Fall of Man, following God's pronouncement to Adam that "thorns also and thistles shall [the ground] bring forth to thee" (Genesis 3:18, KJV). They have also seen a shadow of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, which was averted by the appearance of a ram caught "by its horns in the thicket" (Genesis 22:13, NAB) — i.e.,with thorns around its head. Like Jesus, the ram subsequently became a substitutionary sacrifice.

Aloe Blacc

Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 6, 1979), known as Aloe Blacc (/ˈæloʊ blæk/), is an American soul artist, vocalist, songwriter, actor, record producer, businessman and musician. He is best known for his singles "I Need a Dollar", UK No. 1 single "The Man", and for writing and performing vocals on Avicii's "Wake Me Up", which charted at #1 in 22 countries.

Early life

Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III was born in Southern California's Orange County to Panamanian parents. Growing up in Laguna Hills, he began playing a rented trumpet in third grade. When it made more sense to buy the instrument, Blacc had what he later described as a "very specific moment" in his evolution as a musician. "It forced me to be serious about it. I couldn’t just do it to get out of the class room," he said in a 2010 interview. His exposure to LL Cool J in fourth grade was equally significant. "It wasn’t too far off from the trumpet moment...I had a Hip Hop moment and a musician moment."

Blacc attended the University of Southern California, and graduated in 2001. He worked briefly in the corporate sector, for EY.

Dilated Peoples

Dilated Peoples is an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. They achieved notability in the underground hip hop community, although they have had little mainstream success in the US, with the exception of the song "This Way", a 2004 collaboration with Kanye West, Xzibit, and John Legend appearing in the music video. They reached the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart with two tracks, "This Way" and "Worst Comes to Worst." Their members include DJ Babu (producer/DJ), Evidence (MC/producer) and Rakaa (MC). The group also received a publicity spike after their songs were featured in the 2003 video games Need for Speed: Underground and NBA Street Vol. 2.

History

Its members, DJ Babu from the DJ crew Beat Junkies; Evidence; and Rakaa joined together in 1992 and released "Third Degree" (1997) and "Work the Angles" (1998) on ABB Records, developing a solid fan base in the underground hip hop community. They had previously recorded an album titled Imagery, Battle Hymns & Political Poetry (1995) that was never released, although many fans still have it on bootlegged tapes. The group eventually signed with Capitol Records and released The Platform (2000) to more critical acclaim.

DJ Babu

Melvin Babu (born September 17, 1974), better known as DJ Babu, is a Filipino-American DJ and producer. He is a member of the hip hop trio Dilated Peoples, with Rakaa Iriscience and Evidence. Also a member of the World Famous Beat Junkies DJ crew. Currently, he serves as the curator and host of "Soundcheck" for Beat Junkie Radio on Dash Radio.

Career

Babu is also a member of the Beat Junkies DJ crew, and together with rapper Defari forms the duo the Likwit Junkies. Babu, Evidence and Pharoahe Monch are featured in the song "H! Vltg3," from Linkin Park's album Reanimation.

In his early years, Babu lived in Oxnard, California for one year, and later moved to the neighboring city of Camarillo, he currently resides in Los Angeles County.

Babu has won multiple competition titles Including the Vestax World Championships and multiple ITF titles. As a revered battle DJ he has appeared in and hosted numerable videos. Babu is famous for redefining the art of Beat juggling during the 1997 ITF/Beat juggling category competition, when he first performed his "Blind Alley" routine. Under the name "The Turntablist", produced perhaps the genre's most popular battle record, 1996's Super Duck Breaks, which sold over 10,000 copies.