"We love Hip Hop as much as you do, but yoo-hoo it's me the Wahoo," rhymes rapper Blue Black of the group Unspoken Heard on the underground classic "Soon Come," which was released on the 7 Heads album in 2001. Blue Black, known to most people as Rob Jackson, along with alumnus Gabe Benn, form one of the most respected groups in Hip Hop known as the Unspoken Heard.
In addition to members of the Unspoken Heard, University alums, Wes Jackson and an MC known as Forge of Little Egypt are also involved in the hip hop scene.Jackson is the man behind the 7 Heads label, home to artists such as former Artifact member El Da Sensai and Richy Pitch while Forge of Little Egypt, opens for groups such as Jurassic 5 and Fat Joe, and is gearing up for an August tour in Brazil. University alums, however, are not the only ones who can be found in the Hip Hop scene.
Hip Hop has always been an active force at the University, whether in the form of artists making music or DJ's spinning it at parties and on local radio stations.The newest outlet for hip hop around Grounds, however, is the LMNTal crew, the University's official Hip Hop organization.
LMNTal is the brainchild of graduate Lamar Glover and rising fourth-year Chris Rodriguez. When Rodriguez was a first-year in 2000, he founded a club known as the OAHHC, or Organization for the Advancement of Hip Hop Culture. The club was unsuccessful, but the next semester, however, Rodriguez met Lamar and LMNTal was born--in the form of a TV show on WHOO-TV. The show started off small, but the group received coverage and exposure, with live footage from performances around Grounds.
After receiving preliminary exposure on WHOO-TV, LMNTal released a compilation album, featuring contributions from most members in the group. Rodriguez, however, who goes by Excel Da Myriad, is the most accomplished MC in LMNTal. Besides holding it down on the Boombox's 91.9 Thursday night radio show slot, Rodriguez is also a part of OutDaFace Productions, his crew from home in Queens, New York.
Currently, LMNTal maintains the WHOO-TV. show, releases a newsletter, The Main L.M.N.T., and records music.
At the beginning of last semester, Glover handed down his reins in the organization, but LMNTal continued to succeed, obtaining official status as a C.I.O.
Firmly established at the University, LMNTal spent the semester traveling and interviewing, as well as providing entertainment through free-style rapping on Grounds.
This past semester, coverage of LMNTal on WHOO-TV provided an array of material within the Hip Hop arena.Exclusive footage of a Tribeca concert, an artist signed to Major League Entertainment that gained fame with his song "The Life," a freestyle session with Manifest Destiny, a two-man crew from New Jersey and a road trip to James Madison University to see and interview MC's Mr. Lif and Akrobatik reveal the diversity of activities the club provided students with, all within one music genre.
Besides the show, LMNTal staged a lot of ciphers, or freestyle sessions, onGrounds. When Mahogany, a University ensemble that performs African and African-American dance, had their show at the Student Activities Building in the spring, LMNTal was there, right outside the door, rhyming until the show started.
The group also invited a local crew known as Foul Sound, to do a bus cipher. After getting on the bus outside of the Castle, passengers were entertained with the group's infectious beat.
This year LMNTal sponsored the first hip hop forum on Grounds entitled "Don't Let the Money Change Ya." Kevin Powell, one of the nation's top Hip Hop scholars spoke in front of students in Ruffner Hall about the current state of Hip Hop. Rob Jackson also spoke at the forum, as well as noted spoken-word poet Samantha Raheem and University Professor Corey Walker. The forum allowed LMNTal to analyze Hip Hop in a serious academic setting. The forum allowed students to probe the new Hip Hop craze as more than just a passing fad.
LMNTal will be working next year to keep the organization growing. The group hopes to build off of the past semester while simultaneously finding news ways to bring Hip Hop to the University through live shows, film screenings and original music.
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