Taking his name from a Gilligan's Island character, Thirstin Howl III is one of hip hop most underrated lyricists. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Thirstin began his career by winning The Source Magazine's "Unsigned Hype Award" in 1997, which got him a spot on the Soundbombing II compilation on Rawkus. His 1999 solo debut Skillionaire also introduced fans to his Lo Life crew -- Rack and Bar Lo -- who joined him in the New York’s DaMann Studios, along with up and comer Meyhem Lauren, for this very special posse edition of Freestyle 101.

Along with spittin’ off the top alongside his posse over a slick Lord G beat, Thirstin sat down with Freestyle 101 and chatted about growing up in New York and how he got turned on to rhyming. Interesting stuff.

Make sure to pick up Thirstin’s many albums, including Skilligan's Island, Licensed To Skill, his upcoming album Natural Born Skiller and his collabo effort with Sadat X of Brand Nubian. Also, be sure to keep your eye out for his upcoming cooking show Jail Recipes.

Freestyle 101 goes up every Tuesday at 9 a.m. PST (noon on the east). Coming up is Charlie 2Na of Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli. Make sure to check out other New York MCs on Freestyle 101, such as Fat Joe, Lil’ Fame, Sheek Louch, Heltah Skeltah, Buckshot, Immortal Technique, Mobb Deep, and more. Find us on MySpace, Facebook, rant in the Forums, and peep our behind the scenes photo gallery.