Freestyle 101: Large Professor

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New York hip hop vet Large Professor is considered one of the greatest producer/MCs in the game. Behind the mic he has helmed tracks off A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders, Eric B. & Rakim's Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em, Kool G Rap's Wanted: Dead or Alive, and cuts by Nas, Busta Rhymes, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, Mobb Deep, and many others. As an MC, his group Main Source recorded the classic Breakin’ Atoms album, where he discovered a young, unknown MC named Nas, who debuted on the track “Live at the BBQ.” After years of producing for others though, P returned to the mic for his critically acclaimed 2002 solo effort 1st Class and this year’s stellar Main Source.

So Freestyle 101 was beyond honored when this multi-talented maestro stopped by The Engine Room in Hollywood to drop science over a Messiaz beat and knowledge during the interview. Xtra P gives us a genuine off the top freestyle and schools us in hip hop with a history lesson in mic skills. He even brought along fiery up and comer Killa Sha, but you’ll have to wait a few weeks for his episode. 

Freestyle 101: YTCracker

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YTCracker (a.k.a. Bryce Case, Jr.) is a dope rapper, a hacker, a playa, and the undisputed king of Nerdcore Hip Hop. Just ask him.

The man who put the Colorado Springs rap scene on the map is also a huge G4 fan and has been down with us for years. He recorded TheFeed theme song way back when, he starred in our first Nerdcore TV promo earlier this year, and he has been featured on Attack of the Show several times.

As a rapper, YTCracker has been making indie hip hop on his own label, Digital Gangster Enterprises, since 1998, where he’s been releasing albums like Nerd Life and Dirty Nerdy. He tours constantly and has performed alongside such musical acts as Xzibit, Cypress Hill, Digital Underground and George Clinton. He even co-wrote Too Short’s “Pimpandho.com” from 2003’s Married to the Game. His next effort is a collaboration album with fellow nerd rapper/producer MC Lars, The Digital Gangster LP.

As a hacker, YT was exposed to computers by his folks at a young age and was soon programming, designing and terrorizing. In 1999, he made headlines when he defaced NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center website, as well as a few other government sites. This landed him into the media spotlight, making him a go-to talking head on internet mischievousness and teen hacking.

Freestyle 101: Hittman

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His name stands for “His Interesting Talent To Motivate All Nations.” Hip hop heads know H.I.T.T.M.A.N. from Dr. Dre’s multi-platinum album Chronic 2001, where he practically stole the show alongside legends like Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Eminem and Xzibit. He’s the guy who bursts out of the screen at the end of the “Difference Between Me and You” video with Dre and Em. He was poised to be the next big thing when…well…nothing happened. He parted ways with Dre and Aftermath, he never made it to the Up In Smoke tour, and he just kinda vanished without a trace. Until now…

H.I.T.T.M.A.N.’s long-awaited self-titled debut album was just released and he’s hitting the road to take his music to the people. And with bangers like “West Coast Sh*t,” “Last Dayz,” and “La La La,” he shouldn’t have too much problem making new fans. It was a pleasure to have him stop by Engine Room Studios in Hollywood to rhyme about videogames over a Bruce Yi beat. The man knows his games and publishers, and spit a rapid fire, off the dome freestyle about ‘em just for you. In his interview, H.I.T.T.M.A.N. talks about the early days of the Los Anegeles rap scenes and how he met Dr. Dre. Turns out Dre was looking for a short, stocky Eazy-E type character that he could launch like he did Snoop Dogg with his previous landmark album, The Chronic, and N.W.A. before that.

As you are no doubt aware, today is Election Day, and we here at The Feed would like to encourage you to get out there and vote your little hearts out. We don't care how you vote, but, if you enjoy living in a representative democracy, you should exercise your right and responsibility and do the responsible thing. We know you might end up waiting in line, but what's an hour or so when there's years of policy making at stake?

Of course, you could stay in and watch Attack of the Show and X-Play, or you could come back after and watch them as a reward to yourself for voting. What will you see? Oh, man. First, on AOTS,  Kevin Pereira and Chris Hardwick are going to bring you coverage of the campaign no one's talking about...Cobra Commander '08. Then, it's an encore presentation of X-Play's awesome Gears of War 2 special, which has all kinds of exclusive footage and interviews you won't see anywhere else.

Freestyle 101: Kottonmouth Kings

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Today is Election Day, people! This is your chance to cast your vote and be part of Democracy! But after you get done flexing your freedom and being part of history, you might get a hankerin’ for some freestyle hip hop. You might even want said hip hop to touch on the election and get all current eventy ‘n’ stuff. Well, then do we have a Freestyle 101 for you: Orange County punk -pop legends Kottonmouth Kings!

Not normally known for political raps, Kottonmouth Kings rapper Johnny Richter was so inspired by the debates and the presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain that he worked up a special rhyme just for you, just for today. He also threw in some Halloween lines, some references to Tupac and sellin’ dope, and made sure to take a swing at Gov. Palin just to keep it fresh. Meanwhile, Daddy X spit an off-the-top party rap over this blazin’ R.N.S. beat, and D-Loc kept it cool in the cut. The guys also chatted about growin’ up hip hop in punk rock Placentia, located behind the Orange Curtain in SoCal, and some of the rap music that inspired them to grab the mic. Freestyle 101 was happy to have the guys stop by The Engine Room in Hollywood while they were out promoting The Green Album, their latest effort on their own Suburban Noize Records.