Rhymefest

Our first entry is dedicated to Rhymefest, an MC who has certainly paid his dues and finally released his first album last week. I actually find Blue Collar pretty disappointing thus far, but I'm still digesting it.

I first heard Rhymefest about 10 years back, when he and fellow Chicagoan Juice were winning battles all over the country. The first link is from that era, circa 1996, performing on Kevin Beecham's show on WNUR. I lived on the South Side of Chicago at the time, and WNUR broadcasted from north of the city, so unfortunately most of the time it was out of earshot.

Rhymefest on WNUR

The second link is from fall 2003. Poison Pen, PackFM, and Immortal Technique were on WNYU's Halftime Show. Rhymefest shows up, absolutely DESTROYS the mic, and pisses off DJ Eclipse in the process. Good times. In his second chance he kicks the verse that Kanye West would make famous in "Jesus Walks" 6 months later.

Poison Pen, PackFM, Immortal Technique, Rhymefest on Halftime Show