Amir Ali Said

Three Times Dope was a hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who had a run in the late '80s.  The group included rapper EST, producer Chuck Nice, and DJ Woody Wood.  They were apart of The Hilltop Hustlers, an infamous crew from…

Inspectah Deck released his debut album, Uncontrolled Substance, in 1999.  The album was originally supposed to be released in 1995, but two floods at RZA's home studio postponed the album indefinitely.  RZA lost upwards of 500 beats…

Diamond D is a producer and a rapper from The Bronx, New York who came up in the '90s.  He is one of the original members of the hip hop collective D.I.T.C.  The collective featured Lord Finesse, O.C., Big L, Fat Joe, Buckwild, Showbiz and…

Gábor Szabó was a Hungarian guitarist who made jazz, pop, and rock music.   In 1961, Szabó started his career as a member of Chico Hamilton's quintet.  Chico Hamilton was a famous jazz drummer and a bandleader who made his mark in the '50s…

dead prez is a hip hop duo from New York that features two rappers: M-1 and stic.man.  M-1 is from Brooklyn, and stic.man is from Shadeville, Florida.  In the early '90s, they met each other in college at Florida A&M.  Later, they…

Kellee Patterson was a singer from Gary, Indiana who recorded in the '70s.  She got her start in the music industry after winning a series of beauty pageants in her town.   In 1971, she became Miss Indiana, and her singing played a unique…

Patrice Rushen is a singer, pianist, and composer from Los Angeles, California.  In 1974, she started her recording career with Prestige Records.  She released three albums for Prestige, then in 1978, she started recording for Elektra…

Diamond D is a producer and a rapper from The Bronx, New York who came up in the '90s.  He is one of the original members of the hip hop collective D.I.T.C.  The collective featured Lord Finesse, O.C., Big L, Fat Joe, Buckwild, Showbiz and…

Johnnie Taylor was a gospel and a soul singer from West Memphis, Arkansas.  In the '50s, he started his career as a singer in the gospel group The Highway QC's.  In 1957, he replaced Sam Cooke as the lead singer in the gospel group The Soul…

Noel Pointer was a violinist from Brooklyn, New York who recorded for several decades. His career started in high school at The High School of Music and Art.  He studied classical violin, and after high school, he was a freelance artist for…