Keith Murray (* 13. September1974 in Brooklyn, New York City) ist ein US-amerikanischer Rapper und Mitglied der bekannten Hip-Hop-Gruppe Def Squad, zu der außerdem Redman und Erick Sermon gehören. Murrays bekanntestes Lied ist „The Most Beautifullest Thing in This World“, welches auf dem gleichnamigen Debütalbum 1994 erschien. Von 1994 bis 1999 veröffentlichte er bei Jive Records. Danach wechselte er für jedes Album das Label - vom Def Jam zu Koch Records zu Legion of Doom Records.

1998 wurde er wegen Körperverletzung zu drei Jahren Haft verurteilt, weil er bei einer Meinungsverschiedenheit einen Mann mit einem Barhocker angegriffen hat. Murray bestreitet die Tat.

Sein aktuelles Album heißt Rap-Murr-Phobia (Fear of Real Hip Hop) und ist über Koch Entertainment erschienen. Neben seinen Def-Squad-Kollegen Redman und Erick Sermon sind u.a. auch Tyrese und Method Man auf dem Longplayer zu hören.

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Jeru the Damaja (mit bürgerlichem Namen Kendrick Jeru Davis) (* 14. Februar 1972 in Brooklyn, New York) ist ein US-amerikanischer Rapper.

Sein Debüt gab er 1993 in dem Stück I'm the Man auf dem Gang-Starr-Album Daily Operation. Später im selben Jahr veröffentlichte er die von DJ Premier produzierte Single Come Clean und im darauf folgenden Jahr sein erstes Album, The Sun Rises in the East. 1996 folgte das zweite, wie sein Vorgänger komplett von DJ Premier produzierte Album Wrath of the Math. Beim nächsten Album Heroz4Hirelegte er selbst Hand an die Regler. Das im Jahr 2003 veröffentlichte Album Divine Design ließ er von relativ unbekannten Produzenten produzieren. Beide Alben entfalteten daher nicht die gleiche Wirkung wie seine beiden Erstlinge, konnten aber dennoch inhaltlich überzeugen. Im Jahr 2007 erschien sein neues Album "Still Rising".

Jeru kritisiert in seinen Texten eine auf materiellen Besitz ausgerichtete Lebensweise (Da Bitchez, Me or the Papes, Ya Playin' Yaself), wendet sich gegen Rassismus und Unterdrückung (Jungle Music,Invasion), um nur einige Beispiele zu nennen. Darüber hinaus ist er Taoist und lebte viele Jahre vegetarisch.

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As a child he took part in a band at school and from there learned to play a variety of instruments along the way. At school he only learned Classical, but at home he taught himself to play Funk related music like Parliament, Funkadelic and The Gap Band on his Casio keyboard. Interested in making music, he would create beats and record his own versions for fun.

Banks would later record tapes with his friend, Oakland rapper MC Ant, and sell them at their high school out the trunk of their cars. With the lyrics handled by MC Ant and the production by Ant Banks, buzz over the tapes eventually reached the streets, resulting in popularity throughout the city. In 1987, Banks recorded the debut album by MC Ant titled The Great, which was later released in 1989 through Raw Dog Records. In 1989, he recorded the debut album Let It Be Known by East Bay rapper Spice 1, which was later released in 1991 through Triad Records. Along with the releases of Pooh-Man and Dangerous Dame, Banks managed to sell in the range of 100,000 to 300,000 units with all four albums, without a record label or promotion. This turned him into a prominent figure in the Bay Area hip-hop scene by the early '90s.

He has produced songs for Too Short, E-40, Spice 1, Snoop Dogg and 3X Krazy to name a few. In 1993, he engaged in a beef with Oakland rapper Pooh-Man. In 1996, Banks appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly, alongside Biz Markie, Wu-Tang Clan, and Fat Joe, among many other prominent hip hop artists. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as "a masterpiece" by The Source magazine.

In 1999 Banks started a group T.W.D.Y. (acronym for "The Whole Damn Yay"). Banks himself, Rappin' 4-Tay and Captain Save'm were the original members. Their debut album Derty Werk was released in 1999 and contained the single "Players Holiday", featuring Too Short, Mac Mall, Otis & Shug. The single received a lot of radio play. Also, Ant Banks settled his long time beef with Pooh-Man when they appeared together on the track, "Ride Wit Me". In 2000, T.W.D.Y. released their second and final album Lead the Way: Ant Banks and Captain Save'm remained while Dolla Will replaced Rappin' 4-Tay. He is also known as "The Big Badass" and released an album of the same name in 1994. His talent for producing "funky" bass lines are well known and have achieved cross-over appreciation in the techno niche. The album liner for Daft Punk's album Homework gives a note of appreciation to Ant Banks for inspiration.

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Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac, Pac, and Makaveli, was an American Rapper and Actor. Shakur had sold over 75 million records worldwide as of 2010, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. Rolling Stone Magazine named him the 86th Greatest Artist of All Time. The themes of most of Tupac's songs are the violence and hardship in inner cities, racism, social problems, and conflicts with other rappers during the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry. Shakur began his career as a roadie, backup dancer, and MC for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground.

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