Girl Talk is the pseudonym of DJ and remixer Greg Gillis. A Pittsburgh native who works as a biomedical research engineer during the day, Gillis channels his other creative energies into Girl Talk, whose sample-based dance tracks have made him the John Oswald or Christian Marclay of the mash-up gener

Experimental, Pioneering, Playful, Pop

Public Enemy has been labeled the "most important and politically controversial group of its time." DJ virtuoso Terminator X brings the beat for the commanding lyrics of Chuck D and Flavor Flav. Public Enemy formed at Adelphi University on Long Island in 1982 -- Carleton Ridenhour worked at the stude

Collage, Excessive, Layered, Political, Sincere

Anything made by hand or by machine or by lies is "fabricated." Fabrication is that dubious domain where invention can slide toward, and couple with, duplicity. Or not. Sugarhill Gang, one of the first groups to put hip hop on vinyl, knew this slippery slope just too well. With luck on their side, t

Bright, Joyful, Pioneering, Pop, Quirky

K'Naan (born Kanaan Warsame ) is a Somali-born rapper currently working in Canada. His powerful lyrics are influenced by Somalia's rich poetic tradition and describe the plight of Somalis and other Africans. He grew up listening to hip-hop albums that his father, already living in America, would sen

Angry, In-your-face, Lyrical, Political, Tragic