Myka 9 & Factor

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Usually, it’s that you’ve either never heard Myka 9 or you’re given to making fantastic claims about the man and his virtuosity. Superlatives adhere to Myka, yet he is absurdly under-known for an artist of his stature, and it’s this paradox that too often governs discussion of his two and a half decades in rap. (A body of work, by the way, bookended by ghostwriting two songs on N.W.A. and the Posse’s 1987 LP and now by this piece, Sovereign Soul.) Perhaps it’s simply that Myka is more or less alone in the world of rap. His tonal palette is broader and brighter and his voice more liquid than other rappers, his melodic sensibility more unpredictably hard bop than 80’s pop soul—though he goes there too. And he has harder angles too—peep his compelling snarl here on the street duet, “Indigenous Areas,” with the elusive but excellent E-Rule. Myka’s legend began in Freestyle Fellowship, whose independent debut in 1991 is comparable only to De La Soul’s The Daisy Agein opening up possibilities for determined experimentation in hip-hop. As Pitchfork observed, “to say that Freestyle Fellowship significantly influenced west coast hip-hop is like saying that Jesus was a pivotal figure in Christianity.“ And Fellowship, impossibly, persists in producing “the highest standard of rhyme,” as Chuck D. has it, ever confirming their mantra, “We will never fall the fuck off, we promise.” And Chuck’s “highest standard” is soaring: if Jay-Z has said, “If skills sold, truth be told,/ I'd prob

top songs

albums

Sovereign Soul

Famous Future Time Travel

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A Record Label Sampler Volume 4

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A Record Label Sampler Volume 1

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1969

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Fake Four Inc.: A Record Label Sampler Vol. 4

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Double Feature

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Urbnet: Underground Hip-Hop Volume 9

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Fake Four Inc.: A Record Label

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Put This In Your Pocket Without Reservation

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Fake Four, Inc. A Record Label Sampler Volume 4

People Into Making Progress

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