BENEFICENCE, EL DA SENSEI, SADAT X & DJ KAOS - March 2014

Beneficence

Brick City’s veteran lyricist and Artifacts affiliate, he has been one of the most active independent artists in the game since 1994. He released two vinyl singles (“Hostile Life Style” and “Thin Line”) in the 90′s and three albums with the help from El Da Sensei, DJ Kaos (Artifacts), Mr. Len (Company Flow), Kice of Course and others.

Beneficence’s 4th full length album, Sidewalk Science, was released in 2011.[2] It features guest appearances from Diamond D (production on five tracks plus two vocal features), Roc Marciano, Prince Po (of Organized Konfusion), Lord Tariq, Rob-O (Pete Rock / INI), The Legion, DJ LKB, Kazi (Stones Throw / Madlib), El Da Sensei, Truth Enola, Presto, 12 Finger Dan, Frank Nitt (of Frank-N-Dank) and Wise Intelligent.

El Da Sensei

Stepped onto the hip-hop scene as one half of the Newark, NJ, duo, the Artifacts. The Artifacts first rose to fame with the hit “Wrong Side of the Tracks.” After El Da Sensei and his partner Tame-One sent a rough demo to Bobbito the Barber at WKCR in New York, the group was signed to Big Beat/Atlantic Records. They released their debut album, Between a Rock & a Hard Place, in 1994 with “Wrong Side of the Tracks” as the lead single and video. After that initial hit, the Artifacts splashed the world with joints like “Come on With the Come On” and “Dynamite Soul,” and went onto tour the U.S. as well as Europe and Japan. They had developed a fan base of hardcore hip-hoppers, being graffiti artists and hip-hop purists themselves; they sparked a new sub-culture in hip-hop called “backpackers.” In 1996, the group followed up their debut with their sophomore album, That’s Them. Although not nearly successful as the first album, many hip-hop fans claim the album is an “underground classic,” spawning the underground hits “The Art of Facts” and “The Ultimate.” Shortly after the release of the second album, El and Tame decided on an amicable break up. After the split, El Da Sensei went on his own traveling around the world and appeared on numerous compilations from Japan to Norway to Germany. During this time, he dropped the singles “Frontline” and “Got That” to let fans know he was still working.

In the fall of 2002, El finally dropped his debut solo album, Relax, Relate, Release, through Seven Heads Entertainment. The album featured guest appearances from Sadat X (of Brand Nubian), J-Live, Organized Konfusion (Pharoah Monch and Prince Po), Mike Zoot & F.T., Asheru, and others. ~ Quibian “Q” Salazar-Moreno, Rovi.

Sadat X

As a member of Brand Nubian, Sadat X (born Derek Murphy) was one of the key MCs who related messages inspired by the Five Percent Nation. Two years after Brand Nubian’s third album, Everything Is Everything, he made his solo debut with Wild Cowboys, which built on his lyrical reputation on top of tough, jazz-inflected arrangements. The album, featuring production from Diamond D and Buckwild, was a solid solo debut that didn’t quite scale the heights of his legacy with Brand Nubian. No Better Way, also released in 1996, improved on the debut and was produced by a cast that opened up to include da Beatminerz and Pete Rock. Sadat teamed back up with Brand Nubian for 1998′s Foundation, but he didn’t appear again as a solo artist until The State of New York vs. Derek Murphy, an EP released on Relativity in 2000. With a full-time job as a special-education teacher, it took five years before his next album, 2005′s Experience & Education, was released, but 2006 saw another full-length, Black October, which was recorded while Sadat X awaited the possibility of prison time for carrying a loaded gun. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi