Respecta.is - The Ultimate Hip Hop Portal

The ground-breaking roots of rapper and
producer EA-Ski trace back deep within the
concrete history of Bay Area music; you can
find the musical fingerprints of EA-Ski with
rapper Spice 1 before (and during) his time
with Jive Records in the 90's. EA-Ski produced
three tracks off of Spice 1's self-titled
debut album while signed to the record label,
and contributed another four beats to the
California spitter's sophomore follow-up, "187
He Wrote", both of which went Gold. Continuing
to solidify the strength of his production
work with Spice 1, the EA-Ski produced "Trigga
Gots No Heart" was also featured in "Menace II
Society". In addition, the famed producer was
also heavily instrumental in Master P's early
success with No Limit Records, where as an
original one-fifth member of No Limit's TRU -
along with P, King George, Big Ed, and Rally
Ral - EA-Ski released the EP "1 Step Ahead Of
Yall" through In-A-Minute and No Limit in
1992.

Looking ahead and fresh off the presentation
of the Okanagan 2010 Film Festival Award-
winning short film "No Problems", which
features actor Danny Glover, EA-Ski and his
I.M.G.M.I. imprint will be putting out several
upcoming projects like his latest solo album
titled "5th Of Skithoven", which is set to
feature original, new music from the storied
producer, as well as boasting appearances from
Ice Cube, Freeway, Locksmith, Techn9ne and
others. The video to the lead-single "Please",
featuring west coast heavyweight Ice Cube, is
currently being played in heavy rotation,
garnering over 100.000 views on youtube within
the first two weeks of its release.

NEW ZEALAND HIP HOP. Dam Native is a New Zealand hip hop group. The group formed in 1992 under the name Native Bass and released an album at a time when the industry was virtually void of any New Zealand hip hop.
Dam Native focuses on Māori issues and other political issues relating to New Zealand. The group have released their album, titled Kaupapa Driven Rhymes Uplifted (sometimes shortened to K.D.R.U.), the hiphop pioneers are responsible for an "Urban Musical Cultural Revolution" in Aotearoa/New Zealand. With Hip Hop as the vehicle, Tangata Whenua ("indigenous person"/"people of the land") as the driver, Dam Native single handedly were the first to bring International respect and recognition to Aotearoa/New Zealand Hip Hop music.
Through poetic skills of a higher level, songwriting genius, phat beats, underground street integrity, and a passion for HipHop culture Dam Native immediately became the benchmark for Street Music in NZ.
Spanning nearly two decades Dam Native's involvement in the NZ music industry saw them not only support major international acts such as Public Enemy, Ice T, Spearhead, Ben Harper, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Del the Funky Homosapien, Big Day Out Tour New Zealand and Australia, Body Count and The Fugees to name a few, but also became not only the first "true/real" Hip Hop group but the first "Maori Hip Hop" group to win two NZ music awards.
The groundbreaking Dam Native Album, "Kaupapa Driven Rhymes Uplifted" is still regarded today as the best NZ hip hop album ever.