Whatup Hip-Hoppers?

We are gathered here today to bring to you some genuine Hip-Hop heads who plan on giving you nothing but the realest of the illest in media. We are collectively known as Ill Camp and believe it or not but we hail from Lancaster, SC. But like my daddy use to say, "it ain't where you from, its where you at". Currently, we are the top of our game and making the best music of our lives.

Our Ill Camp membership consists of R.I.G.I.D., SLAM, mainMAN, Kompleet Trackz, Walt Mass, Loose Cannon, DJ Serious, The P, Avalanche, J. Black, Nasty Knowledge, & Bonus but we are closely affiliated with some crazy number of other crews. Just to name a few, they are So Cold, Mile High, Fi-Water, Payday, Flawless, OTC, New Hope Real Life, BBC, K-Town Affiliates as well as countless individual emcees, deejays & producers. Now I'd like you to meet each member of Ill Camp. First up...

R.I.G.I.D.

If you didn't recognize at first, R.I.G.I.D. is an acronym that stands for Real Info Given In Detail. It should also stand for the hardcore, soulful beats that this brother creates. Besides being an emcee and producer, R.I.G.I.D. aka Marcus Cureton is also one of the founding fathers of the Ill Camp crew some seven years ago.

Influenced by his cousins Tim & Gerald, young R.I.G.I.D. was instantly consumed by the beats and lyrics of Hip-Hop pioneers like Gangstarr. Believing in his own ability to make rhymes, he began making 'pause tapes' with his cousins by recording from one boombox into another. His hunger for music led him to buy a $25 playstation game that allowed him to make his own beats. Word spread in the streets about this young upstart which led to a chance meeting between R.I.G.I.D. and a local well known producer named Avery "X-Man" Simmons. Long nights in X-Man's backyard studio gave birth to Ill Camps first group R&S and their first underground release The Arrival.

Since then R.I.G.I.D. has released a total of three R&S projects plus two solo albums including Second II None and this years hot commodity Death & Taxes. He also has production credit on over twenty outside projects. Of course, he has upgraded his equipment since the good old days and looks forward to working with genuine Hip-Hop and R&B artists who are passionate about their work.

S.L.A.M.

S.L.A.M. or government alias Tim Cureton is also one of the founders of this Ill Camp movement. Each letter from his name stands for Soldier Living As Man and if you ever heard S.L.A.M. spit, you would know why. His militant flow and no nonsense delivery cuts right through all of the bullshit gives you exactly what you need; mental nurishment.

Starting off much the same way as R.I.G.I.D. did with the pause tape production technique available to them at the time, S.L.A.M. really honed his skills during the X-Man studio sessions that followed. As one half of R&S aka R.I.G.I.D. & S.L.A.M., their appetite for quality music far outweighed their peers at that time. While many local down south artists embraced the crunk and snap style that was becoming popular at the time, S.L.A.M. stuck with the original boom bap of the east coast and the gritty street style of the west coast.

Successfully completing three full length R&S albums that include The Arrival, Martial Law, and Harsh Reality. S.L.A.M. did all this while pursuing a four year degree at the University of South Carolina and being a well rounded family man. Currently, S.L.A.M. is working on his first solo joint, A Soldiers Story and the Ill Camp Compilation & DVD, The Conglomerate.

Walt Mass

Walt Mass is a beast of an emcee. Born Walter Massey the youngest of three brothers, Walt grew up right outside the projects watching his older brothers get into all kinds of trouble. And as we all know, the fruit doesn't fall far from the family tree. At an early age, Walt found a way to express himself through music.

Being neighbors as well as childhood friends with R.I.G.I.D., it was an easy transition on to the Ill Camp roster. With a rapid fire flow of vivid street life imagery, Walt Mass punishes your brain with metaphorical lyricism. His first album A Waste Of Talent along with his classic follow-up LP Birth Of A New Breed, combined heartfelt life situations with hardcore ghetto substance over R.I.G's soulful tracks. The first member to go all out with mechandising and promotion, his current project, Soul To Soul, is guaranteed to be a banger from hood to hood.

mainMAN
Don't get it twisted, mainMAN is an old ass man who has been around since the beginning of Hip-Hop. His mama named him Jermaine Monroe but his first alias was actually MC Jaylove. As he grew up, more people came to know him as Main, short for his first name, and mainMAN just seemed a better fit because he truly is everybodys main man.
As a military kid transplant, mainMAN moved alot but always considered the carolinas his home. Everywhere he went, his personality always attracted people and his love for Hip-Hop was prevelant. And not only for rapping because he tried his hand at every element: grafitti, DJing, breakdancing, and producing. However, none compared to moving the crowd as the master of ceremony.

After being one half of The Gangsta 2 in high school & The Fanats in college, main decided to go the solo route. He has been featured on many DJ mixtapes and has self produced at least five hisself. Settling down in South Carolina and joining the Ill Camp supergroup has given new life to what he thought was a lost art. His mixtapes Radio Unfriendly and Promoting Violence were respectively hosted by DJ Handz and DJ K-Smooth. His first solo effort, Brutal Honesty, is a testament to his life's struggle and accomplishment. Currently working on several projects that include music videoes, another solo album, and a soon to be released collaboration with fellow Ill Camper R.I.G.I.D. entitled The Real Ill Musik, mainMAN is definately staying busy.

Kompleet Trackz

Some people inherit riches but have no real knowledge on how to make money. That is not the case with this young Hip-Hop head. Kompleet Trackz was groomed at a very young age about the difference between what's real and what's fugazi. He had very little choice being the younger brother of S.L.A.M. and the close cousin of R.I.G.I.D. Kompleet or Drew Cureton as some of his lady friends might know him, wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth, just a beat machine at his fingertips.
Being a fast learner granted him a position within the ranks of Ill Camp as one half of the production team. However, beats are not his only forte as he has brought many up & coming talented local artists to help with some of the camps projects. Kompleet has something alot of folk twice his age lack and that is an ear for good music.

Working on Nasty Knowledges forthcoming solo album as well as his own compilation labeled LA Confidential, while maintaining a high grade point average and playing varsity football is not easy. But Kompleet Trackz wouldn't have his name if he wasn't such a well rounded individual. Watch out world, you're looking at the future.

The P

If you ever saw a mysterious figure that you just might recognize but you couldn't quite place his face, you just might be thinking about P. With more aliases than a Wu-Tang member, P stands for many things; Pnero, Petey Weestro or just Patrick Wallace. Either way P always leaves you wanting to know more almost like an early Ghostface Killah if you will.

Six degrees of separation is what led this intelletual emcee to become affixed in the Ill Camp crew. Befriending his coworker X-man who was already working with the founding members of Ill Camp is how he was introduced to the crew. Right away P began to be featured on almost every project to date.

An exacting practitioner, P is currently mixing and matching the right beats with the right rhymes to build an album for the thinking man's ear. Always ready to freestyle battle and/or support whatever the camp has in production, P is a much needed addition to the Ill Camp equation.

DJ Serious

When Robert Ingram was a youngster, his family called him Tonka because of the toy trunk that he loved to play with. But when he got older, he wanted everyone to take him serious. So he named himself just that.

As one of the founders of Ill Camp, Serious was influential from the very beginning. This even included the name of the camp itself. His creative input on earlier projects is what gave that distinct flavor. DJ Serious has always been an advocate of keeping it real, stressing to the other members on the significance of rapping about the truth in the booth.

Although not an emcee in his own right, DJ Serious is the house deejay at The Chatterbox Club in Lancaster, SC, and the ultimate hype man for his Ill Camp bretheren. He has done his part making sound drops on various promotional projects and is always there when you need him. His house is the unofficial headquarters of the camp and DJ Serious has no problem playing his position. Seriously, Robdog will always be Ill 4 Life.

Avalanche

It's like he's as cold as ice and when he spits, the earth moves. That must be why they call him Avalanche. Not everybody is as much of a stand up guy as Darrian Perry is. If he says it, you can bet your last money that he'll do it.

Already known in the streets as a notorious freestyler and battle rapper, adding the first cousin of the Cureton boys to the crew was a no brainer. It was all in the family once Avalanche heard that his cuzzo R.I.G.I.D. was making beats.

His inital installment to the game was titled Insane due to the crazy flow his has. If he had to, Avalanche could probably freestyle an entire album. He is almost always paperless in the studio like some of the greatest of all time Biggie & Jay-Z. Avalanche has also been featured on almost every Ill Camp project to date but it won't be long before the ground starts to move again as his tentativly untitled second solo LP is now in the works.

Loose Cannon

Gerald Mackey is a scholar, an intellectual genius if you will. He is watchful and very deliberate about the words that he chooses to use. He may seem as a calm socialite on the cover but on the flip side, Gerald Mackey is a ticking timebomb. Thus, the moniker Loose Cannon. He raps like he is mad at the world and for a good reason. The world that we live in is full of shit and everybody, especially the politicians, want to lie about it.

It's almost like Loose is living a double life with an alter ego. By day he is a master architech but at night he becomes the Hip-Hop social activist better known as Loose Cannon. His delivery is straight tongue lashing, never tongue in cheek. His content ranges from the hardships of the people on his side of town to the racism that still exists around the world. While many emcees waste their bars on ways to make your ass move, Loose is spitting on ways to make the world move toward making a change for the better. Due to his heavy committment and career responsibilities, Loose Cannon does not have any projects on the horizon. But just like his attitude, at any time that could quickly change.

X-Man

Avery "X-Man" Simmons was present at the conception as well as the birth of the illustious iLL Camp Crew. After receiving a tape of R.I.G.I.D.'s beats from his cousin, a chance meeting at Taco Hell prompted him to invite the young upstart to his studio. Immediate chemistry gave output to a string of collaborations on X's Enemy Territory project called The Buzz. Soon after, the Camp was created.

This MPC mutant got his start as an emcee with roots in 80's & early 90's Hip-Hop. He didn't start producing until around 1998 due to the lack of original tracks in the area. His self taught, guerilla style music making skills are as authentic to Hip-Hop as honey is to bees. X-Man digs the crates and bangs the drum pads unlike the many click & drag Frooty Loopers of today. Currently working on his newest So Cold Production, The Co-Op, X is positioning himself for greatest for years to come.

J. Black, Cap, C-Double, H-Wood & Unk

Now we can't give you everything right up front. We'll give you time to digest all this info before we hit you in the head some more. But until then, enjoy the blog, add comments & stay in tune to the order of operation that the Ill Camp will deliver. Peace & blessings.