The Marginal Prophets are a 5-piece “Semi-Conscious Hip-Hop” group from San Francisco, California. The crew combines samples and sequenced music with a live band (and elements of rap, rock, and funk), resulting in a frantic live show—thick grooves, crazy stage antics, and demented lyrics all coming together in one energetic, bouncy performance. The M.P.’s method is to mess with peoples’ minds through their choice of unusual samples—including King Crimson, Camper Van Beethoven, and Tori Amos, to name a few—and their irreverent, twisted lyrics that teem with sexual innuendos and double entendres.
The group is comprised of rappers K2 (that’s K-squared) and The Noble Def G (aka Jeff Kramer), and augmented by bass player Adam Lodge, drummer Adam Lipsky, and guitarist Jeff Ranney. The band has taken its live show up and down the West Coast, into the heart of Texas, and across Western Canada.
K-squared’s alter-ego, Keith Knight, is the writer and illustrator of the nationally-syndicated comic strip The K Chronicles, which runs in more than a dozen newspapers nationally, and can be read weekly at Salon.com. He started a second strip, (th)Ink, in 2003. Keith has also done illustration work for Disney, Nickelodeon, Men’s Health magazine, and ESPN Magazine.
The group's debut CD, Twist the Nob, was selected as one of 1997’s 10 Best Albums by The San Jose Metro, and one of the Top 100 Indie Releases of the year by PULSE! Magazine (Tower Records’ in-store publication). They also released a live disc entitled Dead Hippie Bootleg.
Bohemian Rap CD is The Marginal Prophet's brand new album, and it's already generating a great buzz. This featured song, "Hip-Hop Hypocrisy," features reknown turntable artist DJ Quest, and is one of 12 songs on the album. The album was recorded on a complete Mac-based system, built around an 800MHz PowerBook G4 and a 400MHz Power Mac G4, using Emagic Logic. The group's producer and beat maker, Jamie Lemoine, is a big advocate for Mac-based recording. "I love Macs," he exclaims. "I never really learned tape-based recording because it was so expensive when I got into music professionally. The cost of one project basically equaled the cost of a Mac with the hardware and software, so I just got the Mac." He adds, "This is the second record for the Prophets done on the computer."
At press time, Bohemian Rap CD had been nominated for a 2004 California Music Award for "Outstanding Rap Album." The Prophets are the only unsigned band nominated in this category—they're up against album's released by Too Short, Aceyalone, E-40, Paris, and West Side Connection (featuring Ice Cube)—the winner should be announced by the time you read this. Audiences can’t seem to get enough of their on-stage acrobatics and verbal gymnastics, and the group is starting to attract the attention of major labels. Check out the group's site to get more info, hear more tunes, and find out if they've won.
