The Third Unheard: Connecticut Hip Hop

When you first think of hip hop areas, what do you think of? New York? Cali? The ATL? Chi Town? You don't normally think of Connecticut. When you do, it's probably "Oh, yeah 50 Cent had a mansion there." Although Connecticut hasn't had success in manufacturing hip hop artists, it did get co-signed by several artists as Saigon, Jadakiss, and others. The only current, somewhat successful, rap artist that Connecticut possesses is Apathy. Hailing the eastern Connecticut town known as Willimantic, he has worked with artists such as Jedi Mind tricks, Celph Titled, and Demigodz. His 2006 album named "Eastern Philosophy" got solid reviews from hip hop megasite "HipHopDX" and another solid rating from "RapReviews." Other then Apathy, it's difficult to find hip hop related in Connecticut. Although a DVD has been released titled "Connecticut Against The World" showcasing underground rappers from various areas, freestyling, and even shown Saigon with some of them. Now if we looking a little further into the history of Connecticut hip hop we could see some more influentional artists.

Mr. Magic is by some called a rap pioneer, he was a hip hop DJ and radio host in the 70's and 80's. He became the very first New Englander to have a rap single with the hit "Rappin With Mr Magic." He also played a part in the fued between Marley Marl's Boogie Down Productions and the Juice Crew in "The Bridge Wars." The Juice Crew's name was acutally named after one of Mr. Magic's aliases. He influenced several artists such as Tupac, Nas, Blaq Poet, and mentioned on Biggie's biggest track of his career "Juicy."

Connecticut isn't known for mainstream artists or such but has played a small part in the growth of hip hop due to Mr. Magic being apart from the Juice Crew. It also has Apathy, a somewhat known underground rapper from eastern Connecticut. Another album to check out if your interested in hip hop from Connecticut is The Third Unheard: Connecticut Hip Hop 1979–1983. Showcases some of the artists from Connecticut in the late 70's and early 80's. Also features Mr. Magic's hit single. Will there ever be a mainstream artist to hail from Connecticut? Who knows, time will tell.