Killah Priest

• Genre: East Coast Street Poets
• Hometown: Brooklyn

About

A Brooklyn emcee with a penchant for fusing religious scriptures with Brooklyn thuggishness, Killah Priest got his start on records by ODB and the Gravediggaz. His divinity-laced verse on the GZA's "B.I.B.L.E." turned many heads, and led to an album from his crew, the Wu-affiliated Sunz of Man. In 1998 he released his first solo album, the aptly-titled Heavy Mental. Unfortunately, in a year dominated by radio rabble rousers like Jay-Z and Lauryn Hill, his complicated lyrical style flew way over the heads of average rap consumers. He returned in 2000 with View From Masada, but again fell short of crossing over into the mainstream arena. Nonetheless, Killah Priest is widely respected as a stellar lyricist, and is rumored to be forming a crew of super-emcees called The Four Horsemen, alongside Ras Kass, Canibus, and Kurupt.

- Brolin Winning