L-2 Battleaxe Warriors

The Battleaxe Warriors is a movement that supports underground hip-hop and rap music. The movement was started in Vancouver Canada; by a leading member of the rap group Swollen Members. The Group Swollen Members consists of the popular MC’s MadChild, Prevail, Robin Hooper, and Daniel Denton. The group is known worldwide for their respect of the hip-hop game. The group is very heavily influenced by the early years of hip-hop, with some new influences. The group uses a lot of basic snare and bass beats in a good amount of their songs, but they also use a lot of new school technology in their beats. They have toured with an incredibly wide variety of DJ’s. The group is more involved with their lyrical delivery and content, rather than simply doing what the public wants. Being signed to their own label, owned by MadChild called “Battleaxe Records”, they have the freedom to do what they want. Head owner MadChild went through a 

period of time of incredible drug abuse. During this time, he ended up losing the record company, and spent about 300,000 dollars of the company’s money. After a four year long drug abusing binge, MadChild realized that he needed to get help with his addiction. He got the help of his friends and family, and just stopped. During this entire time, he was writing music. It was an outlet for him. A way to deal with the pain. At this time in his life, he has now been sober for about three years. MadChild realized that music was his escape, specifically rap and hip-hop music. He talked to his group, Swollen Members” and decided to do a solo act, which they were fully supportive of. He wanted to create something that could include everybody in the world who felt the same way as him, so in honor of his old company, he created the Battleaxe Warriors. A group of likeminded people who all have a passion for underground rap music. It is a worldwide movement, and above all, a family. MadChild wanted to create friendships and lifelong relationships with this. The main thing they want to make clear is that they are NOT a gang. Here is a quote from their website. “Battleaxe Warriors is NOT A GANG. We do not support any illegal or criminal activities. Any one that uses the Name, Logos or Likeness to Victimized, Bully or Intimidate anyone will have membership cancelled immediately.” The people that are proud enough to represent the Warriors include MC’S, DJ’s, Producers, Tattoo Artists, MMA Fighters, Graphic Designers, Graff Artists, Extreme Sports athletes, and Fans and Supporters of Underground Hip-Hop and the Whole Culture of Hip-Hop. They are a moving force in the Hip-Hop game, and always will be.

L-1 Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, who performs under the name Kendrick Lamar, was born in Compton California on June 17th, 1987. Anybody who knows anything about rap music knows that the all time greats of N.W.A are from Compton. Compton is not a nice place to grow up. The streets are filled with gang members and drugs, along with violence and death. As a kid, Lamar would wright short storied simply because he enjoyed doing so. Eventually he put some words together with some music, and his passion for rap music was born. As a child, Lamar's father was a member of the notorious street gang the Gangster Disciples. Obviously, any child is influenced by their parents. He spent a a lot of time growing up on the streets doing "questionable" things. Unlike most other kids and teens that grew up on the streets, he was more influenced by the experience rather than harmed by it. All throughout high school Lamar was a good student that got good grades. He also thoroughly stories, which turned him onto poems, which eventually led him to start writing lyrics. Lamar's family was directly affected by street violence in a event that I do not know too much about. Along this entire time, Lamar remained a silent observer, never getting involved, just watching. Lamar started using the name K-Dot and rapping his lyrics. He released a mix tape titled "Youngest Head N**** In Charge" which drew a lot of attention to Lamar in Southern California and beyond. The mix tape was enough to get Lamar noticed and a record deal with "Top Dawg". He went on to release two other acclaimed mix tapes that were titled "Training Day", and " C4". Along the way, he was becoming partners and friends with other up and coming California rappers who went by Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q. In 2010, Lamar dropped the name K-Dot and started performing under his actual name. His forth mix tape came out about the same time, titled "Overly Dedicated". The same year, he released his first full length album "Section 8.0". The album was exclusively released on iTunes, and the ratings were off the charts. The album really let people see how talented Kendrick was. As Kendricks buzz continued to build, Dr.Dre got in touch with him and signed him to his label. This is what took Lamar's career to the next level. In October of 2012, Lamar released "Good Kidd, Madd City". The album provided an inside look at the modern streets of Compton like no other artists besides maybe N.W.A had ever done. Once that album was released, people have started saying that Kendrick could be the savior of Hip-Hop. Kendrick will go down in history as of one of the greatest lyricists in history. Everyone is looking forward to what he will next produce.