Cage

After starting out in 2002 as (in his own words) an "angsty, bullshit" rapper on Eastern Conference Records, Cage eventually gave in to Def Jux CEO/rapper El-P's badgering that the budding performer should embrace his real voice and vulnerability and switch labels. Cage's upbringing and adult life has been famously troubled—including an 18-month stay at a psychiatric ward as a teenager and a failed suicide attempt in 2004—and while actor Shia LaBeouf sees the potential in Cage for a biopic, these days the rapper tours too relentlessly to relive his most tortured moments. Despite El-P's announcement in February that Def Jux will no longer be releasing physical CDs, by now Cage has found the strength to soldier on with or without its help. 

Updated 06/10/2010