Artist Mac Lethal

In 2007, Kansas City rapper Mac Lethal made his Rhymesayers debut with 11:11, which delivered on the underground label’s promise of thoughtful, intriguing hip-hop from the heartland. The album was generally well-received when it first came out, and even experienced a spike in interest (and sales) following the inclusion of the track “Sun Storm” on the MTV dance-competition show America’s Best Dance Crew. As Lethal notes in “Calm Down Baby,” he has a knack for writing “weird songs that got hooks like Journey,” and the fact that he can reference the Wu-Tang Clan alongside Nick Drake and Wilco proves that his point of view differs quite a bit from what mainstream rap has to offer. Though a follow-up called Irish Goodbye is still without a release date, Lethal has kept plenty busy in recent years with his Love Potion Collection mix-tape series.

Updated 11/18/2010