Talib Kweli and Friends Presents Hezekiah Peedi Crakk, DJ Chela November 22, 2010

Talib Kweli presents another night of the most exciting artists in hip-hop today.

Question: What do you get when you mix a Delaware-raised former choirboy and preteenFunk singer with a diehard DIY Hip Hop head who cites country music, Quincy Jones and Kool G. Rap as influences in the same breath?

Answer: One of the dopest Emcees-slash-producers-slash-singers-slash-guitar players-slash songwriters that you've ever heard. You can call him Hezekiah.

Peedi Crakk
Set apart by his unique vocal markers -- a high nasal tone accompanied by his stop-and-go flow -- North Philadelphia native Peedi Crakk (b. Pedro Zayas) gained notoriety through his guest verses on material by his Roc-a-Fella labelmates and State Property cohorts Beanie Sigel and Freeway. The Philly MC first signed to Roc-a-Fella Records in 2001 with the help of his friend since high school Freeway, who had joined the label before via Beanie Sigel and his State Property entourage. Peedi's first proper single, "One for Peedi Crakk," taken from the soundtrack for the movie Paid in Full, came out in 2002, charting in the R&B/hip-hop Top 40. His appearances on various Roc-a-Fella albums, including Jay-Z's The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse (2002) and Freeway's Philadelphia Freeway (2003) (notably on the latter album's radio single "Flipside"), were usually standouts, and his mixtapes gave him a creditable reputation among hardcore East Coast rap fans. Faced with increasing exposure, the Philly rapper decided to modify his rap name to Peedi Peedi.

DJ Chela
DJ Chela is the DJ for the next generation, representing her values and music with passion. Since her beginnings in 2002, she has performed on three continents, branding her name in everything from radio, clubs, mixtapes, battles and live shows to political activism. Out of her legwork she has birthed a movement all her own: the New Girl Order, embracing the new possibilities for our world when Women’s voices have an undeniable and respected presence in Hip Hop and society as a whole.

Official Website: http://www.brooklynbowl.com/event-detail/?tfly_event_id=20505