Red Bull Music Academy: El-P (Full Lecture)

When a 17-year-old Jaime Meline took on the name El-P and formed Company Flow with Mr. Len and Bigg Jus, he hardly could have known that he was going to change the hip hop game forever. But that’s exactly what they did, introducing bracing production and rhyme styles that have been a massive influence on the generations of hip hop that came after. After he helped to define indie hip hop in the ’90s, El-P went ahead and did it again when he started Def Jux, an imprint that brought Cannibal Ox, Aesop Rock, and RJD2 to the world. That’s not even mentioning El-P himself, who has released a number of solo albums and provided production for the likes of Alec Empire, Killer Mike, and Trent Reznor. Always independent, always looking to the future, El-P’s story is far from finished.

Watch the lecture here.