 Juice Crew member and Queens hip-hop vet, Tragedy Khadafi, will return in September with a brand new mixtape ... the end of the Thug Matrix trilogy.
The rapper says after years of positive feedback from fans over the first two installments, he had to give fans something to hold them over until his next, official LP ... so Thug Matrix 3 is what they get.
"Over the years we got a lot of support on Part 1 and Part 2, so I want to give my core fan base Thug Matrix 3 before I release my official album Still Reportin," says Tragedy.
The mixtape will feature Killa Sha and Planet Asia, as well as production from araabMUZIK, Shroom, Audible Doctor, Now & Laterz, and Ayatollah.
A video for the first single, "Ill-Luminous Flow", is slated to drop on Tuesday (August 2).
In the late 80's, Tragedy caught the attention of Marley Marl, who went on to produce the duo's next two singles. He was soon made a junior member of the Juice Crew, alongside legendary artists such as Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, and MC Shan.
However, the rapper disappeared from the scene following a robbery conviction. During his time incarcerated, Tragedy became a Five Percenter and began working under the alias, Intelli-gent Hoodlum. His self-titled debut, Intelligent Hoodlum, was released in 1990 and produced by Marley Marl. It was full of political commentary, Five-Percenter rhetoric, and controversial messages in tracks such as "Arrest The President" and "Black and Proud". The album put him on the map.
He returned in 1993, releasing his second album, Tragedy: Saga of a Hoodlum, his last album under that moniker ... and has released a slew of projects ever since, in between stints behind bars.
Khadafi's last releases, Blood Ballads and Thug Matrix 2, were released simultaneously in 2006.
Recently, Tragedy starred in a documentary, entitled "Tragedy: The Story of Queensbridge." It focused on his life and struggles, and highlighted his time as a junior member of the Juice Crew, the numerous times he has been incarcerated, and the toll life offers growing up a poor African American child who faced life without a father and a mother who was addicted to heroin.
Thug Matrix 3 drops September 20. A date for Still Reportin has yet to be announced.
|
