A Hip Hop preserver, lecturer and educator, Jahi has also released multiple albums as a Spitslam Recording artist under the moniker PE 2.0. Jahi travels the world curating experiences in museums on the life-affirming aspects of Hip Hop culture and has spoken at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, the Chabot Space and Science Museum in Oakland, the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle, San Jose State University in association with the California Music Education Association and more. In addition, Jahi has been an Artist in Practice at Holy Names University, where he taught a course on Hip Hop culture, with Rakim's “Sweat the Technique” and Chuck D's “This Day in Rap and Hip Hop History” as required reading.

OkayPlayer calls Jahi a “talented and passionate MC…a true artist…and stays true to the essence of hip-hop while daring to embrace its sonic and conceptual diversity” while Hip-Hop.com praises him for “infusing new energy into a powerful legacy.”Jahi has released 16 independent albums, one on EMI Denmark, and has shared the same stage with KRS-One, Yasiin Bey, Blackalicious and Arrested Development, to name a few. Jahi has recorded five albums under the moniker PE. 20, with the most recent being “The Catalog.” Jahi is currently working on two new books, “The Microphone Journeyman” and “The Intersection,” both which share his experiences in Hip Hop and museums, and is producing a one-man play on Marcus Garvey for 2021.

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Jahi & Configa / The Collab

MC Jahi and Producer Configa bring you their thought provoking, knowledgeable, politicised and updated Golden Era rich sounds. The album is unique in today's climate in that it features NO outside features or production - simply put: ALL rhymes by Jahi, ALL beats by Configa.

Spawning from a brief online message from Jahi to Configa about doing a short EP – the two veteran artists connected and found that each other’s work enhanced their own craft to the next level. From that collective creativity an album soon followed.

“Collaborating with one producer allowed us both to focus, concentrate and build a full narrative of boombap, consciousness and creative expression” – Jahi.

Jahi (AKA Public Enemy 2.0) is a member of Enemy Radio (along with Chuck D, DJ Lord and the S1W's) and Configa released his last album "Configaration Volume 1" on Chuck D's SLAMjamz Records imprint (which Chuck also featured on). From this legendary background, and closely following Public Enemy's blueprint - the pair adapt their message to the new decade. Politicised tracks are interspersed with moments of introspection which lead to the perfect sonic experience, Jahi's skilled rhymes all backed up by Configa's lush boombap tapestry.

"The pen on cruise control/men here don’t fall or fold”

Configa The Producer

“True-school is music free of any outside corruption, artists that can express themselves exactly how they desire without pandering to the latest fad.” - Configa

Configa has been an influential force in shaping hip-hop culture for more than two decades, producing some of the most iconic beats in the underground scene. He started out early as a young MC and quickly rose through the ranks as a battle rapper, producing and releasing his own debut album in 2000.

In 2001 he was signed to Rap Junkie Records, a Los Angeles based record label owned by B. Down. While with Rap Junkie, Configa was featured on two mixtapes and in 2002, released a mostly self-produced album that garnered favorable reviews and received solid exposure in both the United Kingdom and the United States, most notably on MTV.com. In 2003, Configa shifted his focus toward production and in 2004, formed the crew Slept On Fam, along with Wargasms, Arsenal and C-Gully. Their album ‘Audio Crack’ was released in late 2006 to the delight of music aficionados and fans alike, winning awards and accolades and achieving cult status.

A lifelong hip-hop head and intellectual thinker, Configa took a break from making music to obtain his PhD, where he wrote his Doctoral thesis on the intersection of hip-hop culture and ethnicity - exploring the hip-hop scene in his home region. In 2010, Configa released a critically acclaimed 2Pac remix album entitled ‘Configa Presents...Pac To The Essence Vol. 1’ to mark the 14th year of Tupac Shakur’s passing. That same year he also founded his own independent record label Configaration Records.

Configa released the classic ‘Configa Presents: Calm Before The Storm’ in 2011 - a 20-track collection featuring the U.S. and U.K. underground’s finest MC’s delivering intricately laced lyrics over his boom bap driven beats. Since then, Configa has produced stellar tracks for underground and mainstream artists alike. In 2014 he teamed up with underground rapper HaStyle to create two EPs (‘The Calm Before Hastility’ and ‘A Good Combination’) as well as a powerhouse conceptual album, ‘Hastility (H1)’, over the course of two years. He has also contributed music to documentaries and films, such as Nick Light’s documentary ‘Hip Hop is Dead’, and the

Tim Roth-led feature film ‘The Liability’

as well as James DeMarco’s film,

‘The Stagg Do’.

Configa stays focused on producing and releasing exceptional music, as well as scouting for talent across the globe for his own label. In late 2017 Configa released ‘Configaration Volume 1’ on Chuck D’s Slam Jamz Records, carrying the listener on a sublime audio voyage through deep, rich, shifting soundscapes, intricately laced samples, booming percussion, and intelligently layered beat structures. It featured some of the most revered voices in hip hop including Chuck D, Craig G, Reks and the 'Godfather of Rap' Spoonie Gee, UK stalwarts Skriblah, Genesis Elijah and Si Phili, plus worldwide exclusives from the late, great Sean P and John Vietnam, amongst many others.

2020 has proven to be one of the most fruitful years of Configa’s career. It has started with the release of the “Forward Future” LP, a dynamic and powerhouse collaboration with Enemy Radio’s Jahi. It has been universally and critically acclaimed since its release. In addition Configa has signed three artists to Configaration Records who entered his MC competition last year, Fro Magnum Man, Mic Audio and DA Donnieboy. Fro Magnum very recently released his EP “Curmudgeon” on Configa’s imprint, featuring a remix from Configa himself.

With no signs of slowing down, Configa is passionately dedicated to his craft, his fans, and the growth of his worldwide #ConfigArmy movement – representing the best qualities of real hip-hop past and present. Various work is currently underway on different projects to further consolidate Configa’s standing in the game.

“True-school means that it can’t be classified as 'old school' OR contemporary. It’s not old, it’s not new. It’s true. It is about a feeling more than any image or sub-genre specifications. It’s music that maintains and represents its true spirit and essence. When I hear music today I don’t get a ‘feeling’, music should ALWAYS evoke some kind of visceral response. True-school is music free of any outside corruption, artists that can express themselves exactly how they desire without pandering to the latest fad.”

–CONFIGA

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