Bukue One

Born to Black Panther parents, Tion Torrence grew up equally influenced by both the skater and the hip-hop cultures found prevalently in the Bay Area, where he was raised. His father, who was sang backup in Marvin Gaye's touring band, surrounded his son with music, and by his teenage years Torrence had started rapping himself. However, he found that he was an adept businessman, as well, and started his own company, Urban Productions, which, in 1998, put together a four-day festival that united skating and hip-hop. Soon after, he was managing L.A. rapper Aceyalone's Austrialian tour, a move that also proved to be fruitful to his career as MC (and graffiti writer) Bukue One, as his song, "4 tha Graff Heads," was met with enthusiasm overseas. More tours, singles, and mixtapes came in the following years, and in 2007 Bukue One came out with his first official full-length, Intromission, which was released in digital-only format in collaboration with Alpha Pup Records.