Pugslee Atomz

A member of the venerable Chicago crew Nacrobats, MC Pugslee Atomz has been a ubiquitous part of the Chicago hip-hop scene since the early '90s. Besides his recordings, Atomz played a role in everything from local DJ battles to the hip-hop TV show Barbershop Hip-Hop and the University of Hip-Hop, a South Side institution where he taught a group of teenagers about rapping and the culture that surrounds it. Perhaps his most visible contribution, however, is the radio show he hosted every week along with fellow MC Thai One and JP Chill on 88.5 WHPK, the University of Chicago's radio station. His involvement spawned Pugz Atomz Presents CTA Radio: Chi City Hip Hop, a compilation based around the show featuring all local MCs. After years of tagging and battle rhyming during the 1990s, Atomz dropped his debut album, Thanks for Not Rhyming, in 2000, followed shortly by 2002's 24 Years Later, which fostered an international tour with stops in London, Amsterdam, and Germany. 2005's Playing with Matches was a 17-track effort documenting his life as a graffiti artist. In 2007 Atomz released Conversation with a Chamelion.