SPOTLIGHT ARTIST: GRAND PUBA

Grand Puba Maxwell, from New Rochelle New York, began in the group Masters of Ceremony during the 80s. Together they released the album Dynamite (1988) but with a lack of sufficient sales, the group split. He later appeared as the lead MC for the group Brand Nubian with Sadat X and Lord Jamar, making conscious rap music like their album One For All. Shortly after that release in 1990, Puba went on to pursue a solo career in Hip Hop and his song “I Like It” helped him launch that career. Later on, Grand Puba re-appeared as a member of Brand Nubian in 1997. They recorded a few tracks as a group and ultimately for the album Foundation (1998).

In 2009, Grand Puba released Retroactive as his fourth solo album. He had worked with impressive names such as Q-Tip, Large Professor, kid Capri and the Brand Nubians on Retroactive. Puba has also worked with artists like Cormega, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, DJ Red Alert and Parrish Smith of EPMD. April 2016, he released his latest album, after 7 years, Black from The Future,featuring this week's #1 #RAP50 countdown song “It’s Been A While” and other music like “UDK” where he addresses the current state of the game. 

 

By Kianna Woods for RAPstation