Immortal Technique

Immortal Technique
Background information
Birth name	Felipe Andres Coronel
Born	February 19, 1978 (1978-02-19) (age 31) Lima, Peru[1]
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper MC Political activist Record Label General Manager
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Viper
Associated acts	Akir, DJ Green Lantern, Diabolic (rapper), Lowkey, Rockin' Squat, Chino XL, Psycho Realm, Chuck D, KRS-One, Jedi Mind Tricks, La Coka Nostra, Ill Bill, Ras Kass,
Website	www.immortaltechnique.com

Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), better known by the stage name Immortal Technique, is an American rapper and political activist, also labelled a revolutionary artist. He was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Harlem, New York.^[2] Most of his lyrics focus on political issues. The views expressed in his lyrics are largely a mixture of commentary on issues such as politics, poverty, religion, social class and racism.

He has been offered a deal with a Sony development plan and Def Jam Records,^[3] but he has never signed to any. Immortal Technique has voiced a desire to keep control over his production,^[4] and has stated in his music that record companies, not artists themselves, profit the most from mass production and marketing of music. The success of his decision to produce music independently can be measured by his strong and loyal fanbase, as well as claims of selling close to 200,000 units of his 3 official releases^[5].

Biography

Early life

Coronel was born in a military hospital in Lima.^[1] His family immigrated in 1980 to Harlem to escape the ongoing internal conflict in Peru.^[6] During his teenage years he was arrested multiple times due in part to what he has said was "selfish and childish" behavior. He attended high school on the East Side of Manhattan. Shortly after enrolling in Pennsylvania State University, he was arrested and charged with assault-related offences due to his involvement in an altercation between some fellow students and drug dealers. The charges stemming from this incident led to his being incarcerated for a year.^[1][7]. After being paroled, he took political science classes at Baruch College in New York City for two semesters at the behest of his father, who allowed Technique to live with him on the condition that he go to school.^[8] Although he was able to rhyme since childhood, it was Technique's frustrations about his incarceration, sociopolitical issues and the need to provide income for his family that were the motivations driving him to think of music as a career. Honing his songwriting skills in jail, and unable to find decent wage-paying employment after his release, Technique began selling his music on the streets of New York while battling with MCs whenever the opportunity arose.^[9][10][11] This, coupled with his victories in numerous freestyle rap competitions of the New York underground hip hop scene such as Rocksteady Anniversary, Braggin Rites and others, led to his reputation as a ferocious Battle MC.^[12]

Revolutionary Vol 1 album and Revolutionary Vol 2 album

In 2001, Immortal Technique released his first album Revolutionary Vol. 1 without the help of a record label or distribution, instead using money earned from his rap battle triumphs^[12]. Revolutionary Vol 1 also contained the underground classic 'Dance With The Devil'. In November 2002, he was listed by The Source as the month's featured "Unsigned Hype", which highlights artists that are not signed to a record label. The following year, in September 2003, he received the coveted "Hip Hop Quotable" in The Source for a song entitled "Industrial Revolution" from his second album^[12]. Consequently, since he did not have a record deal or distribution at the time, Immortal Technique is the only rapper in history to have a "Hip Hop Quotable" while being unsigned^[12]. He released his second album Revolutionary Vol. 2 in 2003. In 2004, Viper Records and, in 2005, Babygrande Records have re-released Immortal Technique's debut, Revolutionary Vol. 1, to make it available to a wider audience. "Point of No Return" from Revolutionary Vol 2 was used as the entrance theme for Rashad Evans during the UFC 88 Main Event between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans. His second album was performed in Washington with Ali Hudair

"Bin Laden" song, "This Revolution" movie and "Impeach the President" song

Immortal Technique (left) at the Roskilde Festival, 2006.

During the summer of 2005 saw the launch of 'Bin Laden' a vinyl single 12 "in featuring Mos Def and DJ Green Lantern. The single also contained a remix of the song featuring two other legends rap like Chuck D of Public Enemy and KRS-One. For many, the issue became more controversial in the history of hip hop because he blamed the Reagan administration (which provided military training to the mujahideen in Afghanistan) and George W Bush of the attacks of September 11, 2001.

A few months earlier that year, Immortal Technique appeared (as himself) in a documentary film entitled "This Revolution", which was recorded during the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. The tape contains the protests surrounding the convention in the form of a fake documentary. It also featured Viper Records affiliates, Akir and producer Toure "Southpaw" Harris in roles.

Since then Immortal Technique has taken control of Viper Records and has signed a distribution deal with Babygrande Records / Koch to vent to their next album. Southpaw has managed to establish itself as right arm step R of Viper Records.

In early 2006, the song "Impeach the President" in featuring dead prez, Saigon and turned up in the mixtape "Alive on Arrival" DJ Green Lantern. This is a simple version of The Honeydrippers, 1973, which takes advantage of the chorus but the verses themselves changing and they are asked to organize a vote of censure against George W Bush.

"The 3rd World" album

Immortal Technique's third studio album, The 3rd World was released on June 23, 2008. The Third World was given an Underground Gold Award selling over 54,000 copies. He is set to release his next albums, Revolutionary Vol. 3.^[13] and The Middle Passage, though a release date has yet to be confirmed for The Middle Passage, Revolutionary Vol. 3 is to come out in the first few month's of 2010.

"Democratie Fasciste (Article 4)" song

In April of 2009, a new song leaked on the internet named "Democratie Fasciste (Article 4)" by Brazilian-French rapper Rockin' Squat which featured Immortal Technique. The official release of the song and Rockin' Squat's album " Confessions D'un Enfant Du Siècle Volume 2" was on May 12, 2009. The instrumental from the song was sampled from Wu-Tang Clan's song "Tearz." The song expresses the inequalities of the Third World and revolutionary events throughout history against tyranny and oppression. The song contains lyrics in English (Immortal Technique), French (Rockin' Squat) and brief shout outs in Spanish (Immortal Technique). This song is Immortal Technique's first official international collaboration.^[14]

"Voices Of The Voiceless" song

In early 2009, it was announced that there would be a collaboration between Technique and U.K. underground artist Lowkey. On September 11, 2009, a "snippet" of the song was released on YouTube^[15]. The preview was released ahead of its September 21 launch on iTunes, as part of a web-campaign that included updates, promotion and links on forums, E-Magazines and several social networking sites. The buzz generated by this campaign and by fan-based promotion of the single, rocketed the single to #11 on the iTunes charts^[16]. The song's lyrics cover a broad range of issues that are familiar to listeners of both artists - racism, world revolution, war, socialism, government control, rape, famine, colonialism, Classism, self-determination and the war in Iraq^[17]. Amidst a flurry of rumors on the web, excitement of the fan community is high, speculating that this single may be a precursor to more collaborative efforts between the two artists. Claims that a full-length album is in the works have been made, though no official statements have been released.

Social and political views

Immortal Technique has described himself as a "socialist guerrilla". Immortal Technique's music is inspired by historical and often political figures such as Ali, Malcolm X, Che Guevara, César Chávez, Augusto César Sandino, Marcus Garvey, Túpac Amaru II, Jose Carlos Mariategui, W. E. B. Du Bois, Karl Marx, Toussaint L'Ouverture, Harriet Tubman, Emiliano Zapata, and Mumia Abu-Jamal.^[18] ,^[3]

Discography

• 2001: Revolutionary Vol. 1
• 2003: Revolutionary Vol. 2
• 2008: The 3rd World
• 2010: The Middle Passage^[19]
• TBA: Revolutionary Vol. 3 ^[12]

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Immortal Technique

• Immortal Technique at MySpace
• Viper Records website
• Immortal Technique's Twitter
• Immortal Technique Forum
• Immortal Technique News & Discography Site
• The Interview: Immortal Technique (ThatHottnes.com)