IllumiNate Mics

I'm IllumiNate Mics. I'm an young emcee/poet/writer/all purpose nigga from Chicago. I've been doing this for four years. I'm recording my first album now independently.

IllumiNate Mics does hip-hop. In many ways, he is hip-hop. He lives it constantly like a religion. Born Nathaniel Armstead Marshall in the Wild 100s section of the south side of Chicago people recognized from an early age that he was different. Most didn't peg him for the MCing type, but his expansive vocabulary and love for reading would eventually lead him down that path. Since he began writing extensively in the 7th grade and doing poetry slams he has been honing his skills on page, stage, and mic. He joined with childhood friend, SCP, to create the MC/Producer tandem of Reason & Rhyme. He is currently working on his first EP/LP, "The Other". "The Other" is being executive produced by Jus Love and SCP with tracks produced by SCP and Jersey's Finest, Jared F. This collection of music will prove to the masses that hip-hop's appeal has endless reach and variety. IllumiNate Mics contines to blaze trails in the game and assure the gatekeepers of the artform that it will remain sacred for years to come thanks to the vivid storytelling and microphone control of astute, young MCs such as IllumiNate.

Yeah, a buncha places. I love performing. Probably the coolest venue I've performed was doing a poetry slam at the Metro by Wrigley Field.

Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Jean Grae, Nas, Jay-Z, Rakim, Slick Rick, Pharoah Monch, K'Naan, Kanye West, Common, The Last Poets, Lupe Fiasco, Idris Goodwin, Melek Yonin, William Wordsworth, Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., KRS-One, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, The Fugees, The Roots, WordsWorth(the MC), TS Eliot, Robert Frost, Amiri Baraka, Beau Sia, dead prez, Clipse, Marvin Gaye, Will Smith, Kool Moe Dee, GangStarr, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Gil Scott-Heron, Melle Mel, Twista, Wu Tang Clan, AZ, Eminem, The Lox, Big L, LL Cool J, Richard Wright, Gwendolyn Brooks, James Baldwin, De La Soul, Redman, EPMD, Big Daddy Kane, Run DMC, Boogie Down Productions, NWA, Doug E Fresh, Kurtis Blow, Sugar Hill Gang, Alex Haley, Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc, Grandwizard Theodore, Zora Neale Hurston, George Orwell, Afrika Bambataa, e.e. cummings, Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, Big Pun, Sage Francis, Immortal Technique, i'll add more people as I think of them...