Access Immortal

Born and raised in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Access Immortal drew early acclaim as a promising talent in the city’s hip-hop underground when he released his debut album, Shades of Reality, in 2005, with reviewers likening the MC to Nas and Prodigy of Mobb Deep during their early peaks. After working locally as a DJ and serving as an intern at New York’s Fat Beats Records, he decided to pursue rapping full-time. He began performing at open mics in 2001, later graduating to larger stages such as CBGB’s and SOB’s across the East Coast. His initial output consisted of self-released albums and 12-inch singles before he signed with the independent label Early Spotter in spring 2005 and issued Shades of Reality. Vanderslice, who had supported Immortal throughout his development, produced the bulk of the project, yet also tapped his connections to bring aboard additional respected East Coast indie figures, among them producers 7L and J-Zone along with rappers Breez Evahflowin’, Insight, and Wordsworth. In the following year the MC entered the New York mixtape scene with New York Yankee and assorted other releases. One project, the bootleg 9th Gate mixtape, sparked contention when Early Spotter put it out independently while presenting it as a collaboration with Little Brother producer 9th Wonder; the beats had in fact been lifted from the Internet without authorization. Immortal ended his association with Early Spotter and shifted to Philadelphia-based Introspect Records for his follow-up album, American Me, which appeared in 2007.