ISWHAT?!

Iswhat?! operates as an improvisational hip-hop trio that prioritizes live shows in the style of the Roots, yet channels its efforts toward jazz origins instead of honoring rap predecessors. Cincinnati functions as the home base for the ensemble, which vocalist Napoleon Maddox, saxophonist Jack Walter, and bassist Matthew Anderson assembled. Acts including Mr. Dibbs, Big Daddy Kane, and Kwame Turé have joined the group onstage, and its debut release, Landmines, appeared in 1999, followed by You Figure It Out... in 2003. By 2006 Iswhat?! had reduced mainly to a duo, although Anderson along with various guest musicians remained central participants, and the act delivered The Life We Chose.