Lifesavas

Lifesavas emerged from Portland, Oregon, as the partnership of MC Vursatyl and producer/MC Jumbo the Garbageman, becoming one of the rare unaffiliated acts to place a project with Quannum, the label that succeeded the pioneering underground rap imprint Solesides. The two first crossed paths on a basketball court, where each quickly recognized the other’s mic skills; after an earlier short-lived venture, they launched Lifesavas and cut the single “Grand Larceny.” Once Quannum associate Chief Xcel heard the track, the duo began receiving airplay and shared a stage with Latyrx. Their next release, “Headexercise,” came out on Quannum, and after consistent road work alongside Blackalicious they issued their debut album, Spirit in Stone, in 2003.

For the follow-up they sought wider artistic latitude by constructing an elaborate premise around a never-finished blaxploitation film whose director had supposedly described the concept to them after settling in Portland. Though entirely fabricated, the premise shaped Gutterfly, a 2007 concept album examining ghetto life through the prism of blaxploitation and other cult films, featuring appearances by Fishbone, Dead Prez, and Smif-N-Wesson among others.