Musab

An original member of the Headshots—the collective that later established the respected underground rap label Rhymesayers—Musab began rhyming at the age of nine simply to steer clear of trouble. At the time he performed under the name Beyond, both within the Headshots and later with Dynospectrum. Following high-school graduation he enrolled at Music Tech in St. Paul, yet withdrew after six months once he realized the program failed to meet his expectations. He therefore committed fully to building a rap career, issuing his first album, Comparison, in 1996. Three years afterward came Beyond’s Be-Sides alongside Dynospectrum’s self-titled debut; by 2002 he had adopted the name Musab, feeling he had outgrown Beyond, and released Respect the Life.