Nacho Picasso

In the closing years of the 2000s, Nacho Picasso performed as part of the Cloud Nice collective’s trio BadAssYellowBoyz before the innovative underground Seattle rapper achieved abrupt wider notice in 2011, when Pitchfork named his second mixtape among the strongest rap debuts of that calendar year. Although his debut solo effort, the 2010 release Blunt Raps, drew scant attention, the project For the Glory—shaped with production contributions from Blue Sky Black Death, Eric G., and Raised by Wolves—prompted reviewers to praise Nacho’s inventive lyricism and his knack for transforming ordinary subjects such as comic-book reading, tattoo displays, television viewing, and cannabis use into novel material. Several year-end “Best of 2011” roundups included For the Glory, and as the year closed the artist, who refers to himself as Cocky Balboa (also known as Tat in the Hat and Jesse James), completed a fifth video from the album while preparing to launch the new collective Moor Gang.