Percee P

Born as the second of six siblings, John Percy Simon saw his mother relocate the household to the Patterson projects in the South Bronx during the early 1970s, when he was three years old. In that setting Percy encountered the emergence of hip-hop firsthand. By 1979 he had begun composing and delivering original rhymes under the adjusted spelling Percee, chosen to mirror figures such as Kool Moe Dee, and by the time he reached high school he had earned recognition as a formidable presence in the neighborhood. A guest spot on the 1992 Lord Finesse track “Yes You May,” where the former rival appeared, led to further collaborations with Vakill, Jedi Mind Tricks, Aesop Rock, Cenobites, and additional artists. Without a formal tie to any single label for an extended period, Percee, also known as the Rhyme Inspector, built visibility by selling his own mixtapes directly outside Fat Beats Records in Manhattan and at assorted performances, later gathering numerous recordings for the 2005 collection Legendary Status. Stones Throw, the California imprint, secured his signature in 2003 and issued the long-delayed solo debut Perseverance in September 2007.