Scholito

Philadelphia native Scholito devoted the bulk of his early years to perfecting his skills as an emcee. After spending several seasons penning verses and appearing onstage with his cousin under the name LNS, the pair drew the attention of Allen Iverson’s ABK Music Group during an open-mike night in the early 2000s and landed a deal with the imprint. A few years later Scholito stepped away from LNS to launch a solo career, issuing the early-2010s mixtape Insanity Plea, whose concept drew partly from the viewpoint of a mental patient. While developing fresh material, he was introduced to veteran MC Freeway through his father, a longtime acquaintance of the rapper; once Freeway listened to the tracks, he began working alongside Scholito and Scholito’s childhood associate, producer S. Frank. The two MCs went on to create multiple songs and projects together, maintaining a close partnership in the ensuing years. Scholito released the Black Lives Matter EP in 2016, followed in early 2017 by his first proper full-length effort, Streets Ain’t Safe, Vol. 1.