The Black Opera operates as a collective that calls itself "rap's first performing arts group." At the outset the members withheld their identities and instead used six-digit numbers such as #120279 and #041380, possibly drawn from their birth dates, though southeast Michigan rap veterans Jamall Bufford and Magestik Legend were eventually identified as part of the lineup. The collective’s probing, hard-hitting style first surfaced in 2011 through the EP Overture and the album EnterMission, both issued with support from A-Side Worldwide. Following a move to Mello Music Group, the group delivered Libretto: Of King Legend in 2012, a release that included contributions from 14KT and Mayer Hawthorne. Their 2014 album The Great Year, fronted by the Tall Black Guy-produced track “Beginning of the End” featuring vocalist Georgia Anne Muldrow, stands as the strongest of the first three projects. Once the members formed their own imprint also called Black Opera, they issued the 2015 compilation Protect the Code, which was succeeded by African America in 2016.
