Immortal Technique
Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), better known by the stage name Immortal Technique, is an American rapper and activist. Most of his lyrics focus on controversial issues in global politics, from a radical left-wing perspective.
Immortal Technique
Felipe Andres Coronel
February 19, 1978
Lima, Peru
Harlem, New York, U.S.
- Rapper
- activist
2000–present
Immortal Technique seeks to retain control over his production,[1] and has stated in his music that record companies, not artists themselves, profit the most from mass production and marketing of music. He claimed in an interview to have sold close to a combined total of 200,000 copies of his first three official releases.[2]
Early life
Coronel was born in a military hospital in Lima.[3] He is of mostly Amerindian descent, and also has Spanish, French and African ancestry.[4] His family immigrated to Harlem, New York, in 1980 to escape the Peruvian Civil War.[5][6] During his teenage years, he was arrested multiple times due in part to what he has said was "selfish and childish" behavior. He attended Hunter College High School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where his classmates included Chris Hayes[7] and Lin-Manuel Miranda, whom he bullied, although the two later became friends.[8][9] Shortly after enrolling in Pennsylvania State University, he was arrested and charged with assault-related offenses due to his involvement in an altercation between fellow students; the charges stemming from this incident led to him being incarcerated for a year.[3][10]
After being paroled, he took political science classes at Baruch College in New York City for two semesters at the behest of his father, who allowed Coronel to live with him on the condition that he went to school.[11] Honing his rapping skills in jail, and unable to find decent wage-paying employment after his release, he began selling his music on the streets of New York and battling with other MCs.[12][13][14] This, coupled with his victories in numerous freestyle rap competitions of the New York underground hip hop scene such as Rocksteady Anniversary and Braggin Rites, led to his reputation as a ferocious Battle MC.[15]
Musical career
2000–2005: Revolutionary Vol. 1 and Revolutionary Vol. 2
In 2001, Immortal Technique released his first album Revolutionary Vol. 1 without the help of a record label or distribution, instead using money earned from his rap battle triumphs.[15] He also battled but lost to Posta Boy in 106 & Park's Freestyle Friday. Revolutionary Vol. 1 also contained the underground classic "Dance with the Devil". In November 2002, he was listed by The Source in its "Unsigned Hype" column, highlighting artists that are not signed to a record label. The following year, in September 2003, he received the coveted "Hip Hop Quotable" in The Source for a song entitled "Industrial Revolution" from his second album. Immortal Technique is the only rapper in history to have a "Hip Hop Quotable" while being unsigned.[15] He released his second album Revolutionary Vol. 2 in 2003, which featured an intro and a spoken-word piece by death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. In 2004 and 2005, Viper Records and Babygrande Records, respectively, re-released Immortal Technique's debut, Revolutionary Vol. 1, to make it available to a wider audience. "Point of No Return" from Revolutionary Vol 2 was used as the entrance theme for Rashad Evans during the UFC 88 Main Event between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans.
Other work
Films
Immortal Technique featured in Ice-T's documentary Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap.