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Lifesavas, the Portland, OR-based duo of MC Vursatyl and producer/MC Jumbo the Garbageman, became one of the few non-affiliated artists to release a record through Quannum, the successor to underground rap phenom Solesides. The duo met while playing basketball and soon got hipped to each other's rapping talents; after a short-lived project, they formed Lifesavas and recorded a single, "Grand Larceny." After it was heard by Quannum-connected Chief Xcel, the pair began getting spins and did a show with Latyrx. Second single "Headexercise" was released on Quannum, and after steady touring with Blackalicious, Lifesavas released a debut full-length, Spirit in Stone, in 2003. For their next project the group decided, in order to give themselves more artistic freedom, to create a story about a never-completed blaxpoitation film whose director had shared his ideas with the rappers after moving to Portland, which then in turn inspired Lifesavas to make a record using that as their guideline. In...