Vast Aire

The New York-based rapper Vast Aire first appeared on the East Coast's underground hip-hop scene as part of the Atoms Family collective in the late '90s, but he gained wider attention as one half of the duo Cannibal Ox alongside Vordul Megilah. In collaboration with producer El-P (also the head of their label, Definitive Jux Records), the quirky duo debuted with 2001's The Cold Vein. This album's mixture of hard beats, gritty street rhyming, and woozy, nearly psychedelic textures earned comparisons both to Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest, a tribute to the duo's ability t...