T-Love

A native of the Crenshaw district of South Central Los Angeles, T-Love (aka Taura Taylor) is one of hip-hop's original designing women. From her early days as a scenester in the West Coast recording-plant pipeline (where she produced and shopped demos for the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:7B4hKK0S9QYnaoqa9OuwgX">Eazy-E</a> and Ruthless Records' impresario Jerry Heller) to her brief stint at Capitol Records working under the rap name Urban Prop to her moonlighting days as a journalist (URB Magazine) and published author (It's Not About a Salary and Girl Power), T-Love was, and continues to be, every bit the rap version of a renaissance woman. Both the eclectic artist and the shrewd businesswoman with an eye for talent (she is credited for discovering Los Angeles underground darlings <a href="spotify:artist:6wFId9Jhuf9AKVzWboOj2B">Jurassic 5</a> and releasing their classic Jurassic 5 EP on her fledgling start-up Rumble/Pickinniny Records in 1997), T-Love possessed the skills of a thought-provoking vocalist as well as the corporate savvy of a record-label A&R (in 1996, she self-released her own cult-favorite EP, The Return of the B-Girl, featuring fellow abstract practitioner <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Kool Keith</a>). In the late '90s, T-Love set out to explore new ideas and sought to develop her rhyming craft abroad with members of the U.K.-based imprint Ninja Tune, including DJ <a href="spotify:artist:04bdVHOzB2kJv44r68y0TK">Ollie Teeba</a> of the acclaimed London underground crew <a href="spotify:artist:1O7aMVbDeSXY2LiVBhb13w">Herbaliser</a>. Inspired by the skills of straight-ahead MCs <a href="spotify:artist:5m7wCUhYhBh7A3A3YMxrbt">Queen Latifah</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3r7n7y3j0nYgkPePO4p3QC">Roxanne Shanté</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6ZcRUVs3I5U8EOnm9ZdCsO">Bahamadia</a> as well as the more versatile talents of peers like <a href="spotify:artist:7Gf3LSwa5hh8Cjo60WhVjC">India.Arie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7IfculRW2WXyzNQ8djX8WX">Erykah Badu</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2Mu5NfyYm8n5iTomuKAEHl">Lauryn Hill</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6AVLthptCPhfrxlHadOBJD">Jill Scott</a>, T-Love combined an R&B-songstress sensibility with spoken-word verbosity and hip-hop posture. The echoes of lady-blues pillars such as <a href="spotify:artist:0A9p7WNA1VwxVyrjx92Z9F">Abbey Lincoln</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1YzCsTRb22dQkh9lghPIrp">Billie Holiday</a> can also be heard in her distinct brand of soul-hop. Conscious yet funky, T-Love's sworn musical quest was one of personal and spiritual fulfillment rather than acquiring platinum plaques and sound-scan tick marks. The artist returned to the industry fold in 2003 after a seven-year recording hiatus with the release of Long Way Back on Astralwerk Records. The album also featured the talents of more known quantities such as <a href="spotify:artist:1ZJlXFkFDBsjSuYyjVcMkk">Chali 2Na</a> (of <a href="spotify:artist:6wFId9Jhuf9AKVzWboOj2B">Jurassic 5</a>), Detroit-based super-producer <a href="spotify:artist:16L1SS4OancaZUTu3qWqHb">Jay Dee</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1020a42xVklY6c56imNcaa">Slum Village</a> co-hort <a href="spotify:artist:7u6LfVyYpEzMpHLL7jTyvU">Dwele</a>. ~ M.F. DiBella, Rovi