These three hip hoppers might yet blow up, but they won't go pop. You'll never hear them rhyming radio-ready jingles. Likewise, when they're not in the studio, you'll never catch them playing mainstream sports. El-P, a Brooklyn, N.Y. resident and handball freak, recently dropped 'Little Johnny From The Hospital' (Rawkus, 1999) with his group, Company Flow. Buckshot, best known as a member of Brooklyn's Black Moon, has just released his solo joint, 'BDI Thug' (Duck Down, 1999) and loves to get his paddle on. In Cincinnati, psychedelic rapper Doseone stays in shape by taking his cat, Purple, out for a jog. 'Circle', the latest album from Dose and turntablist Boom Bip is out on Mush Records. Look and listen with an open mind, and who knows, a few years from now you might be jogging with your cat.
DOSEONE KNOWS WHERE HIS CAT'S AT
"[Some] friends of mine had an apartment and the people upstairs moved. My friends heard a kitten crying, went upstairs, and [realized] she was locked in the closet. I took her in. I had her on IAMS kitten chow and she got chunky, so we started running. There's a park right by the University of Cincinnati that we run in. The little kids point and holler, 'He's runnin' wit' a cat!' While I stretch, she'll lie down and put her legs straight out like she's flying. She'll take on dogs, squirrels, small Buicks. When we get back from a jog, I reward her with a coffee mug filled with ice cubes and cold water."