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Quannum Biography

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Both a label (Quannum Projects) and a collaborative concern, Quannum brought together the brightest talents from the former SoleSides label: Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truth Speaker (from Latyrx), Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab (from Blackalicious), and DJ Shadow. An artist-run label, SoleSides was founded in 1992 at KDVS, the college radio station for the University of California-Davis, with most of the above artists involved, plus mentor DJ Zen (Jeff Chang). Its first release, DJ Shadow's 1993 slab "Entropy," gained a worldwide profile after tastemaker James Lavelle released it on his Mo' Wax label. SoleSides hit with further releases like Blackalicious' Melodica EP (also licensed to Mo' Wax) and the self-titled debut single by Latyrx. By 1997, SoleSides had become Quannum Projects, and the label debuted with a masterstroke, the brilliant collaborative Quannum Spectrum, including a bounty of West Coast underground talent -- Jurassic 5, Divine Styler, Souls of Mischief, and Poets of Rhythm. Quannum Projects continued releasing records, including full-lengths for Blackalicious (NIA) and Poets of Rhythm (Discern/Define), a single by Spectrum contributor Joyo Velarde, and most rewarding of all, the two-disc history lesson SoleSides Greatest Bumps. ~ John Bush, Rovi

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