Invincible refers to these different artists: 1) Detroit based MC Ilana Weaver, AKA Invincible, scripts lyrics to communicate both personal experience and a desire to affect social change. Through her clear delivery, witty wordplay, and conceptual songwriting she reminds listeners, you dont have to choose between style and substance. Even before she was fluent in English, Invincible recalls scribbling down the lyrics to her early hip-hop influences including Gang Starr, Boss, and Paris. She moved from the Middle East to the Midwest (Michigan) in elementary school, where she traded tapes and began to write rhymes. At age 15, she sought out local freestyle ciphers, and snuck into 21+ open-mics. By the following year she was throwing her own all-ages shows and collaborating with Detroit area artists such as Athletic Mic League and One Be Lo. While on a fateful trip to NYC in 1997, Invincible linked with the ANOMOLIES crew, an all-women all-elements hiphop collective. She relocated to the Rotten Apple one year later to join the crew, sharing stages with heavyweights such as The Roots, MC Lyte, Pharoahe Monch, Bahamadia, and Le Tigre. These ties drew interest to the rising emcee, landing her a gig as a lyrical sketch writer for MTV’s Lyricist Lounge show. A verse from 1999’s Hip Hop for Respect compilation against police brutality organized by Talib Kweli and Mos Def served as the worlds intro to her flow. She followed up with the cut “Perfectionists” with Helixx of the ANOMOLIES on the Lyricist Lounge Underground Airplay Vol. One.| Though several labels tried to sign her, Invincible forewent the easy way to a record deal, taking the independent route, and in the hoopla she was dubbed “Every A&R’s worst nightmare” in a 2002 feature in XXL Magazine. During her stay in New York, Invincible maintained ties to her Michigan roots, returning to the Midwest region in 2002. She emerged on the standout single “The Way We Make Music” on The Detroit Experiment. She has since turned up on Free the P, and The We That Sets Us Free benefit CD’s, as well as BR Gunna’s Dirty District Volume 2. | She has rocked shows with Slum Village, KRS ONE, dead prez, Jean Grae, and Underground Resistance. Her latest work is on the Platinum Pied Pipers’ 2005 BBC Album Of The Year Award nominated Triple P, featured on the cut “Detroit Winter.” She also shines on the breakthrough single “Shotgun” with J Dilla and MED. Invincible performs in PPP’s versatile live show, touring throughout the US and Europe. A decade deep into her path, Invincible is dedicated to honing her craft and pushing the hip-hop envelope. Her vivid lyrics narrate the politics of everyday life, rooted in the struggle for change, laced over cinematic tracks from Waajeed of PPP/Bling47, Lab Techs, and others. Invincible splits her time between community work, youth organizing, and constant touring. She started her own record label, EMERGENCE, self-releasing her long-awaited full length LP, ShapeShifters, in June, 2008. http://emergencemusic.net 2) The musical collaboration between Mark Burgess, frontman and bassplayer in Manchester legends The Chameleons, and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist and frenchman Yves Altana.
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