In the ever-fluctuating, mercurial culture of hip-hop, very few groups, let alone solo rap artists, have sustained longevity. Enter the Shape Shifters, the storied Los Angeles underground collective that?s been making their own eclectic, brand of hip-hop for virtually a decade.
Indeed, ever since the group emerged out of the legendary mid-city, Los Angeles graffiti scene in the early nineties, the Shape Shifters, by virtue of their original, genre-bending and most importantly, uniquely creative musical sensibilities, have established themselves as one of the most reliable and downright interesting subterranean rap acts in recent memory, creating a virtual cult following in the process.
Originally based around LA graf writers Perk, Meck, Realm Ser and Rob 1 (all of the CBS crew), the Shape Shifters began to emerge as noteworthy rhyme crew in the early nineties.
Impressed by what their peers were doing, graf writers from other Los Angeles crews and also other hip-hop collectives like Live Wires and The Chain Smokers, clicked up with the Shape Shifters, What resulted was a somewhat nebulous, ever-changing but always on-point crew who quickly developed a following of fans through creative and abstract sound, reminiscent of Project Blowed and The Good Life era of LA underground hip-hop.
Niña Pastori is a Spanish flamenco singer (cantaora). She was born María Rosa García García in San Fernando (Cádiz) on 15 January 1978. The youngest of five siblings and only daughter of a military man (José) and gypsy flamenco singer 'La Pastori', she started her artistic career at a young age. At the age of six she accompanied her mother in the flamenco tablaos of "Barrio de la Pastora", and a year later won a contest in San Fernando. Her initial name was "La niña de la Pastori", but she later changed it to "Niña Pastori".
Among her first mentors was Camarón de la Isla, also from San Fernando (Cádiz), whose purist flamenco style she followed in her early years. Later she added a more commercial, pop tone to her image and style without losing her flamenco roots, and artists Paco Ortega and Alejandro Sanz helped her produce her first album, Entre dos puertos (Between Two Ports), when she was seventeen. The single Tú me camelas was a hit in Spain in summer 1996.
Her second album, Eres luz (You Are Light, 1998) confirmed her success, with songs again by Paco Ortega and Alejandro Sanz, Parrita, Manuel Malou and her brother Paco. In 2000 she published her third album, Cañaílla, produced by Alejandro Sanz and Josemi Carmona of the flamenco group Ketama; it is dedicated to her home town and more flamenco than the previous works. Her album María (2002) evolved to a more personal style, taking part in the lyrics and composition of some of her songs, a trend that she continued in No hay quinto malo, her fifth album (2004).
Her last album to date is Joyas prestadas (Loaned jewels, 2006), where Niña Pastori makes personal versions of songs originally by artists from very different styles and genres. The original artists include Joan Manuel Serrat, Alejandro Sanz, Mexican rockers Maná, Dominican artist Juan Luis Guerra, Antonio Machín, Manolo García of El Último de la Fila, Luz Casal, Armando Manzanero, Los Jeros or Marifé de Triana.
From Wikipedia:The Shapeshifters are Simon Marlin and Max Reich : a House music production duo from West London, England. They have a record contract with Defected Records and were previously signed to Positiva . Max Reich is originally from Gothenburg, Sweden while Simon Marlin is British.
They are known in the United States as Shape:UK, in part due to a conflict with the Los Angeles-based hip-hop act Shape Shifters. However, the UK duo still uses "The Shapeshifters" name when they are releasing material in other countries outside the US.