Marco Bruno, better known as Marco Polo, is a Canadian hip hop producer. Born in Toronto, he moved to New York City in the early 2000s to pursue a career in hip hop production, and has since become one of the most sought-after underground producers on the US East Coast. When he came to New York City, Bruno worked as a sound engineer in several recording studios. As a result, he met up with legendary Brooklyn MC Masta Ace, who was looking for beats for his 2004 LP A Long Hot Summer at the time. His debut album, Port Authority, was released through Rawkus Records and featured guest raps from Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, Buckshot, Wordsworth, O.C., Kardinal Offishall, Large Professor and Sadat X.

it’s safe to say the city of Milwaukee is near the top of the “most underrated cities in the US for Hip-Hop” list. With a bubbling local scene there are few that have ever really made it out of the city to find success. There have been a few over the course of recent history, however, that have taken the name “Milwaukee” with them beyond city and county lines.

Speech of Arrested Development, a truly talented person, found brief commercial success in the early 90’s with his group. Coo Coo Cal jumped into national prominence for the blink of an eye with the song “My Projects” back in the early 2000’s.

With newer artists like Ray Nitti, Streetz N Young Deuces, and Prophetic getting the majority of out of town attention, there is a name that is often over looked…even by Milwaukee’s local media. That name is Stricklin.

For those of you who may not know who Stricklin is, he’s 1/4 of the group EMC (the other members being the living legend Masta Ace, Punchline, and Wordsworth…two guys you should remember from the height of Lyricist Lounge). Stricklin, who was once signed to Tommy Boy before they fell apart, has been navigating his way through the murky waters of Hip-Hop for awhile now