He's the man Ludacris, P. Diddy, Timbaland, and Three 6 Mafia call when they need someone to take their records over the top. He's the MC whose style has been imitated by scores of rappers.

Flipping lyrics like a finely-conditioned rap acrobat, Twista, formerly known as Tongue Twista, introduced his swift Chicago flow to the hip-hop scene on his landmark first album, "Runnin' Off At The Mouth." Though inspired by West coast and East coast artists, he remembers merely "feeding off" of them. He recounts, "The flow was there, but it's like I didn't have a foundation. I was more about being flamboyant." (The Guinness Book of World Records recognized his "flamboyancy" as a skill when they credited him in 1992 as the fastest rapper in the world.)

Between the time of the two albums, Twista says he added substance and focus to his style by patrolling the gritty landscapes of his Chicago ghetto. He recognized that the only way to escape the bleak surroundings was to immerse himself in it and shed some sort of light.

As he explains it, "After I came off of my first national tour, I went back to the 'hood and just started applying the lessons I learned about the business and writing structured songs to things that were going on in the community, and everything started to seem much more real."

He turned up in 1996 to snatch pavement props and earn Gold status for being featured on Do or Die's number one Billboard rap single, "Po Pimp." Castigating the laziness of L.A. G-funk and challenging the looseness of modern free-styiling, he raps to reveal emotions ranging from ecstasy and joy to sadness and pain.

Born and raised in the K-Town section of Chicago's infamous, impoverished west side, Twista grew up amid scenes of junkies, drugs, violence and poverty. He used his inner strength to help pull him through, while his dreams centered around either music or art.

His attraction to music also began building from an early age. First he moved his body to hyperactive house tracks of his hometown. Then, after being exposed to krush grooves by the likes of Kurtis Blow, the Sugarhill Gang and the Fat Boys, hip-hop started engaging his mind. He first became aware of rap by way of college radio. "Listening to people like Eric B. & Rakim and Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo," Twista remembers, "is what first inspired me to become an MC."

Twista says his trend-setting style developed under a sort of musically-induced schizophrenia ("Basically hip-hop was being imbedded into my head at the same time that I was listening to house") and was spurred forward by hearing positive feedback. Recalling the support Chicago's underground gave him after freestyle showcases and talent shows, he says "It was the love of everybody that was around me that pushed me to higher and higher levels of achievement."

Hit songs include --

• Make A Movie
• Overnight Celebrity
• Slow Jamz
• Girl Tonite
• So Sexy
• Emotions
• Hope
• In Your World
• Hit The Floor
• So Lonely
• Get It Wet
• Give It Up

Twista may be available for your next special event!

For booking information, click HERE!