// ABOUT THE MASKED GORILLA

What The Masked Gorilla is all about

Imagine being able to know about Jay Z before he released his debut album Reasonable Doubt, before he ever graced a single television screen or magazine cover. You could follow him from the very start of his career, personally feeling connected to his rise. You could share his music with your friends, converting them to fans of this rapper they never heard of. Then you could all catch this Jay Z guy for five dollars at a local venue, probably opening up for some big name rapper.

Chances are when Jay Z released Reasonable Doubt, you weren't even born yet, or were far too young to follow him or any of the other rappers of that era from the start. That's where The Masked Gorilla comes in. Since 2009 we have been extensively covering the new generation of rappers, opening up the genre to a whole new generation of fans. The Masked Gorilla was the first site solely dedicated to these new school freshman rappers, resulting in nearly 10,000 posts over the past 4 years.

We don't only discover new rap talent first, we personally introduce you to them as well. For example, The Masked Gorilla is credited with producing Mac Miller's first ever video interview, way back when he was still in high school. Along with that we helped shine the light on the likes of Stalley, Yelawolf, Freddie Gibbs, and even Kendrick Lamar, all years before each of those respective artists ever gained mainstream media attention. In the process we have also produced exclusive video interviews with: Big Sean, Joey Bada$$, Asher Roth, Big K.R.I.T., Hopsin, Machine Gun Kelly, Casey Veggies, XV, professional skateboarders Paul Rodriguez, Torey Pudwill, and Jereme Rogers, and even MTV personality Drama Beats live from The Fantasy Factory in Los Angeles.

To complete the cultural circle, The Masked Gorilla also covers fashion, skateboarding, and even a few older relevant rappers like Kanye West, Pusha T, and Juicy J among others.

With all that being said, it's safe to say that The Masked Gorilla is the original, and only authentic, definitive youth voice in hip hop.