There are very few cities that have to “break” into Hip Hop anymore. Most cities have a lineage of acts that have for the most part contributed to the vast book of our beloved urban art form. Journeying more than fifty years back, Bugsy Siegel could never imagine that the music being conceived in his “dream city” would be the music of the ghetto. And the representatives of this music are two Chicago transplants, who started the quest for higher learning in “sin city,” only to learn that one day their music would pioneer the revolt against the establishment in the city of Sin. These two are Verbal E. & 3-Sixty; they are known to the naked city simply as - The Chapter. In the late 90’s, the Chapter started like any other Hip Hop construct, A DJ and an Emcee trying real hard to make it in a culture that was taken over by false riches and broken dreams. The music, full of perfectly chopped samples and furious rhymes, gained a small following from the locals, but were shunned by the Las Vegas powers which equaled- no real exposure. But like the great hero Maximus in Gladiator, The Chapter knew the people had to be won before they could free their talents. Local hip hop was unaccepted by the larger venues, but rock bands had the pick of the litter.
“The rock bands respected us for doing hip hop well, but they, the clubs and hotels, snubbed us for not playing instruments”, says 3Sixty. So guess what? The Chapter morphed into a full fledge 6 piece band. Being unable to make any connection to live instruments and Hip Hop, the establishment gave The Chapter a pass. But when they hit the stage, the only thing that came out of the speakers was pure, boom bap music. As the word began to spread to the people and the demand swelled to a literal and audible “street buzz”, The Chapter began to break through the walls that had existed only for Hip Hop. Their early success through the only medium available at the time, on tapes, CDs and vinyl, had provided the fuel that sparked a 4-year run through the naked as having, quite simply, the best stage show around.

The evolution of The Chapter has attracted the upper echelon in emcees, DJ’s and musicians, such as famed DJ/producer Kool DJ E.Q of Industry Records, E-Dot, most notably of Uncle Howie Records, & some of the most talented musicians on this side of the earth, all of whom had the experience of being part of this movement of people through sound. And now it has come full circle. Back from whence it came, back to Verbal E. & 3Sixty, but now The Chapter returns with 3Sixty having learned to play live keys, bass, guitar and drums; collectively dubbed “The Black People’s Rebellion”, and Verbal E. having honed his emceein’ performing hundred’s of shows and having ripped countless mics. So, after rocking shows throughout the southwest and performing on stage with their heroes and now peers like KRS ONE, Slum Village, Method Man & Redman, Big Daddy Kane, Twista, The Roots, Talib Kweli, Large Professor, Mos Def, Nas and many more; The Chapter returns to Las Vegas, but this time they do so as “champions.”

Their efforts became the light that blasted through the Las Vegas Strip skyline to attract the attention of The Roots Drummer ”?uestlove” and Okayplayer Records, who added their song “For the Wreckord” to the True Notes ....Volume 1 Compilation, which featured acts such as The Roots, Dilated Peoples, Skillz, Blackilicious, RJD2, Jean Grae, Nicolay from the Foreign Exchange, Supastition and recent Atlantic Record signees, Little Brother. Everyone knows ?uestlove has been publicly outspoken about a very select few artists, but this time he discovered a true unknown. No record company, no media machine, just raw talent who he has described as ”being a part of the next movement in Hip Hop.” And after taking the advice of the Grammy winning drummer on how to capitalize on the opportunity, Verbal E. and 3sixty will now introduce Las Vegas to the world, with their original sound and thorough composition called “US vs. THEM.” Their latest project has already garnered such accolades as “musically skilled, and lyrically precise, organic Hip Hop.”