E.C. Illa

Uptown and the Ill State Assassins

E.C. Illa came up in the Uptown and “North Pole” neighborhoods on Chicago’s North Side, an area shaped by street gang culture that would run through much of his writing. He began recording in 1990 as a member of the Ill State Assassins, a rap and production crew that also included the producer The Legendary Traxster, and sharpened his skills in battles around the city. A white rapper in a scene dominated by the South and West Sides, he later also worked under the alias WhiteFolks.

Mob City and Wicked Entertainment

His first release was the EP “The Invisible Man” on Mob City Records in 1992, followed by “Ill State of Mind” on the same label in 1993. He moved to Wicked Entertainment for the 1994 CD “Live From The Ill” and then the full-length “E.C. Illa LP,” sixteen largely self-produced tracks. The self-directed video for “On Ill,” built around Chicago graffiti and breaking and made on a shoestring budget, ran on BET’s Rap City and The Box in 1995 and 1996, years before another white Midwestern rapper, Eminem, broke through nationally.

Power Moves and the national circuit

In 1997 Cargo Records issued “Power Moves” with Wicked Entertainment; E.C. Illa produced most of it himself, with contributions from The Legendary Traxster. He toured with acts including Wu-Tang Clan, Big L and Cypress Hill and performed at the 1997 Scribble Jam in Cincinnati. Cargo’s Chicago branch folded soon after the album’s release, but “What You Be About” became a regional street favorite. He sat out 1998 to 2000 as a recording artist, appearing instead on local compilations alongside Psychodrama and Crucial Conflict, and later releases included “Natural Born Illa” (2001) and the “Underground Classics” collection (2003).

The Tip and legacy

In 2000 he opened The Tip CDs & Tapes, a North Side shop devoted to independent Chicago rap. Complex later placed both “On Ill” and “What You Be About” on its list of the greatest Chicago rap songs, a mark of his standing as an early standard-bearer for the city’s underground.

Read the story: Chicago Rap, Decade by Decade: From Hip House to Drill