Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), better known by the stage name Immortal Technique, is an American rapper. Most of his lyrics focus on controversial issues in global politics, from a radical left-wing perspective. Immortal Technique seeks to retain control over his production, and has stated in his music that record companies, not artists themselves, profit the most from mass production and marketing of music. He claimed in an interview to have sold close to a combined total of 200,000 copies of his first three official releases.

Early life

Coronel was born in a military hospital in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

. He is of mostly Amerindian descent, and also has Spanish, French and African ancestry. His family immigrated to

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater H ...

, in 1980 to escape the Peruvian Civil War. During his teenage years, he was arrested multiple times due in part to what he has said was "selfish and childish" behavior. He attended

Hunter College High School Hunter College High School is a secondary school located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It is administered by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY). Hunter is publicly funded, and there ...

on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the we ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, where his classmates included

Chris Hayes Christopher Loffredo Hayes (; born February 28, 1979) is an American political commentator, television news anchor, activist, and author. Hayes hosts '' All In with Chris Hayes'', a weekday news and opinion television show on MSNBC. Hayes also ...

and

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''Hamilton'' (2015) and '' In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animat ...

, whom he bullied, although the two later became friends. Shortly after enrolling in

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

, he was arrested and charged with assault-related offenses due to his involvement in an altercation between fellow students; the charges stemming from this incident led to him being incarcerated for a year. After being paroled, he took

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

classes at

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the college operates unde ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for two semesters at the behest of his father, who allowed Coronel to live with him on the condition that he went to school. Honing his rapping skills in jail, and unable to find decent wage-paying employment after his release, he began selling his music on the streets of New York and battling with other MCs. This, coupled with his victories in numerous freestyle rap competitions of the New York underground hip hop scene such as Rocksteady Anniversary and Braggin Rites, led to his reputation as a ferocious Battle MC.

Musical career

2000–2005: ''Revolutionary Vol. 1'' and ''Revolutionary Vol. 2''

In 2001, Immortal Technique released his first album ''

Revolutionary Vol. 1 ''Revolutionary Vol. 1'' is the debut album by rapper Immortal Technique, released on September 18, 2001, and re-pressed in 2004 (by Babygrande Records). The first edition had no distribution and no bar code; it was sold by the artist on the stree ...

'' without the help of a record label or distribution, instead using money earned from his rap battle triumphs. He also battled but lost to Posta Boy in

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rate ...

Freestyle Friday Freestyle Friday was a segment on BET's popular show ''106 & Park'', in which two aspiring rappers compete in a freestyle battle before the studio audience and the cypher (from 2006) and three celebrity judges (the DJ sometimes acts as the third ju ...

. ''Revolutionary Vol. 1'' also contained the underground classic "Dance With The Devil". In November 2002, he was listed by ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

'' in its " Unsigned Hype" column, highlighting artists that are not signed to a record label. The following year, in September 2003, he received the coveted "Hip Hop Quotable" in ''The Source'' for a song entitled "Industrial Revolution" from his second album. Immortal Technique is the only rapper in history to have a "Hip Hop Quotable" while being unsigned. He released his second album '' Revolutionary Vol. 2'' in 2003. In 2004, Viper Records and, in 2005,

Babygrande Records Babygrande Records is an American independent record label based in New York City, founded by Chuck Wilson. Babygrande is distributed by The Orchard and represented by the Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood. History Babygrande Records wa ...

re-released Immortal Technique's debut, ''Revolutionary Vol. 1'', to make it available to a wider audience. "Point of No Return" from ''Revolutionary Vol 2'' was used as the entrance theme for

Rashad Evans Rashad Anton Evans (born September 25, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist. Evans started his professional career in 2003, he was the Heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2 and is also a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and a 2 ...

during the UFC 88 Main Event between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans.

2005–present: ''The 3rd World'', ''The Martyr'' and ''The Middle Passage''

Between 2005 and 2007 Immortal Technique began working on ''The Middle Passage'' and '' The 3rd World'', the two albums that would serve a follow up to '' Revolutionary Vol. 2'' and complete the series. He was also featured on several movie soundtracks and video game soundtracks, all the while touring relentlessly. In October 2011, Immortal Technique released '' The Martyr'', a free compilation album of previously unreleased material and new tracks. In an interview in 2020 with Latino USA, Immortal Technique discussed that he was working on writing a book. He also mentioned that he was in the process of creating his new album, but had faced setbacks because of the

Covid-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Collaborations

The summer of 2005 saw the release of "Bin Laden", a vinyl single 12" featuring

Mos Def Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the s ...

and

DJ Green Lantern James Christopher D'Agostino (born July 7, 1975), professionally known as DJ Green Lantern, is an American hip hop DJ and producer from Rochester, New York. In 2002, D'Agostino was signed by American rapper Eminem, to become the official DJ for S ...

. The single also contained a remix of the song featured

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped creat ...

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

and

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

. In early 2006, the song "Impeach the President", featuring

Dead Prez Dead Prez, often stylized as dead prez, is an American hip hop duo composed of stic.man and M-1, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant social justice, self ...

and Saigon turned up in the mixtape "Alive on Arrival"

. This is a simple version of The Honeydrippers, 1973, in which Immortal Technique urged fans to organize a vote of censure against George W. Bush. In April 2009, a new song leaked on the internet named "Democratie Fasciste (Article 4)" by Brazilian-French rapper Rockin' Squat which featured Immortal Technique. The official release of the song and Rockin' Squat's album ''Confessions D'un Enfant Du Siècle Volume 2'' was on May 12, 2009. The instrumental from the song was sampled from Wendy Rene's "After Laughter". The song expresses the inequalities of the

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

and revolutionary events throughout history against tyranny and oppression. The song contains lyrics in English (Immortal Technique), French (Rockin' Squat) and brief shout outs in Spanish (Immortal Technique). This song is Immortal Technique's first official international collaboration. In early 2009, it was announced that there would be a collaboration between Technique and UK underground artist

Lowkey Kareem Dennis (born 23 May 1986), better known by his stage name Lowkey, is a British rapper and activist from London. He first became known through a series of mixtapes he released before he was 18, before taking a hiatus from the music bus ...

, on a single called "Voices of the Voiceless". On September 11, 2009, a "snippet" of the song was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. The preview was released ahead of its September 21 launch on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

, as part of a web-campaign that included updates, promotion and links on forums, E-Magazines and several social networking sites. The song's lyrics cover a broad range of issues that are familiar to listeners of both artists –

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...

world revolution World revolution is the Marxist concept of overthrowing capitalism in all countries through the conscious revolutionary action of the organized working class. For theorists, these revolutions will not necessarily occur simultaneously, but whe ...

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

, government control,

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompan ...

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their reli ...

Classism Class discrimination, also known as classism, is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. It includes individual attitudes, behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper class at the expense ...

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a '' jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It sta ...

and the

war in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. Other armed conflicts involving Iraq * Wars during Mandatory Iraq ** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921 * Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...

Activism

Immortal Technique performing in 2010 (2)

Immortal Technique visits prisons to speak to youth and working with immigrant rights activists, and raising money for children's hospitals overseas. He created a writing grant program for high-school students as well. In June 2008, Immortal Technique partnered with ''Omeid International'', a non-profit human rights organization, and dubbed the work as "The Green Light Project". With the profits of the album ''The 3rd World'', he traveled to

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

, Afghanistan, to help Omeid build an orphanage without any corporate or external funding. The orphanage, having been successfully established, currently houses over 20 orphaned children from Kabul.

Other work

Films

Immortal Technique featured in Ice-T's documentary '' Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap''.

''The (R)evolution of Immortal Technique''

A documentary about Immortal Technique was released in September 2011 and premiered at the Harlem Film Festival.''The (R)evolution of Immortal Technique'' (2011)
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

It was released on DVD on July 10, 2012.

''This Revolution''

Immortal Technique appeared as himself in a

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...

film entitled '' This Revolution'', which was recorded during the 2004

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

in New York. The tape contains the protests surrounding the convention in the form of a documentary. It also featured Viper Records affiliates Akir and producer SouthPaw in roles. Since then, Immortal Technique has taken control of Viper Records and has signed a distribution deal with

E1 Entertainment E1, E01, E.I or E-1 may refer to: Transportation Aircraft * Azcárate E-1, a Mexican sesquiplane trainer * Fokker E.I, a German fighter aircraft * Grumman E-1 Tracer, an American airborne early warning aircraft * Hydra Technologies E1 Gavilá ...

to vent to their next album. SouthPaw has managed to establish himself as A&R of Viper Records.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation album

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control 21st-century American rappers Hardcore hip hop artists Underground rappers Hispanic and Latino American rappers Rappers from Manhattan Hip hop activists Political music artists American music industry executives American socialists Baruch College alumni Pennsylvania State University alumni American people convicted of assault People from Harlem American people of indigenous peoples descent American people of Peruvian descent People from Lima Peruvian exiles 1978 births Living people Hunter College High School alumni