The Last Emperor is the recording name of Jamal Gray,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
-born hip-hop artist. Gray took his stage name from the
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci ( ; ; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved inte ...
film epic of the same name (''
The Last Emperor
''The Last Emperor'' () is a 1987 epic biographical drama film about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Peploe, which was adapted from Puyi's 1964 auto ...
''). He attended and graduated
Overbrook High School (Philadelphia)
Overbrook High School is a public, four-year high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
School
Overbrook High School is designated by the School District of Philadelphia as Location #402, in the West Region. The building was built in 1926 and ...
then went on to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science/International Relations from Lincoln University.Jamal "The Last Emperor" Gray Love, Truth, Freedom, Peace, and Justice WaybackMachine
He moved to New York and began performing at open mic nights. The Last Emperor was featured in a verse on
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 the Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the ...
's "C.I.A. (Criminals in Action)" with
Zack de la Rocha
Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Through both Rage Against ...
. Two years after moving to New York he was signed to
Aftermath Entertainment
Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre in 1996. It operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed through Interscope Records.
The label's roster includes artists ...
, and became a protégé of
Dr. Dre
Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...
. In 2003 it was announced that The Last Emperor had signed to
Rawkus Records
Rawkus Records (or Rawkus Entertainment) is an American hip hop record label, owned by James Murdoch, known for starting the careers of many rappers. Rawkus started in 1995 with releases in hip-hop, drum and bass and fun-dustrial (Dystopia One) ...
. A few singles were released in a period of 6 months, but the label unexpectedly stopped releasing any music. The Last Emperor then formed Red Planet Music to release his debut album, ''Music, Magic, Myth''. Red Planet's releases are distributed by Raptivism.
He has opened for such acts as the former
Def Squad
Def Squad is an American rap supergroup consisting of Erick Sermon, Redman, Keith Murray, Hurricane G, and Jamal
Jamaal ( ''/'') is an Arabic given name and surname meaning "beauty."Redman,
EPMD
EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is an initialism for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. E Double) and Parrish Smith ("PMD" a.k.a. Parrish Mi ...
,
Das EFX
Das EFX is an American hip hop duo. It consists of emcees Dray (also known as Krazy Drayz, born Andre Weston, September 9, 1970) and Skoob (also known as Books and Boogie Bang, born William "Willie" Hines, November 27, 1970). They named them ...
and
K-Solo
Kevin Madison, also known as K-Solo (born April 17, 1968) is an American rapper from Brentwood, New York who, along with Redman, EPMD, Das EFX, and Keith Murray, was part of the Hit Squad in the 1990s.
Career
K-Solo was a member of EPMD's "Hi ...
),
Common
Common may refer to:
As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin.
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Com ...
,
The Roots
The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...
, 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 the Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the ...
. He has performed at the Lyricist Lounge. He's traveled around the world performing in places like Denmark (
Roskilde Festival
The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...
Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...
.
The Last Emperor released his debut album ''Music, Magic, Myth'' (''Palace of the Pretender'' in Europe) in 2003. A single, "Black Apache", was released on Red Planet in September 2006.
The Last Emperor's album titled ''Wizards Wardrobe'' was slated for a release date 27 June 2010 but never materialized, though a music video for the first single "Fine Art" was released.
Discography
Albums
* 2000: ''The Legend of Bigfoot'' (Unofficial, internet leak of early demos)
* 2003: ''Music, Magic, Myth''
* 2003: ''Palace of the Pretender'' (European release of ''Music, Magic, Myth'')
* 2018: ''"Jungle Jim" Season 1'' (with Haak Filmore)
* 2019: ''Lord of the Fly'' (with Haak Filmore)
* 2022: ''The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wolfman'' (with Haak Filmore)
Mixtapes
* 2006: ''Hidden Treasures''
* 2009: ''Science Team...Go!''
Singles
* 1997: ''Bums / Monumental / Secret Wars Part 1''
* 1999: ''Echo Leader / Charlie / Rap Tyranny''
* 2000: ''Fo'rel / Heavyweight Invincible / The Dozen''
* 2001: ''The Banger / The Umph''
* 2003: ''Who’s That / Prisoner''
* 2003: ''Secret Wars Part 2 / Some Love, Some Hate''
* 2003: ''Here We Are''
* 2006: ''Black Apache / Gangsta Groove''
* 2010: ''Fine Art''
* 2011: ''Pots and Pans''