Lawrence Arnell Macmillan is an American rapper and producer from

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 ...

, Pennsylvania. He first collaborated with

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

group

Jedi Mind Tricks Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) are an American underground hip hop group from Philadelphia, founded in 1996 by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz (Vincenzo Luvineri) and producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind (Kevin Baldwin). In 1999, rapper Jus ...

on ''

Violent by Design ''Violent by Design'' is the second album by underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. Despite never reaching any ''Billboard'' album chart, the album sold 50,000 copies in its first week on shelves. The album was originally released on JMT' ...

'' under the name Diamondback in 2000. In 2014, Arnell joined

Army of the Pharaohs AOTP logo ''(as seen on In Death Reborn)'' Army of the Pharaohs (most commonly abbreviated as AOTP or A.O.T.P.) is an American underground hip hop collective originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed by Jedi Mind Tricks founder Vi ...

and appeared on their studio albums ''

In Death Reborn ''In Death Reborn'' is the fourth studio album by the underground hip hop collective Army of the Pharaohs. The album was released on April 22, 2014, via Vinnie Paz's independent record label, Enemy Soil. The album features members Vinnie Paz, Ap ...

'' and '' Heavy Lies the Crown''.

Biography

1995–2006: Early career

Arnell started off his career as an MC/singer/songwriter. At 19 years old, he caught the eye of

Tommy Boy Records Tommy Boy Records is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Amber, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digita ...

as a member of the hip-hop collective Deadly Snakes. With dates on the Lyricist Lounge Tour, placements on the soundtrack to

Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean Martial arts, martial artist and actor. With a Jet Li filmography, film career spanning more than forty years, Li is re ...

's ''Black Mask'' film (1996) and a co-sign from Prince Paul, the Snakes seemed to be on the right track. Soon after, however, the group disbanded, following the release from their deal with Tommy Boy. Arnell fell back and sharpened his skills as an MC as well as a vocalist and songwriter. In 2000, Arnell made a guest appearance on "Blood Reign" from

's ''

'' under the name Diamondback. In 2005, Arnell was featured on the track "Chicken Kitchen Chop-Chop Mix" by Nuthouse on their

12" vinyl The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

''Snap Your Neck 2 Dis.'' This is considered to be his first breakthrough as an underground artist.

2007–2011: Breakthrough

In 2008, Arnell collaborated with

King Syze David Albaladejo (better known by his stage name King Syze) is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of Puerto Rican descent. He is a member of the underground hip hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs (AOTP), having featured o ...

on his second studio album '' The Labor Union''. He was featured on the track "Creep Show". Later that year, fellow rap duo

OuterSpace OuterSpace is an underground hip hop duo from North Philadelphia. Originally a trio consisting of three Puerto Rican friends that then took the artist names Planetary, Jedeye and Crypt the Warchild. The founding member Mario Collazo (Planetar ...

announced they were to release their third studio album '' God's Fury''. Arnell was featured on the track "Quick Draw" along with Doap Nixon. In 2009,

frontman

Vinnie Paz Vincenzo Luviner ( Luvineri born October 5, 1977), better known as Vinnie Paz (formerly known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram), is an Italian-born American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He ...

announced that he is working on his debut solo album '' Season of the Assassin'', slated for a 2010 release. Arnell was featured on the track "Ain't Shit Changed". In 2010, Arnell featured a single titled "Nothin' Less" and featured

JuJu Mob The JuJu Mob (originally credited as ''Chief Kamachi & The JuJu Mob'') is a four-member underground hip hop group originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was founded in 2004.Matt Jost, Chief Kamachi & the JuJu Mob :: Black Candles :: ...

member

Reef the Lost Cauze Sharif Talib Lacey, better known by his stage name Reef the Lost Cauze, is an American underground rapper based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cauze became well known on the underground circuit towards the late 1990s and more so in the early 200 ...

. A music video was released on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on May 25, 2010. In 2011, Arnell was featured on Syze's third studio album ''Collective Bargaining'' on the track "Rap for Real".

Underground rap Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...

artist Tygastyle released his album ''Father of the Year'' which featured the track "Dangerous Living" by Arnell. In 2012, Arnell provided vocals on the collaboration album by

Pacewon Jerome Derek Hinds Jr. (born August 23, 1974), known professionally as Pacewon (also spelled Pace Won), is an American rapper and producer. He rose to fame in the late 1990s as one of the prominent and founding members of rap group Outsidaz alon ...

and Mr. Green, ''The Only Number That Matters Is Won,'' on the track "Slow". Another notable feature of Arnell was in 2012, on the single "Stay True" by rapper Awar. The song was later included on the album ''Things of That Nature / Nature of The Beast.''

2013–2014: Other features and Army of the Pharaohs

Rapper

released his second EP on October 29, 2013, titled ''Carry on Tradition''. Arnell was featured on the songs "The Devils Ransom" along with

Jarren Benton Jarren Giovanni Benton (born October 26, 1981), is an American rapper from Decatur, Georgia. He signed with California rapper Hopsin's independent record label Funk Volume in 2012, and released his third mixtape, ''Freebasing with Kevin Bacon' ...

, and on "In the Middle of Nowhere". On November 30, 2013, Paz revealed that two new Army of the Pharaohs albums would be released in 2014. The first album, ''

'', was announced for a release on April 22, 2014, followed by '' Heavy Lies the Crown'' in November. Arnell was announced to be featured on the album alongside new Army of the Pharaohs members Blacastan of the

Demigodz Demigodz are an American hip hop collective founded by Connecticut rappers Open Mic and Reflex. The group was originally named "The Nobility" but Open Mic renamed the group "The Demigodz" with inspiration from one of his own verses. The group ha ...

and

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

-based rapper

Zilla Zilla may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Vittore Zanetti Zilla (1864–1946), Italian painter * Zilla Mays (1931–1995), American R&B, gospel singer and pioneering DJ * Zilla (Godzilla), a fictional film monster * Zilla (band), a trance ban ...

. Arnell was also featured on

's fourth studio album '' Union Terminology'' on the songs "Union Goons" and "Business Agents", alongside Planetary.

Discography

Studio albums

*2014: ''The Monster and Mr. Arnell'' – with

Deadly Snakes

*1999: ''Wild West / Culebras de Muerte''

Army of the Pharaohs

*2014: ''

'' *2014: '' Heavy Lies the Crown''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnell, Lawrence African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers Living people Rappers from Philadelphia Underground rappers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American rappers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians