Admittedly himself a backpacker (i.e. Hip Hop purist) and occasional coffee shop poet, it’s not that far-fetched that Kanye West release an experimental project from unique spoken word artist Malik Yusef.

While an exciting and promisingly bold venture at first, the actual amount of projects released through Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music label has been a little scant since launching in 2004. Excluding releases from John Legend, Consequence and Common, in addition to occasional singles and the odd mixtape, Kanye’s progressive label has yet to drop another album, until now. The man is busy conquering the world and seemingly allowing his artists to grow before launching them on the world, so I guess you can give him a pass for that.

The latest album release on G.O.O.D. Music happens to be Malik Yusef’s maiden voyage, a two-disc excursion of words and music (divided into two parts; Dawn and Dusk) titled Kanye West and Malik Yusef Present G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night. Despite the Kanye West stamp of approval (and one guest verse), G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night is all Malik Yusef.

Malik Yusef was raised in Chicago’s infamous South Side. Some differences aside, his life story is very much aligned with the likes of hip hop founding father Afrika Bambaataa, who like Yusef spent his formative years involved in street hustler culture, before ultimately turning to creative endeavours to express himself and teach others from his experiences. A member of the Islamic street faction The Blackstone Rangers as a teen, it was during this period that Yusef became friendly with a member of the Four Corner Hustlers group. That man would later become his label-mate and ghetto articulator par excellence, Common.

For a man that suffered from dyslexia in his younger days, Yusef’s mastery of the English language and vocalization of the human condition is what has made him a household name and respected figure. Not simply preaching, the activist and father of three leads by example, having establishing several organizations in his local community, including the For Yourself Foundation (a literacy program), Girl Power (a non-profit designed to empower young females) and the Drop Squad (dedicated to keeping the Chicago streets free of debris and litter).

Malik Yusef’s first break in the entertainment industry came in 1997, when he was enlisted to coach actor Larenz Tate for his starring role as a poet in the film Love Jones. It was in 2002 that Yusef began to firmly cement himself as a spoken word artist, making a memorable appearance on the famed Def Poetry Jam series, performing his poem I Spit? The following year would mark the birth of Malik Yusef the recording artist, as he inked a deal with Universal Records to release The Great Chicago Fire; A Cold Day in Hell.

Now with Chicago established as the hottest music city in the United States outside of Miami, along with the backing of G.O.O.D. Music and a wider acceptance of spoken word poetry in the general public, G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night is set to bring Yusef’s poetical fervor to the global stage.

At a time when America’s financial future is hanging in the balance and the threat of global warming continues to loom, 2009 feels like the perfect year for Yusef’s thinking-man ballads of religion, materialism, love, hate and racism, delivered over soulful and sophisticated live instrument backdrops.

G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night is available now through Shock Records/G.O.O.D. Music

ADRENALINE RUSH 2007ARRIVES SEPTEMBER 18, 2007

Features “Give It Up” w/ Pharrell Williams

Production & guests include R Kelly, Lil’ Wayne, T- Pain, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Ceelo & Jazze Pha

· 1973, November 27 Carl Terrell Mitchell Born in Chicago, Illinois

· 1991 released Runnin’ Off at Da Mouth under the name of Tung Twista.

· 1996 teamed with fellow Chicago act Do or Die on the track “Po’ Pimp;” the track became a hit single, leading to a contract with Atlantic Records

· 1997 released Adrenaline Rush which went platinum. Many fans regard this album as Twista’s best album.

· 1998 Mobstability hit stores

· 2004 Kamikaze hits number-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart

· 2005 the game Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition was released and featuring three of Twista’s songs; “Sunshine”, “like a 24″, which featured T.I. & Liffy Stokes; and “Overnight Celebrity”, which featured and was produced by Kanye West

· 2005 “Hope” appeared on the soundtrack to the film, Coach Carter

· 2006 joined Kanye West & Keyshia Cole for the lead single “Impossible” on the Mission Impossible 3 Soundtrack

· 2007 Twista begins his Red Eye column with the Chicago Tribune, where he answers readers questions about ongoing social issues

· Spring 2007 Twista called out President Bush, condemning him as ‘bogus’ for vetoing a bill to withdraw American troops from Irag and inspiring Americans to not be afraid to speak out

· 2007, July 7th Give It Up w/Pharrell videopremieres on AOL

· 2007, July 11th Twista hosts ‘Behind the Cut’ Listening Event sponsored by NASCAR & Red Bull. This is the first collaboration between NASCAR and a hip-hop-artist

· 2007, July 31 Twista responds to McDonald’s decision to cancel his participation in the McDonald’s live tour

· RETURN OF THE REAL SH** ADRENALINE RUSH 2007 IN STORES SEPTEMBER 18, 2007

You can call him the fastest MC in hip-hop history, the man with the flawless flow or simply the Chi-Town legend. After years of building one of rap’s most loyal street followings and accumulating immeasurable respect among his peers in the music industry, Twista finally was rewarded with mainstream recognition and over two million sales of his seventh album, the classic Kamikaze.

Now back with the follow-up to the 1997 original Adrenaline Rush, Twista is taking it back to that Chicago street sound. The album features Pharrell, Lil Wayne and more.

You can check out the latest on “Twista TV” www.youtube.com/twistatv

Check out the hot new single below….

“Give It Up” – Twista feat. Pharrell
http://streamos.atlrec.com/real/atlantic/twista/giveitup-exp.ram
http://streamos.atlrec.com/wmedia/atlantic/twista/giveitup-exp.wax