Thirstin Howl III

Thirstin Howl III (real name Victor DeJesus) is a New York-based hip-hop artist of Puerto-Rican descent from Brownsville, Brooklyn. In 1997 he was the winner of The Source Magazine's Unsigned Hype Award. Thirstin is an accomplished freestyler and Battle Emcee.

Delivery and Content

Taking his name from the Gilligan's Island character Thurston Howell, III, rapper Thirstin Howl III's rhymes are usually delivered in a nasal tone that veers between braggadocious and melancholic (regardless of his subject matter). He is considered a battle emcee at heart, and as a result, most of his material has an over-exaggerated, almost comic bent to it. Unusual for a criminally-minded emcee, Thirstin rarely raps about guns or murder, preferring instead to rap about petty thefts such as pickpocketing, shoplifting, mugging and burglary, and always in an absurdly melodramatic style (For example: "Stick you up with a safety pin or lit Roman Candles!" or "These hands here...could pickpocket grass skirts!"). Also, as a founding member of New York's infamous Lo-Life gang, notorious in the 80s and 90s for only wearing Polo clothing or other brands of Ralph Lauren clothing that they would boost or steal, he would also include this fashion sense into his raps. He also often raps about his many baby mothers. He has since renounced theft and his later material contains far fewer references to shoplifting. His sense of humour and wit are notable in much of his material. Howl frequently utilizes a Spanglish flow in which English and Spanish words are blended within individual lines. Another characteristic trait of his rhyme style is the use of exaggerated pronunciation to create seeming rhymes among words that are not even near rhymes (e.g. "a socio with illegal negocios / 9 inch nail your coffin after it slowly close / make the Latin language sound similar to that of Portugal/").

Discography

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Albums

olo Albums

*"Skillionaire" (1999)
*"Skillosopher" (2000)
*"Serial Skiller" (2001)
*"Skilligan's Island" (2002)
*"Licensed To Skill" (2003)
*"Skillitary" (2004)
*"La Cura" (2006)

Group Albums

*"" with Father Time & GodForbid (2004)
*"Lo Down & Dirty" with Rack-Lo (2007)
*"untitled" with Sadat-X (coming 2008/2009) [http://www.myspace.com/ThirstinHowlthe3rd]

ingles

*"Brooklyn Hard Rock" (12") (1999)
*"The Polorican" (12") (1999)

External links

* [http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/howl_iii_thirstin/bio.jhtml VH1 bio]
* [http://www.hiphopmusic.com/archives/000599.html 1999 interview]
* [http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2008-03-06/music/thirstin-howl-iii-speaks/ New Times: Thirstin Howl III Speaks] - Interview & Feature article about Thirstin
* [http://www.gamecrib.com/polo.htm Music samples]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOMUSqNwdc0 Video for "Con Calma] YouTube.com