There are groups… and then there are super groups. The Hip Hop collective The Council – comprising Five Steez, Inztinkz, Nomad Carlos and The Sickest Drama – fits the mould of the latter. Each MC flaunts a unique persona and style while being bound together by chemistry forged from a decade of collaboration. Known for their raw boom-bap sound, high-level lyricism and gritty representation of their stomping grounds, Kingston, Jamaica, the crew has become the city’s champion team for Hip Hop culture after independently releasing music as solo artists and staging events together for years. The four rappers began collaborating in 2008 at Gambling House Recording Studio, which, for many years, was regarded as the Mecca of Hip Hop in Kingston. In 2012, they created the city’s premier event for the genre, Pay Attention, and then they shifted their energies towards a crew album in 2015 when they took on the name The Council with the release of a first single Council Arts. The track served as the opening song on the group’s debut album Nothing Else Matters, which was later released in 2017. Nothing Else Matters showcases a variety of sounds and topics, tied in sonically and thematically, with a Jamaican perspective being the common thread. The groundbreaking album places The Council in the upper echelon of MCs and represents Kingston in a new and creative way. In 2019, The Council is hard at work, with new solo projects as well as more collaborative efforts with other producers.