FinaL OutlaW
New York City, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2008 | SELF
Music
Press
Final Outlaw's Hip Hop 4ever receiving rotation in Europe. - MTV
Inaugural underground cypher featuring Oddisee, Das Racist, Final Outlaw, Homeboy Sandman, and Blu. - BET
New York Hip Hop is here and alive, especially with Final Outlaw! Final Outlaw has hit various forms of media including MTV, BET, Hot97, New York Daily News, Time Out New York Magazine, Yahoo! News, URB Magazine, Prefix Magazine & WorldStarHipHop.com.
This guys credentials get deeper. Final Outlaw is a two-time Amateur Night winner at the Apollo theater. Just last year he was featured on the “Top 50 Underground Hip Hop 2012″ list by AllHipHop.
Check out his song "Theory" here and be a believer! - Hot97
Over one of the beats of the (last) year, NY underground threat FinaL OutlaW brings a stellar mix of NYC imagery, ’90s-style self-mythologizing, and world-commentary. Continually offering up twists of ScHoolboy Q‘s original flows and lines, the rapper also known as James Elliott gets continually more impassioned, closing with some knockout lines: “Home of the stop and frisk, apocalypse, the cops keep poppin’ shit / The populous deprived of a right to live, the compromise, one very single life to live, so go get it.” It’s the OutlaW‘s delivery that really drives the moment, and the rest of the song home. Download the track here, and enjoy the video below. - RESPECT Magazine
Final Outlaw is one of the purist hip-hop enthusiasts we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. When he raps he gives you piece of his soul, he truly believes in hip-hop’s power to change people’s views for the better. The content he creates is nothing short of genius. Like Passionate MC, he didn’t have much time to prepare, in fact he was actually at work when he got the call and quit his job to be apart of the cypher. If that's not real for hip-hop, I don’t know what is. He’s also been featured in numerous cyphers around NY, including a few with Pro Era, Das Racist, Blu, and the late Capital Steez. Check out all of Final OutLaw’s work at http://finaloutlaw.com/. - Team Backpack
Unapologetic and in your face Final Outlaw released a lyrical beast of a project in 2013 and didn’t ask for any fan fare at all. He metaphorically spit his face off and its dopeness was appreciated… so it found its way through the underground and beyond. If that ain’t Hip Hop then we aren’t sure what is! In the tradition of EPMD he skipped the ‘“Crossover” games and just did good work. - AllHipHop.com
From Bo, to Travis, to Jesse James, history is filled with great outlaws. Well, after the dynamic performance he turns in on Final Outlaw Theory II, I think it might be time to add FinaL OutlaW to that list. As the title suggests, the record finds OutlaW presenting his theories on the hip-hop game. The emcee showcases an aggressive style and a knack for slick wordplay as he targets wack rappers and pretenders. F.O.’s no-nonsense flows are married to Levenkhan’s boardwork, which features a stark yet powerful beat fortified with occasional violin harmonies. While this record is not part of the project, fans can hear more from FinaL OutlaW on new album Unstoppable Love, released digitally February 19. - DJ Booth
Final Outlaw's music video for Beautiful Songs makes it on Hip Hop DX. - Hip Hop DX
It’s been a minute since we last checked in with NYC lyricist FinaL OutlaW, but make no mistake dude is still spittin’ fire. Outlaw shows n proves with this raw, boom bappy track “FinaL OutlaW Theory II” – no filler here, at all. “It doesn’t take a savant to pick this apart/This is intricate art, from a genuine heart/So if you feel the same click the like button/And write something, and cop my album on I-tunes its like $9 something.” – actually you can cop his last album, Unstoppable Love for free.99 here. Check the visuals for the Levenkhan produced track below. - OkayPlayer
Discography
Hip Hop 4ever EP - 2008
Unstoppable Love - 2013
Photos
Bio
Sir James Elliott (aka FinaL OutlaW) calls himself "a true child of this city." The city he alludes to is none other than the regal, New York City.
Known for a vehement delivery, as well as complex songwriting, FO receives adulation among elite lyricists of the indie Hip Hop scene. He has been featured on MTV, BET, New York Daily News, Time Out New York Magazine, Yahoo News, URB Mag, RESPECT Mag, World Star Hip Hop, and was selected by AllHipHop.com on their "Top 50" list for the last two years in a row. He also completed a successful run at South By South West (SXSW 2014) in Austin, Texas, via invitation, where he performed on 9 stages (both official and unofficial showcases).
Perhaps most notably, he is a two-time Amateur Night champion at the world famous Apollo theater in Harlem (a historic rarity for rappers). His victories at the Apollo can be accredited to his "show & prove" performance ability, which allows him to impress unfamiliar audiences on the spot; a talent he honed at open mics on the underground.
On the airwaves, Final Outlaw recently peaked at #1 nationally on college radio charts, and is even receiving praise and rotation from legendary radio uniforms such as New York's Hot 97 and The Wake Up Show with Sway, King Tech, and DJ Revolution on Shade45 Sirus/XM Radio.
An individual of many dimensions, he brands himself as a "Slumboy" whose personal tales of homelessness, domestic violence, tortured love, and sparse opportunity, piece together some clarity to what is otherwise a mysterious character. He considers himself fortunate for having received early exposure to a variety of eclectic struggles and life experiences, which forced him to redefine himself many times over. He also describes himself as an autodidact, whose hunger for education was nourished by a desire to transcend circumstances and evolve beyond common shortcomings he observed in the adults of his upbringing.
At first glance, one might oversimplify him for just another aspiring rapper from the inner city, but the method in which he approaches his career is anything but traditional. With a desire to do more than just freestyle on trains, and street corners with his friends, it was through a business card he found by chance that he was ushered into the indie music scene by the Grassroots Artist Movement (G.A.ME), a political organization that used Hip Hop to bring resources back to black and brown communities. G.A.ME played a significant roll in educating FO outside of a traditional higher-learning institutional environment, but he eventually felt that community work and activism wasn't his preferred approach. It was shortly after his experiences with G.A.ME that FO perfected his craft on stages across NYC, and challenged himself to ascend in the midst of an underground scene with a high standard for stage-presence, and song writing.
In an age of instant Youtube success stories, there does exist an artist who has more to offer than commentary, opinions, and a charismatic smile. This is an artist who has fine-tuned his ideals and musicianship through an amalgamation of redefining experiences. Final Outlaw isn't asking anyone to blindly drink his Kool-Aid; rather, he is doing all in his power to manifest his vision. His intention is to deliver an experience, one very remarkable experience that only he can depict. FinaL OutlaW is currently working on a project titled "Birth Of The Black Butterfly" for 2015 release.
Band Members
Links
