The successful Philly-born underground rap group Jedi Mind Tricks, which sold hundreds of thousands of records worldwide, was started by an unlikely hip-hop fan named Vincenzo Luvineri—now Vinnie Paz—who was recently described by hip-hop website DJ Booth as: "an Italian-American rhymesayer who emerged from the Philly streets to save the game from the forces of wackness, ushering in a halcyon age of grimy beats and hard-hitting street lyricism."
Now firmly entrenched in the underground hip-hop hierarchy, Vinnie Paz explains in this tribute how his Philly roots impact his work. It's a nice testimonial that speaks to many of the city's deeply held notions of itself. "We're a city of fighters," he says in the video. "Yes," says the rest of the country. "We've heard."