UK based Configa first got into hip hop in 1988 via the sounds of The Native Tongues. As a young teenager, he saw his future as lying in radio, and even had his own hip hop show on a local unlicensed station, but ultimately the draw of the mic proved too great and he started writing his own rhymes at the age of 16 under the pseudonym ‘M.C. Unique’. Early ventures included making mix tapes that were sold and distributed on the local streets, freestyle battles and exploiting musical avenues through the relatively new medium of the Internet. As a noted battle rapper, M.C. Unique decided to build upon his buzz and release his debut album entitled ‘Baptizm Of Fire’ in 2000. Aside from mic duties, the album was also self-produced/mixed/manufactured and financed by Unique (Configa) himself. The album notably featured a collaboration with B. Down, owner of LA based ‘Rap Junkie Records’, who signed Unique (Configa) to his fledgling Independent label in 2001.

Configa (as ‘M.C. Unique’) featured on two mix tapes on the LA label, Independent Game 1 (2001) and Independent Game 2 (2002) and released his second album, ‘The King Of Linguistics’, in 2002 also through ‘Rap Junkie Records’, this album again being mainly self produced by Unique/Configa himself. The album garnered favourable reviews and received solid exposure, including a mention on MTV.com alongside the ‘8 Mile’ Soundtrack and Christina Aguilera upon its release date and was subject to European and US wide distribution.

Following the promotion of the album, in 2003 Unique decided to take a back seat on mic duties and rebrand himself ‘Configa’ where he has focused almost exclusively on production work since. In 2004, Configa formed, along with Wargasms, Arsenal and C-Gully, the crew ‘Slept On Fam’. The album ‘Audio Crack’ was released in 2006 to critical acclaim. Rapreviews.com asked the rhetorical question “What makes Configa so good?” and heralded his “splendiferous sonic scenery” (1); music Insider Gian Fiero stated “It's not often that I get a group Rap project that embodies this much personality, influence, and talent” (2); ukhh.com exclaimed that “Configa serves up the production crack for those audio canals” (3) and Blues & Soul magazine pinpointed “Configa’s stirring production”. To coincide with these favourable reviews various accolades started coming in, culminated by Slept On Fam in 2007 winning ‘Group of The Year’ at the second annual ‘Get ‘Em Magazine’ music awards in Florida (hosted by the legendary boxer Roy Jones Jr), beating such luminaries as recent Oscar winners Three 6 Mafia (4).

More recently, following a hiatus from music through studying for a PhD and hosting a radio show, Configa has released his 2Pac remix album 'Configa Presents...Pac To The Essence Vol. 1' (via his own 'Configaration Records' label) (5) to mark the 14th year of 2Pac’s passing, and has since picked up the kind of critical appraisal where he left off with the Slept On Fam 'Audio Crack' album. Rapreviews.com noted Configa's ability to "make old 'Pac songs into new classics without destroying the essence of what made them great in the first place" and called it a "truly enjoyable experience" (6); more praise followed elsewhere: "if this was a 2Pac original release, it would have become a classic", and "Overall this is one of the few highlights of this years hip hop offerings and is a must have for anyone that loves hip hop" (7); "What is clear from listening to 'Pac To The Essence' is Configa's unquestionable skills in sampling, beat making and his ability to build and construct a track" (8); "This is an album lovingly made to re-create the early rawness of one of the most challenging individuals to ever grip the mic", " The sheer force of the sound when the beat drops jolts your ears . It's like smashing at high speed into a wall of awesome", "Configa has not only re-created the essence of Tupac, but has made an album that I believe Tupac himself would have been proud of" (9); "This album is a surprisingly rare gem amongst many, and often mediocre, 2pac remix & posthumous releases. ‘Configa Presents…Pac To The Essence Vol. 1′ is a must have for ‘Pac fans and hip-hoppers alike. This is authentic sounding hip-hop at its best" (10).

Work is now underway on Configa's solo album entitled 'Inside The Echo Chamber', which will be entirely produced by Configa himself with a host of different MC’s guesting on the tracks. Notable confirmed guests so far include Stateside legends Craig G, Chino XL, Nine, and Kurtis Blow along with UK legend Scorzayzee (11) and star on the rise Fdot1 (12). The album is set for release Summer 2011. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.