Like many Los Angeles MCs, Volume 10 honed his skills during battles at the Good Life Cafe, but set himself apart as an MC able to balance both thuggish violent imagery and skill-heavy open mike styles. After a guest spot on Freestyle Fellowship's Inner City Griots in 1993, he released his debut full-length, Hip-Hopera. The album spawned a hit single, Pistol Grip Pump, which would later be covered on Rage Against the Machine's Renegades. 10 also appeared on the Project Blowed compilation in 1995, considered by many to be one of the underground's defining moments. A second solo CD, Psycho, appeared in 2000 on 10's own Pump Productions. ~ Wade Kergan