Rising out of the New York City underground, Hangar 18, or “The Hangar” as fans have dubbed them, is made up of Alaska, Windnbreez, and paWL. These three hip-hop heads have shared the stage with Mos Def, Sadat X, Camp lo, Talib Kweli, El-P, Company Flow, Aesop Rock, Murs, Aceyalone, Pep Love, Mr. Lif and Akrobatik, the Juggaknots, SA Smash, Stronghold, Soul Position, and Atmosphere, to name a few.
The recorded history of Hangar 18 dates back to the previous century, when they were featured on numerous releases with and without the rest of their crew, the Atoms Family. Much of the early material by The Hangar did not include the production work of paWL, as he did not join the group until 2002, a period which is now known in hip-hop lore as “the enlightened age”. Wind and Alaska recorded much of their early work with their fellow Atoms men Cannibal Ox, Cryptic, Jestoneart, and CipOne.
The Hangar is featured on the underground classic The Persecution of Hip Hop and The Prequel Album. In addition Windnbreez and Alaska were featured on the “Random B-Sides CD” from Weightless Records. All this time, paWL was blowing peoples minds with his production work, most notably “Front On This” by Mr. Lif and his work with The Presence.
As we crossed into the new century, the planets moved ever closer towards alignment and Alaska was featured on the seminal Cannibal Ox album, The Cold Vein. Windnbreez and Alaska were featured on Def Jux Presents 2 as well as the CP Records release Euphony. During this time paWL was throwing scratches on songs for everyone from Cannibal Ox to Aesop Rock and continued his searing production work with The Presence. Eventually these two super powers collided and the shockwaves are still being felt throughout the world, launching the Hangar sound.
Thus far, the Hangar have released a black label single (“Where We At” b/w “Hangar 18 and the Temple of Doom”) on Definitive Jux, and have put out The Shameless Self-Promotional Mix CD. The Hangar also wrote and performed the theme music for VH1’s documentary “Hip-Hop Babylon.” Hangar 18 also had two songs on Def Jux presents 3 and a single with remixes from El-P and Blockhead.
The trio’s first full-length collective album, The Multi-Platinum Debut Album, was released June 15, 2004. In late 2006, Hangar 18 went on a nation wide tour with Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship, Zion I, and Grouch.
Artist: Hangar 18
Album: Bakin’ Soda Single / Sweep the Leg
Track 1 - Bakin’ Soda
Track 3 - The Beat
© Hangar 18
Distributed with permission.
