Immortal Technique

Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), better known by his stage name Immortal Technique, is a Peruvian-American rapper, songwriter, and activist. His lyrics largely feature commentary on issues such as politics, religion, institutional racism, and government conspiracies.

Immortal Technique seeks to retain control over his production, and has stated in his music that record companies profit the most from music over the artists themselves. He claimed in 2009 to have sold close to a combined total of 200,000 copies of his first three official releases.

Felipe Andres Coronel was born in a military hospital in Lima on February 19, 1978, the son of a Peruvian mother and father. He also has Amerindian, French, and Spanish ancestry. His family relocated to the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in 1980 to escape the Peruvian Civil War. During his teenage years, he was arrested multiple times due to what he later called "selfish and childish" behavior.

Coronel attended Hunter College High School, where his classmates included future political commentator Chris Hayes and future singer-songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda; in 2016, Miranda revealed that Coronel bullied him at school, but the two are now friends. Coronel said, "We have always been very proud of each others' success, and we even joked about [this story] with each other on Twitter over the weekend. [...] I wouldn't want my supporters to get the impression that anyone was trying to normalize childish bullying, especially coming from someone who now fights for others." Shortly after enrolling in Pennsylvania State University, he was arrested and charged with assault-related offenses due to his involvement in an altercation between fellow students; the charges stemming from this incident led to him being incarcerated for a year.

After being paroled, Coronel took political science classes at Baruch College for two semesters at the behest of his father, who allowed Coronel to live with him on the condition that he went to school. Honing his rapping skills in jail, and unable to find decent employment after his release, he began selling his music on the streets of New York and participating in rap battles. This led to his reputation as a ferocious battle rapper.

In 2001, Immortal Technique released his first album Revolutionary Vol. 1 without the help of a record label or distribution, instead using money earned from his rap battle triumphs. He also battled but lost to Posta Boy in 106 & Park's Freestyle Friday. Revolutionary Vol. 1 also contained the underground classic "Dance with the Devil". In November 2002, he was listed by The Source in its "Unsigned Hype" column, highlighting artists that are not signed to a record label. The following year, in September 2003, he received the coveted "Hip Hop Quotable" in The Source for a song entitled "Industrial Revolution" from his second album. Immortal Technique is the only rapper in history to have a "Hip Hop Quotable" while being unsigned. He released his second album Revolutionary Vol. 2 in 2003, which featured an intro and a spoken-word piece by death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. In 2004 and 2005, Viper Records and Babygrande Records, respectively, re-released Immortal Technique's debut, Revolutionary Vol. 1, to make it available to a wider audience. "Point of No Return" from Revolutionary Vol 2 was used as the entrance theme for Rashad Evans during the UFC 88 main event between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans.

Between 2005 and 2007 Immortal Technique began working on The Middle Passage and The 3rd World, the two albums that would serve a follow-up to Revolutionary Vol. 2. The 3rd World, produced by DJ Green Lantern, was released in 2008. Emilee Woods, writing for RapReviews.com, reviewed the album positively, praising its "earnestly and skillfully delivered" material, and claiming that Technique had "finally found a comfort zone in the balance between lyricism and message."

Immortal Technique was also featured on several movie soundtracks and video game soundtracks, all while touring. In October 2011, he released The Martyr, a free compilation album of previously unreleased material and new tracks.