Years of the 9, on the Blackhand Side

Leader of the ’90s Hip-Hop group X-Clan, Professor X, Baba Professor X the Overseer, or PXO, (Lumumba Carson, 1956-2006) was born the son of a Brooklyn-based activist, Black nationalist, and community leader. Professor X began his Hip-Hop career as a promoter for the Hip-Hop group Whodini. Discovered by Paradise Gray, Professor X was considered lyrical a mastermind in Hip-Hop with his politically conscious and Afrocentric lyricism. Like the bald Professor X of the X-Men, he was intelligent and a mentor. Professor X often noted that the X-Clan had a “purpose that continues beyond our records.” That purpose was the uplift of African-Americans through self-awareness and historical knowledge. He is also known for the sound of his signature catch phrase, “Vanglorious! This is protected by the Red, the Black, and the Green with a key, sissy!,” that he delivered at the beginning of X-Clan’s 1990 song “Funkin’ Lesson.”