Professor X, Years of the 9, on the Blackhand Side, 1991

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 a lyrical a mastermind in Hip-Hop with this 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 was said at the beginning of X-Clan’s 1990 song “Funkin’ Lesson.”

Years of the 9, On the Blackhand Side is the debut solo album of Professor X which was released in 1991 on4th & Broadway records. The songs on this album promote black pride, self-respect, and cultural understanding, were in stark contrast to the kind of explicit, profane gangster rap that had grown so popular in the early 90s of hip-hop.