(Photo: Courtesy of St. Records)

A hungry kid from Massachusetts, Termanology, 26, came to New York to stalk Premier, the former Gang Starr D.J. “Every club we knew he was gonna be at, we’d go there and beg him for a beat.” After two years, Primo relented; the eventual result was 2006’s underground hit “Watch How It Go Down”—big throwback beats laced with flawless new-school flow. This fall, Term releases his second album, Time Machine, aided by rap-nerd heroes Large Professor, the Alchemist, Pete Rock—and Premier. He just left for a European tour, and he was stoked: “People think if you’re underground, you broke—but I mean, dog, if you’re touring the world, and people love you all over the place, you made it.”

Related:

• Archive: “Guides”
• Articles by Amos Barshad
• Table of Contents: Aug 31, 2009 issue of New York | Subscribe!