Insanate - MC

In the wakes of the new millennium, several artists have went against the grain and achieved critical acclaim as well as worldwide recognition for doing so, and Gnormen Insanate Baites (pronounced Norman Insanity Bates) is no exception. However, there may have never been a hip-hop artist to do it with such a strange aura of abnormality accompanying his music. Gnormen Insanate Baites (or simply Insanate) was born and raised in P. G. County, Maryland, where he spent numerous hours each day honing his talents as a lyricist. And after performing at endless amounts of open mics and engaging in m.c. battle upon m.c. battle, he moved to Brooklyn, NY, where he could further his development as a rising star amongst the pollution of hip-hop’s cluttered airwaves. Insanate continues to make increasing progress towards the ranks of hip-hop’s elite by performing at assorted clubs and universities in the boroughs of New York City. He can presently be found with his group, Ultra Violet, a diverse ensemble of talented musicians, each with different backgrounds, which come together to forge hip-hop music that has no boundaries. His music influences include Black Sabbath, Beastie Boys, and Radiohead because, in his opinion, they have no boundaries as well. Insanate credits them for experimenting with their music in ways that other artists in their genres did not. Therefore, he looks forward to working with them as well as artists such as Bjork and Portishead because he believes they experiment with their music and inspire him to do the same thing. “I see myself as hip-hop’s version of Edgar Allen Poe and Nirvana because they were dark but their music was beautiful, so that’s what I try to bring to the table. When I listen to music I want it to make me happy and sad at the same time. I want it to make me question everything I believe in and don’t, because some songs deserve more then just a dance or a head nod.” he says. He is arguably the strangest m.c. to ever grace a mic, but isn’t being strange a characteristic of most geniuses anyway.

Perceptive Records 2003