Rapper of the hot minute: Lucky.i.am

Lucky.i.am, as 1/8 of the rap underground supergroup Living Legends, first caught my ear in the Legends' album, "Classic," in the track of the same name. What sets a rapper apart in the game is a distinctive voice (think of where a Chuck D or a Chali 2na would be if they sounded like pretty much every other rapper out there).

His flow over the style of beats laid down by Legends' collaborators is akin to the best of J5, Blackalicious, ATCQ (in their better days), the Roots (see: ATCQ), and other similar groups that actually conspire to give a rap fan(atic) hope for the genre. He cut loose a track from his pending 2007 joint, "Time 2 Get Lucky," on the recently released Legends' mixtape CD, "Legendary Music Vol. 1." The track's "Another Day," and definitely worth checking out.

Lucky.i.am's myspace page, which is not as much of an eyesore as the other 99% of myspace pages are.