Combining old-school rhyming with soulful beats, the Washington D.C. duo Panacea have drawn comparisons to revered hip-hoppers like The Roots, Gang Starr, and A Tribe Called Quest.

Panacea blend Native Tongues-inspired beats with warm major chords and soul samples and add conscious rhymes about life, love, and hip hop.

He was raised during the wilting years of hip hop and he developed his love of music at an early age through exposure from older family members (such as his uncle).

One crew in particular, the Native Tongues, changed his musical life when he borrowed the cassettes of two of the collective's landmark groups (ATCQ & De La Soul) in the early 1990s.

[3] When Poetic made the move to D.C., Panacea was born and in 2003 they announced their arrival with the debut EP Thinking Back, Looking Forward on the Los Angeles-based Glow-in-the-Dark label.