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EMC KARMAUnknown
Hip Hop
Experimental
Politics & Power
Loss & Grief
Identity & Self
Origin/Meaning: The EMC in EMC Karma stands for "eternal master of ceremony," coming from the everlasting artistic spirit he has, and karma - due to the retributive battle rap style he wrote and performed with.

Edged Out Records label founder Mattske has gone by many names over the course of his career, and EMC Karma was one of the most significant during his tenure as a student at Temple University where EMC Karma founded the Freestyle Friday Cypher at the Bell Tower as a form of self expression and community building.

Though this personai has since been retired, its legacy endures and informs the label's current direction in crafting artistic identities.

THE ANALOG GRINDbuilt with brute force

In the mid to late 2000's Mattske was in high-school and college, learning how to be a performing and recording artist. Before the convenience of the digital era, Mattske established a freestyle cypher at Temple University's Bell Tower which met every Friday for 4 years, where experienced and novice rappers, singers, beatboxers, beat makers, and dancers all collaborated.

Due to his often esoteric, philosophic lyrics, Mattske adopted the personai EMC Karma to mark his artistry. He was known for how he transmuted raw millennial rage into a community landmark. Zero algorithms. Just pure, unadulterated artistry.

200+

LIVE SHOWS

Weekly freestyle cypher sessions over 4 years. 3+ hours each. Rain or shine or snow like the post office.

15,000

CORE AUDIENCE

This campus-wide phenomenon attracted people of all races, ages, religions, genders, and economic backgrounds.

1,350

CORE COMMUNITY

From neighborhood kids in North Philly, to graduate students studying this as an anthropological novelty, Mattske's cypher was widely known and heavily watched.

60x

LOYALTY MULTIPLIER

Compared to the ephemeral and fleeting connections of the modern digital era, using raw energy and devotion, Mattske and his crew created loyalty and conversion on sales of tickets, albums, and merchandise like nothing you've ever seen.

ORIGINSfrom the street to the server
  • 2006 - 2007 | The Foundation: Rappers Mic Stewart and EMC Karma form "The Cyph"—a Friday afternoon tradition at the Temple Bell Tower for maximum foot traffic.
  • 2008 - 2011 | The Mask of Karma: EMC Karma leads the cypher, emphasizing equality where no one is in the center, as opposed to the ego-driven content of influencers of today. Crowds hit 100+ people, and it becomes iconic.
  • 2012 | The End of An Ego: The physical persona of EMC Karma is last documented in major university media. Mattske begins a new transformation into another personai, called Eli Azrael.
  • 2026 | Revival: Edged Out Records launches the Personai division, packaging Mattske's analog mastery into a scalable digital reality.

"With freestyling, I get to see how my mind works when there is no time to actually think... Freestyling is exactly that. It requires zero preparation."
— EMC Karma

CONTEXT TERMINAL SYS.REC.2006

> SOCIO-POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE

The transition from the Bush administration into the Obama election was defined by immense cultural friction.

Post-9/11 paranoia and the Patriot Act had created a chilling effect on public expression. The Iraq War was dragging on, creating deep fatigue. Wiretaps, surveillance, and a culture of fear made people hesitant to speak their minds openly.

In this climate, grabbing a megaphone and demanding a public space for raw, unvetted thought wasn't just performance art. It was an anomaly.

> PRE-ALGORITHMIC REALITY

In 2006, the iPhone didn't exist yet. Social media meant MySpace or early, text-based Facebook. There was no "feed."

You couldn't rely on a "For You" algorithm to hand-deliver your art to a targeted demographic. If you wanted people to hear you, you had to stand in their physical path.

This forced an evolutionary pressure on the artist: If your performance wasn't compelling enough to make a college student physically stop walking to class, you failed. Attention was earned in real-time, face-to-face.

> THE SANCTUARY OF THE CYPHER

Because everything was analog, the cypher acted as an un-monitored sanctuary.

Without everyone holding HD cameras, the Bell Tower became a safe zone for radical transparency. MCs could vent about the war, the administration, the economy, or personal struggles without fear of it being clipped out of context and ruining their lives on the internet.

EMC Karma didn't just host a rap show; he facilitated a necessary release valve for a generation that was told to keep its head down.

THE ARCHIVEtracking the personai evolution

This CRT terminal archives the digital footprint of Mattske's Personai evolution—from the raw, early documentary footage of EMC Karma, to the dark, esoteric first release of Eli Azrael.

CHANNELS
WEB ARCHIVES
PAUSE ||

DaCypher Trailer

March 2011 | YouTube

KORYUAI
What Goes Around?identity is what you make it

EMC Karma may not be releasing music or performing at the Bell Tower anymore, but Mattske has evolved from this simple concept of a performative mask, to create dozens of new characters. These days, he is unencumbered by having to represent only himself, his physical appearance, or even personal life experiences. This liberation is bringing about a revival of incredible music like the world has never heard before.