Sage Francis, Metermaids, Black Liquid, Jivin Scientists

In the late 1990s, the rapper Sage Francis opened a record label, Strange Famous Records, as a means to release his bootleg songs to a larger audience. As his songs got passed around, people really started to take notice of the skilled lyricist's adept ability to discuss life's hardships in his songs. People took a liking to his songs and soon Francis was signing other budding rappers to his record label. After about ten years of releasing material and helping fledgling rappers build a career for themselves, Francis has built a reputation for himself as being one of the godfathers of the modern indie rap scene and one of the genre's more talented song writers.