El-Producto or El-P (born Jaime Meline) is well known in underground hip hop circles as a pioneer whose work with the trio Company Flow (El-P, Bigg Jus and Mr.Len ) was heralded as some of the most progressive and intelligent hip hop music of its time. Meline is a great fan of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, and many of Dick's themes--paranoia, the nature of reality--feature in Meline's work.

Originally signed to Rawkus Records, and dropped after a creative dispute, El-P now runs his own record label, Definitive Jux, and released a solo album in May of 2002 called Fantastic Damage.

He has recently worked with free jazz pianist Matthew Shipp--a fan of El P's music--and in an interview with Shipp, Meline stated "First and foremost, I wanted to do it because it scared the shit out of me ... And when I get offered the chance to be involved with something that scares me, I usually do it, because I'm trying to learn, I'm trying to understand music as much as I can, to become a better musician in general and work in different capacities."

The resultant album, High Water, has received mostly positive reviews.

External link

• BOMB Magazine: El-P by Matthew Shipp