© Culture-Universal 2004-2005
Written by Jesse Viinikainen

In the beginning of his career in the early 1990's, Gore-Tex warmed up the crowd for artists such as Kaminari Kazoku, Shakkazombie and Muro and became many crowd's favorite with his ogre style voice. Muro who had just started producing full time took Tex under his wing in 1996 and introduced him to the masses through the most legendary hip-hop event in japan Thumpin Camp during the same year. The duo who recorded the underground hit Sansha Bontai just before the event were chosen to represent Japan on one of the oldest international hip-hop compilations known called "Bomb Worldwide". The album showcased hip-hop from the UK, Germany, Australia, Japan, Canada and the USA and was eventually released in 1997 on the international markets.

During that year Tex continued to work with Muro and appeared on his XXX-Large Part 2 and collaborated with his old friends Shakkazombie on Tomoniyuko (Version Pure) which also featured his future group members Suiken, Macka-Chin and Dabo. Both of the songs brought Tex a lot of respect from the underground and also a lot of demand for any solo releases from him. The 12 Inch single "Water Proof" worked as Gore's debut in 1997 and due to increasing demand the track got remixed by DJ Watarai and it saw a CD release the year after on Muro's Incredible Records.

Instead of releasing his highly anticipated solo album, Gore-Tex became one of the 4 founding members of Nitro Microphone Underground in the year 1999 when the group was officially formed on Reality Records. Tex's effort on the various Nitro releases including their self titled hip-hop bible were no less than remarkable and Tex's ogre voice had become more vibrant and diverse than ever. Often credited as the most talented MC without a solo album after the release, Tex continued to appear on Muro's and the fellow Nitro MC's works for the next 4 years before finally re-launching his solo career with his debut album "Reload" on October of 2004. The album even with a 7 year break in between his solo releases, stayed in the roots of his raw and straight from the basement style delivery.

Words from the Editor:

Remaining on the street level through his whole career, Tex has always been more of a performer and a guest artist thus being highly underrated. a Voice like thunder combined with organic hip-hop productions has been his trademark since the beginning and Gore-Tex as the only MC from Nitro Microphone Underground has remained underground since the groups formation.