| the X-Ecutioners | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Alias: | X-Men, Ill Insanity |
| Origin: | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genre: | Hip hop,[1] turntablism, experimental hip hop, instrumental hip hop |
| Years Active: | 1989–present |
| Spinoffs: | Ill Insanity |
| Current Members: | Total Eclipse DJ Boogie Blind DJ Precision |
| Past Members: | Mista Sinista Rob Swift Roc Raida (deceased) |
The X-Ecutioners, originally known as X-Men, are a group of American hip hop DJs/turntablists from New York City, New York.[2] The group formed in 1989 and currently consists of three DJs, including Total Eclipse, DJ Boogie Blind, and DJ Precision. Original members of the group included Mista Sinista, Rob Swift, and Roc Raida. Rob Swift and Total Eclipse formed a side project called Ill Insanity releasing one album together in 2008 entitled Ground Xero.
The X-Ecutioners formed as a DJ crew in 1989[3] that originally included 11 members. The group's original name was the X-Men, named after the Marvel Comics superhero team. The "X-Men" name was chosen by the crew partly because of their rivalry with DJ Clark Kent and his crew of DJs, known as the Supermen, named after DC Comics' Superman. The X-Men later changed their name to the X-Ecutioners for trademark reasons.[2]
After the group's name changed, the crew was later reduced to members Rob Swift, Roc Raida, Total Eclipse, and Mista Sinista (named after the X-Men villain Mister Sinister) before releasing their debut studio album, X-Pressions in 1997.[2] Sinista later left the group shortly after the release of their second studio album Built from Scratch in 2001.
The X-Ecutioners have worked with many famous artists on their albums Built from Scratch and Revolutions and are highly respected in hip hop for their turntable skills, being famous for the technique known as beat juggling.[2] They have been known to do numerous collaborations, ranging from Kool G Rap to Cypress Hill, Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn of Linkin Park, Wayne Static from Static-X, and co-released a collaboration album with Mike Patton called General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners. The X-Ecutioners contributed a remix of Run-DMC's "King of Rock" on the Harmonix game Amplitude, and the song "Like This" was featured in the video game SSX 3. Their Music and themselves were also featured in the game, NFL Street. As of 2007, Rob Swift, Total Eclipse, and Precision have formed a new group called Ill Insanity. Their latest studio album release, Ground Xero contains 14 tracks featuring the likes of DJ QBert, DJ Excess, and Grand Master Roc Raida.
In 2008, the group announced the tour dates on both the X-Ecutioners' and Ill Insanity's Myspace Reunion Tour Blog.[4] In a recent interview with E.Zee Radio,[5]
| Details | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B/HH | AUS [6] | |||
| X-Pressions |
| — | — | — | |
| Built from Scratch |
| 15 | 13 | 62 | |
| Revolutions |
| 118 | 50 | — | |
| General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners |
| — | — | — | |
| Ground Xero |
| — | — | — | |