Marco Polo

A student of the early-'90s boom-bap technique, underground rap producer Marco Bruno, aka Marco Polo, was born in Toronto, Ontario. He moved from Canada to New York and paid his dues at Manhattan's Cutting Room recording studios, eventually securing a management position. He would play his beats in the office, and Masta Ace liked what he heard, adding one of Polo's productions ("Do It Man") to his 2004 effort, A Long Hot Summer. Soon, Polo became an in-house producer for N.Y. indie Soulspazm, and was landing beats for noteworthy hip-hop artists. California MC Rasco released Polo's first beat CD, 2005's Canned Goods, on his Pockets Linted imprint. After Soulspazm formed a joint venture with Rawkus Records, Rawkus issued Polo's production album Port Authority in 2007. ~ Cyril Cordor