Parker Edison

One of rap's most enduring and appealing archetypes is the hustler. Whether it's a guy who sold drugs for years, then went legit and decided to rap -- or the idea of someone like Too Short, in his early years, selling tapes out of his trunk. There's something compelling about them. Parker Edison considers himself a hustler -- more in line with Too Short than Tony Montana. But even though he raps, directs music videos and lectures at universities, that persona is who he identifies with most. At a time when many artists clog Twitter feeds and Facebook timelines with incessant, all caps self-promotion, Parker lays in the cut, quietly rebirthing the "cool." It's the same type of cool that Miles Davis fathered in 1957. Parkers name and music are already being passed around like San Diego's best kept secret. But soon, everyone will be in on that secret too.