Effective period / Period of releases: 2005

Members: Eric Aguiar, Marc Lamuniere

East Coast duo Exile (Eric Aguiar) & Lokey (Marc Lamuniere) from Providence, RI, trade rhymes back and forth as easily as bootleg Star Wars DVDs in Chinatown-their symbiosis on "Sinking Ship" and "The Bridge" seems as much the product of practice as talent. And they got the latter for days-Exile's backing tracks are hearty, guitar-driven jams that sound like later-period Massive Attack, brooding and epic. As lyricists, the two pine nostalgically like Rhymesayers' Slug without sounding trite. And that's the whole point.