PackFM

Omar Rogelio Tull (born June 11, 1977), better known by his stage name PackFM, is an American Underground hip hop artist and producer from Brooklyn, New York City.

As a teenager in the mid-1990s, PackFM began his battle career, winning numerous prestigious freestyle titles.

PackFM quickly rose to the top of countless major freestyle battles during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

During his reign, he battled against many other prominent 1990s battle rappers who would lead to collaborations with underground scenes around the United States, including Poison Pen, Eyedea, Pumpkinhead, Apathy, among others.

While PackFM was dominating freestyle tournaments, he also maintained a consistent flow of recorded singles and collaborations.

PackFM's recording career began in 1998, with his single "Hit List" getting frequent airplay on Hot 97 New York.

In 1998, PackFM became the 88HipHop MC Battle Champion, and retained it for four months before retiring.

He was inducted into the 88HipHop MC Battle Hall of Fame soon after.

During the next year, he won the Braggin' Rites, Next Generation Battle, and TDK's 24 Hour MC Battle tournaments (the latter of which he retained his top spot for 3 straight months).

His first single, "Hit List" in 1998, was immediately played in heavy rotation by Hot97 New York.

These wins include the 88HipHop MC Battle Champion, where he was inducted into their Hall of Fame after four undefeated months, Braggin Rites tournament in 1999, Everlast Harlem Lyricist Championship in 2003, and three undefeated months in the 24 Hour MC Battle sponsored by TDK.

PackFM's memorable persona led to him being cast in numerous documentaries about New York hip hop culture, including the Dutch documentary Kika NY in 1999 and the award-winning Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme in 2000.

After dominating the battle scene, PackFM set out to do something very few freestyle battlers do successfully; create quality music in studio.

His opportunity to do just this came to fruition when he began collaborating with Tonedeff, the founder of underground record label QN5 Music, whom he battled previously.

Around 2000, PackFM joined and began to collaborate with QN5 label founder Tonedeff.

The duo came together in 2000 to create a track for the Napster/Rapstation.com Power to the People and Beats contest, where they made it to the top six finalists.

In 2000, PackFM released his first mixtape Featured Material Volume One independently, which included a mixture of freestyles, past singles, and battles.

In 2001 he released his first solo 12" single "Freestyle Marathon" through the now defunct Bronx Science label. The A side of the single was produced by Celph Titled and the B side was produced by PackFM himself and featured Rise and Wordsworth.

After releasing the Extended F@mm EP Happy F*ck You Songs with Tonedeff, Substantial, and Session in 2002, PackFM has released two studio albums, 2006's whutduzFMstand4, which won UndergroundHipHop.com's People's Choice Album of the Year, and 2010's I F*cking Hate Rappers, which was featured on multiple "Best Of 2010" lists from sources such as 2DopeBoyz and HipHop DX.

He has also worked on countless collaborations that have spawned a series of Featured Material releases.

Since joining the QN5 label, PackFM has headlined and supported tours along with fellow labelmates Tonedeff and Cunninlynguists both nationally and internationally through Canada, Europe, and Australia.

He's also performed with Hip Hop superstars like Ghostface Killah, Common, Slick Rick, among others.

Throughout his career, PackFM and his music have been featured in many different mediums.

PackFM's film credits include an award-winning Dutch documentary titled "Kika NY", and, alongside Questlove, Mos Def, and other prominent emcees, "Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme", which won multiple awards at film festivals around the United States.

During 2002, PackFM released two group collaborations as well.

First was The Plague's initial LP Gang Green, a large group album including QN5 labelmates, Talib Kweli, Jin, and Pumpkinhead.

November 2002 saw the release of Extended F@mm's EP Happy F*ck You Songs.

PackFM has had two television spots, one for MTV Hip Hop Week in 2003, and another for the Ford Edge in 2007.

In print, he's had features in XXL, The Source Magazine, "URB" and Rolling Stone Magazine.

PackFM contributed a remixed version of "Click, Clack, Spray" for the soundtrack to Marc Ecko's Getting Up.

The soundtrack went on to win two awards, one for Best Licensed Music from GameSpot and the MTV VMA for Best Video Game Soundtrack.

In 2008, PackFM starred in a G4 Freestyle 101 episode.

PackFM was working on his third and final solo album, The Human Highlight Reel and a new Extended F@mm record, along with co-hosting a weekly podcast, Tacos and Chocolate Milk, with long-time collaborator and friend Tonedeff before going on hiatus from performing in 2013.

His last official feature was on the track "Lucky" off of Tonedeff's EP Hunter.

PackFM was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.

During much of his youth, he had less of an interest in MCing than another element of hip hop, graffiti.

PackFM attended LaGuardia High School, where he began to gain an appreciation for hip hop music and battle rapping after watching A Tribe Called Quest's "Check the Rhime".

During high school, PackFM would battle in ciphers both in school and outside of hip hop shows.

After receiving his G.E.D., PackFM briefly attended Brooklyn College.

While at Brooklyn College he began to run a hip hop radio show, which led to him making many industry connections and eventually bringing him back into the New York freestyle scene.