2Mex

2Mex
Birth name	Alejandro Ocana
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genres	Alternative hip hop Underground hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Memo Records Afterlife Records Mean Street Temporary Whatever Paladin Creative Super Co. Strange Famous Records

Alejandro Ocana, better known by his stage name 2Mex, is a rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of The Visionaries and Of Mexican Descent. He has collaborated with underground hip hop artists such as Jel, Omid, Thavius Beck, Factor, Radioinactive, and Isaiah "Ikey" Owens. He is a member of the Project Blowed crew, and he is affiliated with Shape Shifters.

History

2Mex attended the Good Life Cafe open mic nights in 1992. Around that time, he founded Of Mexican Descent with Xololanxinxo.

In 1998, he released his first album with The Visionaries as well as the first Of Mexican Descent album, and he was featured on the OD (Omid) compilation album Beneath the Surface. In 1999, he was featured (with Xololanxinxo as Of Mexican Descent) on the Fat Jack compilation album Cater to the DJ, and he released his first solo album Fake It Till You Make It as The Mind Clouders with producer Mums the Word. In 2000, he was featured (as a member of the Afterlife Crew) on the Afterlife Records compilation Declaration of an Independent. He then released B-Boys in Occupied Mexico on Mean Street in 2001. Sweat Lodge Infinite was released on Temporary Whatever in 2003. The self-titled album, 2Mex, was released in 2004. He released My Fanbase Will Destroy You on Strange Famous Records in 2010. It features guest appearances from Murs, Prince Po, Busdriver and Nobody. In 2016, one of his legs was amputated due to complications from diabetes. He addressed the loss and other struggles in the 2017 album Lospital.

Film

2Mex is featured in Ava Duvernay's award-winning documentary This Is the Life, chronicling the music movement that was birthed at The Good Life Cafe in South Central, Los Angeles. The Good Life Cafe is the open-mic workshop where he first performed with Of Mexican Descent in 1992.

Publications

In 2021, 2Mex released a book called Word Murder, which features lyrics for 70 songs, 30 unreleased poems, a detailed biography, and photography by Gadzooks and Brian "B+" Cross.

Discography

Solo albums

• Words. Knot Music. (Memo / Afterlife, 2000)
• B-Boys in Occupied Mexico (Mean Street, 2001)
• Sweat Lodge Infinite (Temporary Whatever, 2003)
• 2Mex (Paladin Creative Super Co., 2004)
• Knowhawk (Biofidelic / La2TheBay / Invisible Enemy, 2004)
• Over the Counter Culture (Up Above, 2005) (as SunGodSuns)
• My Fanbase Will Destroy You (Strange Famous, 2010)
• Lospital (Water the Plants, 2017)
• Gentrification EP (2018)
• Ghostwriting Songs for God (2021)

with Visionaries (2Mex with Dannu, DJ Rhettmatic, Key Kool, LMNO & Lord Zen)

• Galleries (Up Above, 1998)
• Sophomore Jinx (Up Above, 2000)
• Pangaea (Up Above, 2004)
• We Are the Ones (We've Been Waiting For) (Up Above, 2006)
• V (2020)

Other collaborations

• Exitos y Mas Exitos (1998) (with Xololanxinxo, as Of Mexican Descent)
• Fake It Until You Make It (1999) (with Mum's the Word, as The Mind Clouders)
• Money Symbol Martyrs (2006) (with Life Rexall, as $martyr)
• Suffer in Style (2008) (with Isaiah Owens, as Look Daggers)
• Break Up Your Make Up (2009) (with Deeskee, Die Young & Stacey Dee, as The Returners)
• Blessing in Disguise (2010) (with Key Kool & LMNO)
• Fallin' Angels (2011) (with Nobody, as SonGodSuns)
• Like Farther... Like Sun... (2013) (with Maiselph)

Guest appearances

• Key-Kool & Rhettmatic - "Visionaries (Stop Actin' Scary)" from Kozmonautz (1995)
• Nobody - "Shades of Orange" from Soulmates (2000)
• Abstract Rude + Tribe Unique - "Frisbee" from P.A.I.N.T. (2001)
• Existereo - "Morals" from Dirty Deeds & Dead Flowers (2001)
• Jel vs. 2Mex - "D.I.Y. Partisan" (2002)
• Busdriver & Radioinactive with Daedelus - "Barely Music" from The Weather (2003)
• Dax, Neogen, Dert, Reconcile, Professor Who, Dokument, Chosen1, Griffin, Lazarus, Raphi, Drastic, Propaganda & Macho - "Remember This Day" from Underground Rise, Volume 1: Sunrise/Sunset (2003)
• Omid - "Myth Behind the Man" from Monolith (2003)
• Abstract Rude & Tribe Unique - "Flow and Tell" from Showtyme (2003)
• Awol One - "Gagbuster" from Self Titled (2004)
• Shape Shifters - "American Idle" from Was Here (2004)
• Subtitle - "Crew Cut (for Sale)" from Young Dangerous Heart (2005)
• Busdriver - "Sphinx's Coonery" from Fear of a Black Tangent (2005)
• Ellay Khule - "Fading Rhythms" from Califormula (2006)
• Prince Po - "Ask Me" from Prettyblack (2006)
• Thavius Beck - "Dedicated to Difficulty" from Thru (2006)
• Mestizo - "Back Wash" from Dream State (2007)
• The Gigantics - "Don't" from Die Already (2008)
• Expedyte feat Louis Logic, Phakt - "Sunny Daze" from Life (2008)
• Ceschi - "Same Old Love Song" (2009)
• Neila - "Mercy Refused" from Better Late Than Never (2009)
• Factor - "Mental Illness" from Lawson Graham (2010)
• Radioinactive - "Mint Tea" from The Akashic Record (2013)
• Self Provoked - "Trophies" from [The Propaganda] (2015)

External links

• 2Mex on Strange Famous Records
• 2Mex discography at Discogs