It seems that Omar Cruz came out of nowhere, when in fact the talented 27-year-old hip hop artist has been working tirelessly to establish himself as the next big thing in West Coast rap.

After releasing four jaw-dropping mix tapes – The City of Gods, The Blow, The Cruzifixion and 2007 B.C. (Before Cruz) – the South Central native generated enough buzz on the streets to catch the attention of Interscope Records honcho Jimmy Iovine, who signed Cruz' home, B.I.Y. Entertainment, to a partnership. Cruz' first album, tentatively titled The Sign of the Cruz, is set to be released before the summer.

The self-described "Latin lyrical assassin" ain't no one man show, and there are some heavy hitters that have got his back: tattoo artist Mister Cartoon, photographer Estevan Oriol, even influential radio personality and tastemaker Dj Skee. It's this kind of support that makes the LA Weekly spin on its wheels to proclaim that Cruz could become the first Mexican-American rap star in the U.S.

Cruz is up front about his desire to become the voice of his people, a dream thay may become reality – if his debut album catches fire in a field where Latin artists are few and far between.

See: myspace.com/omarcruz

Mr. Cartoon, aka Mark Machado, has tattooed Eminem, Beyoncé, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Pharrell, Nas, Travis Barker and Xzibit – but tattooing is just a side gig.

A street kid through and through, the 37-year-old Mr. Cartoon began his career writing graffiti and drawing murals. At 16, he landed a job as an illustrator for Hustler magazine, eventually moving on to T-shirt designs and album covers for artists Cypress Hill, Maldita Vecindad and Transplants.

But it was a later foray into fine-line tattooing – a style that flourished in California prisons and has become synonymous with gang culture – which he credits with his current success: "[T]attoos reach everybody, because someone can somehow relate. If I walk into a nightclub, I can find only a handful of people that want an album cover, but can find at least 20 people who want tattoos."

Art directors eager to tap the authenticity of working class, Mexican-American street culture have taken notice. Mr. Cartoon was commissioned to design six shoes for Nike, including his personal choice, the Cortez. Vans produced three Mr. Cartoon-designed colorways of their Authentic shoe while T-Mobile put out a Mr. Cartoon edition Sidekick II. If you've played or seen commercials for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, you've seen more of his handiwork.

A savvy entrepreneur, the 37-year-old is also the co-owner of the Joker clothing brand and will soon release his own toy figure. In the quintessential nod to the American Dream, Brian Grazer, the producer of Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind, signed Mr. Cartoon to a three-picture deal, including a movie based on Machado's own life story which debuts in late 2007.