What do Four Loko, the Notorious B.I.G. and porn star Roxy Reynolds all have in common? They’re all influences credited by Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, the Crown Heights rapper who has rap critics and bloggers from all corners of the Web saluting his eclectic and eccentric take on East Coast rap. “I don’t believe in fitting in,” says eXquire. “I believe in standing out.” It’s precisely this ideology that has garnered eXquire so much buzz in the past few months.

Growing up in Brooklyn, eXquire idolized Biggie, whom he calls “the first rapper I was obsessed with,” and Cam’ron, whose Confessions Of Fire was the first CD he ever bought. He’s planned on being a rapper since he was 12.

His breakout mixtape Lost In Translation, released for free in September, is a wildly adventurous collection of gritty beats, from the likes of El-P, Necro and others, laced with eXquire’s alternately inspired and demented rhymes. Over the course of 18 tracks, eXquire demonstrates an impressive range of storytelling as well.