Primer 55

Few American nu metal acts carry a name as deliberately unfinished as Primer 55. Formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1997, the band took its title from the notion of a primer coat and from Interstate 55, the highway that carries drugs through the city towards Chicago. Guitarist Bobby Burns supplied heavy metal roots, while vocalist J-Sin brought hip hop phrasing, and their meeting produced a rap rock sound.

Their debut album, Introduction to Mayhem, arrived on January 25, 2000, on Island Records, after an EP on the independent label Propellant Transmissions was reissued in full; the remixed record features Incubus turntablist Chris Kilmore, Hed PE frontman Jared Gomes and Relative Ash frontman Mark Harrington. Touring with Biohazard, Slipknot and Machine Head preceded a slot at Ozzfest 2000. Its follow-up, (the) New Release, reached number 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart in August 2001 before Island shelved it. Hiatus came in 2003. Reformed in 2007 with J-Sin, the band issued the EP Family for Life that year, and reunited in 2025 with Donny "The DRP" Polinske, Burns, Joshua Toomey and Preston Nash.