Formed in 1993, and hailing from Orakei, East Auckland, sifting through members until the final line-up consisting of two MC's and a DJ. Patriarch, the nucleus of the group and founding member, Nemesis, New Zealand's most prolific female MC and DJ CXL, 2 x ITF North Island Champion and current DMC #2, beating Auckland's defending champion, P-Money.

Ill Semantics have established themselves over the years as the best authentic and purest Hip-Hop sound to emerge from urban New Zealand whilst still delivering songs that catch radio attention. Ill Semantics first appeared with Dawn Raid on the debut compilation Southside Story in 2000 which was followed up a year later with two songs featured on Southside Story 2: International, Unstoppable and the monster underground hit Verbal Assault which was the #1 song on bFM for five weeks. The success of this song led Ill Semantics to land a number of high profile performances with national and international artists such as Che Fu, Naughty by Nature, Nelly Furtado, and opening for Destinys Child, (Destinys Child's manager was so impressed with DJ CXL that they asked him to continue the rest of the world tour with them, which he unfortunately declined due to studio commitments).

For more information check out the muzic.net.nz Profile for Ill Semantics

Ill Semantics first debuted in the Official New Zealand Top 40 Albums on 1 December 2002 with the album Theory Of Meaning. There are four entries by Ill Semantics in the charts.