Artist Relations Manager Cory Lorentz recounts the time when he saw Mos Def perform to a sold out crowd with his beloved custom painted red Super 55 Shure mic.

Think about microphone types today and your mind will automatically turn to the dynamic and condenser types that dominate live sound reinforcement and recording applications. But from the 1930s through the 1950s, the ribbon velocity microphone ruled the airwaves.