Jazz rap is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music, as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre, that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of the past with a newly dominant form of the present, paying tribute to and reinvigorating the former while expanding the horizons of the latter." The rhythm was rooted in hip hop over which were placed repetitive phrases of jazz instrumentation: trumpet, double bass, etc. Groups involved in the formation of jazz rap included A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Gang Starr, The Roots, Jungle Brothers, and Dream Warriors.
Brand Nubian is an American hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York, composed of three emcees, and formerly three DJs. Their debut studio album, One for All (1990), is one of the most popular and acclaimed alternative hip hop albums of the 1990s, known for socially conscious and political lyrics inspired by the teachings of The Nation of Gods and Earths. In 2008, About.com placed the group on its list of the 25 Greatest Rap Groups of All Time.
Lamont Coleman, known professionally as Big L, was an American rapper.
Compton's Most Wanted (C.M.W.) is an American gangsta rap group and part of the early West Coast hip hop scene. The leaders of the group are MC Eiht and Tha Chill.
Nice & Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York City that consists of Gregory O. "Greg Nice" Mays and Darryl O. "Smooth B" Barnes plus their deejay Tedd "DJ Teddy Tedd" Whiting. The duo released four albums between 1989 and 1997.
Handsome Boy Modeling School is an American collaborative project between hip hop producers Dan the Automator and Prince Paul. The collaboration originally lasted from 1999 to 2006 and resulted in two albums, featuring a vast cast of guest rappers, singers, comedians and DJs. In February 2018, the duo played a concert in New York City.
Dwight Arrington Myers, known professionally as Heavy D, was a Jamaican-born American rapper, record producer, and actor. Myers was the leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, a group that included dancers/hype men G-Whiz and "Trouble" T. Roy, as well as DJ and producer Eddie F. The group maintained a sizeable audience in the United States through most of the 1990s. The five albums the group released included production mainly by Teddy Riley, Marley Marl, DJ Premier, Myers's cousin Pete Rock, and "in-house" beatmaker Eddie F. Myers also released four solo albums and discovered Soul for Real and Monifah.
Mark Howard James professionally known as The 45 King, is an American hip hop producer and DJ from The Bronx, New York. He began DJing in the mid-1980s. His pseudonym, the 45 King, came from his ability to make beats using obscure 45 RPM records.
The Big Picture is the second and final studio album by American rapper Big L. The album was slated for a 1999 release, but due to Big L's murder, it was posthumously released on August 1, 2000, on Rawkus Records. It was incomplete at the time of Big L's death, and was posthumously completed by his manager and partner in Flamboyant Entertainment, Rich King. Recording sessions for the album took place primarily at D&D Studios in New York City, New York throughout 1998 and early 1999. It was produced by DJ Premier, Ron Browz, Ron G, Lord Finesse, Pete Rock, Shomari, Mike Heron, Ysae, and Showbiz. The Big Picture features appearances from Fat Joe, Remy Ma, Guru, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, 2Pac, Sadat X, and more. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in October 2000.
The Diggin' in the Crates Crew, commonly known as D.I.T.C., is an American hip hop collective formed in 1992 in New York City. The collective's name derives from the act of seeking out records to sample for production. The collective is composed of Lord Finesse, Diamond D, Big L, O.C., Fat Joe, Buckwild, Showbiz and A.G., DJ O.Gee and The Ghetto Dwellas. Its members have achieved substantial and consistent recognition in underground rap circles, having often collaborated with undiscovered talents and underground hip hop artists alongside the most commercial of rappers.
Lord Finesse is an American rapper and hip-hop record producer from The Bronx, New York best known as the leader of the D.I.T.C. crew. About.com ranked him number 29 on its list of the Top-50 Hip-Hop Producers.
Omar Gerryl Credle, better known by his stage name, O.C., is an American rapper and member of the group D.I.T.C. He has been involved with several underground hip hop groups, namely Crooklyn Dodgers '95, Luv NY, and Perestroika.
Showbiz and A.G. is an American hip hop duo from The Bronx borough of New York City, composed of record producer Rodney "Showbiz" Lemay and rapper Andre "A.G." Barnes. The duo formed soon after their debut on the song "Back to Back Rhyming" from Lord Finesse's Funky Technician album and joined the hip hop collective D.I.T.C. along with Lord Finesse, Diamond D, Fat Joe, O.C., Buckwild and Big L.
Percee P is an American rapper from the Bronx, New York. He first gained recognition in the hip-hop community in the early 1990s for his fast-paced, intricate rhymes and unique flow. He is known for his collaborations with other notable hip-hop artists, including Lord Finesse and Madlib. Percee P has released several albums throughout his career, including Perseverance in 2007. He continues to be a respected figure in the underground hip-hop scene.
Wild Pitch Records was an American hip hop record label, started in 1987 by Stuart Fine, that was eventually distributed by EMI. Artists who released records on the label included Main Source, Lord Finesse, Ultramagnetic MCs, Chill Rob G, Gang Starr, UMC's, O.C., Broken English, Klik, Jamose, Hard Knocks, female rapper N-Tyce, Super Lover Cee and Casanova Rud, and The Coup. Together, Fine and Howard re-established and released the label's catalogue, while also releasing records by Mary Lees Corvette, BigMouth, Mighty Purple, the Wallmans, and Chico Hamilton under its All Points Jazz label. The hip hop catalogue was eventually acquired by Jay Faires, who tried to reactivate it as part of his short-lived JCOR Entertainment label.
Word...Life is the debut album from underground hip hop artist O.C., who came to prominence in hip hop because of the album. It was released on October 18, 1994 by Wild Pitch Records. It also helped establish his membership in the legendary hip hop crew D.I.T.C., which includes Lord Finesse, Showbiz & A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, Big L and Buckwild, who produced the majority of this album.
Return of the Funky Man is the second studio album by American hip hop recording artist Lord Finesse of Diggin' in the Crates Crew. It was released on February 11, 1992 via Warner Bros. subsidiary label Giant Records. Production was handled by seven record producers, including Diamond D, Showbiz, DJ Aladdin, SLJ, Latif, Petawane, and Lord Finesse himself. It also features guest appearances provided by A.G., Percee P, Harry-O and Shelrumble. The album peaked at number 95 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and its self-titled single made it to number 13 on the Hot Rap Songs.
Nice & Smooth is the debut studio album by American hip-hop duo Nice & Smooth from The Bronx, NY. It was released on May 16, 1989 via Fresh Records and Sleeping Bag Records. The album is notable for its sense of humor and comedy rhymes. The release singles of the album are "Early to Rise" and "Funky for You." This was the duo's only release on Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records before it signed with Def Jam Recordings sub-label RAL Records. It was included in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. It was one of three titles acquired by Priority Records when Sleeping Bag went out of business in 1992.
Crystal Jeanell Johnson is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and actress from Brooklyn, New York. She has performed in a variety of stage productions and has collaborated with a wide array of well-known artists including Anthony Hamilton, Dr. Dre, Heavy D, Mobb Deep, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Angie Stone, Usher and many others.
"Scorpio" is a song by Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Band. It charted at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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