Justice System | |
---|---|
Genres | Hip hop, jazz rap [1] |
Years active | 1990–present |
Labels | MCA Records, Ill River Muzic |
Members |
|
Justice System is an American hip hop group from New York City, New York, [2] best known for their up-tempo brand of jazz rap and most significant for their 1994 release on MCA Records, Rooftop Soundcheck .
Formed in 1990, Justice System began playing at high school talent shows and small clubs in the Westchester, NY area. Justice System recorded their first demos at Power Play Studios in Queens where hip hop artists Eric B & Rakim and EPMD also recorded. By 1992 the band was performing alongside De La Soul and Run-DMC. The band signed with MCA Records in 1993 and completed recording of their debut album Rooftop Soundcheck in April 1994. The album released later that year and was met with praise from the community. In late 1996 Justice System asked to be released from their contract with MCA Records. Subsequently, they would go on to found their own independent label, Ill River Muzic in 1998. Five years later, the band released their second studio album, Uncharted Terrain, on Ill River Muzic in 2002. In 2003 they followed up with Mobilization. It featured a remix of the debut single from Rooftop Soundcheck called Summer in the City. Physical copies of the album were only released in Japan. After a nearly sixteen year hiatus, Justice System returned in 2019 with a fourth studio album titled Basement Tapes. [3] [4] [5] In 2022, they released their fifth album titled Quantum Field Crew.
Beastie Boys were an American rap group from New York City, formed in 1981. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch, and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz. Beastie Boys were formed out of members of experimental hardcore punk band the Young Aborigines in 1978, with Diamond as vocalist, Jeremy Shatan on bass guitar, John Berry on guitar, and Kate Schellenbach on drums. When Shatan left in 1981, Yauch replaced him on bass and the band changed their name to Beastie Boys. Berry left shortly thereafter and was replaced by Horovitz.
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, better known by his stage name Nas, is an American rapper, songwriter, and entrepreneur. Rooted in the New York hip hop scene, he is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time.
Gang Starr were an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2003, and are considered one of the best MC-and-producer duos in hip hop history. They are recognized for being one of the pioneers of jazz rap. Some of their top hits include "Mass Appeal", "Take It Personal", "Moment of Truth" and "Above The Clouds".
Onyx is an American hardcore hip hop group from South Jamaica, Queens, New York City, formed in 1988 by Fredro Starr, Suavé and the late Big DS. Sticky Fingaz joined the group in 1991.
Mohandas Dewese, better known by his stage name Kool Moe Dee, is an American rapper, writer and actor. Considered one of the forerunners of the new jack swing sound in hip hop, he gained fame in the 1980s as a member of one of the pioneering groups in hip hop music, the Treacherous Three, and for his later solo career. During his career he released a total of seven studio albums, with 1994's Interlude being the last to date.
Uptown Records was an American record label, based in New York City, founded in 1986 by onetime rapper Andre Harrell. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, it was a leader in R&B and hip hop. During the 1990s, aided by its A&R worker Sean Combs, it led the fusion of these two genres. Its artists included Al B. Sure!, Christopher Williams, Guy, Heavy D & The Boyz, Father MC, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., and Soul for Real.
Ill Communication is the fourth studio album by American hip-hop group Beastie Boys, released by Grand Royal Records on May 31, 1994. Co-produced by Beastie Boys and Mario Caldato, Jr., it is among the band's most varied releases, drawing from hip hop, punk rock, jazz, and funk, and continues their trend away from sampling and towards live instruments, which began with their previous release, Check Your Head (1992). The album features musical contributions from Money Mark, Eric Bobo and Amery "AWOL" Smith, and vocal contributions from Q-Tip and Biz Markie. Beastie Boys were influenced by Miles Davis' jazz rock albums On the Corner (1972) and Agharta (1975) while recording Ill Communication.
William Braunstein, known by his stage name Ill Bill, is an American rapper and record producer from Brooklyn, New York. Having gained fame in the underground hip hop group Non Phixion, Ill Bill is known for his diverse lyrics and as the producer, founder and CEO of Uncle Howie Records. His brother Ron is rapper and producer Necro.
The Lost Tapes is a compilation album by American rapper Nas. It was released on September 23, 2002, by Ill Will Records and Columbia Records, who wanted to capitalize on what was seen in hip hop music as Nas' artistic comeback the year before, and compiles previously unreleased tracks that were discarded from recording sessions for the rapper's previous studio albums I Am... (1999) and Stillmatic (2001). It features production by L.E.S., The Alchemist, Poke and Tone, and Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, among others. With low-key, sparse sounds and observational lyrics about urban life, the songs are largely autobiographical and nostalgic, departing from the thug persona of Nas' previous records.
Danyel Robinson, better known by his stage name Dru Down is an American rapper and actor from Oakland, California. He is currently a member of The Regime, a collective of rappers that includes Yukmouth, Tech N9ne, Messy Marv, BG Bulletwound, Dorasel, Grant Rice, and Tha Realest.
Jason Drew Harrow, better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall, is a Canadian rapper, record producer, DJ, and record executive. Often credited as Canada's "hip hop ambassador", he is regarded as one of the country's best hip hop producers, and is best known for his distinctive reggae and dancehall-influenced style of hip hop.
Ramon Ibanga, Jr., known professionally as Illmind, is a Filipino-American record producer, songwriter, and educator. As of 2012, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Marlon G. Fletcher, better known under his stage name Big DS, was an American hardcore rapper and record producer from Queens, New York.
"Paul Revere" is a song by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released as the third single from their debut album Licensed to Ill (1986). It was written by Adam Horovitz, Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Rick Rubin. It was produced by Rick Rubin and the Beastie Boys. The song tells a fictional story of how the Beastie Boys met.
Ahmad Balshe, known professionally as Belly, is a Palestinian-Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Jenin in the Palestinian West Bank, Balshe was raised in Ottawa. At twenty-one years old, he moved on to his main love hip-hop with the release of his debut mixtape, Death Before Dishonor: Vol. 1. He then released eight additional projects in a span of six years, including his debut studio album The Revolution (2007), as well as two collaborative mixtapes, The Lost Tapes and The Greatest Dream I Never Had, with Kurupt and DJ Drama, respectively.
"Rock Box" is a song by the American hip hop group Run-DMC. The song was produced by Larry Smith and Russell Simmons and released by Profile Records in March 1984. Following the popularity of their previous two singles "Hard Times" (1983) and "It's Like That" (1983), Profile Records head suggested to the producers and group that they should attempt to record an album as they already had four songs ready, and releasing a few more would not hurt them. Despite speculating low sales from the label and the group not feeling that hip hop was a genre appropriate for a full-length album, they were given an advance to start recording. This led to Run-DMC members Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels going through their rhyme book to develop new songs, one of which would become "Rock Box".
Slaughterhouse was a hip hop supergroup consisting of rappers Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, Kxng Crooked and Royce da 5'9". They released two studio albums as a group: Slaughterhouse (2009) independently and Welcome to: Our House (2012) under Shady and Interscope Records.
James Dewitt Yancey, better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer and rapper. He emerged in the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michigan, as a member of the group Slum Village. He was also a member of the Soulquarians, a musical collective active during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Rooftop Soundcheck is the debut album by hip hop group Justice System. It was released in 1994 by MCA Records. It includes tributes to Afrika Bambaataa and Santana.
Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful production. The duo released four full-length albums: Nia in 1999, Blazing Arrow in 2002, The Craft in 2005, and Imani Vol. 1 in 2015. Gift of Gab died in June 2021.