The She Rockers were a female hip hop group from London, featuring Donna 'She Roc' McConnell, Antonia 'MC Aurra' Jolly, Dupe Fagbesa and Alison Clarkson (who later found fame as Betty Boo). [1]
She Rockers' first release - as a trio of McConnell, Fagbesa and Clarkson - was a track on the Known 2 Be Down compilation of UK hip hop artists from West London. [2] "Give It A Rest", the band's only single as a trio, followed on the Music of Life label, and was produced by Public Enemy's Professor Griff after the She Rockers performed an impromptu rap to Public Enemy at their local McDonald's in Shepherd's Bush, London; [3] She Rockers also supported Public Enemy in the US. They later toured with De La Soul. [4]
Clarkson and Fagbesa departed from the group in 1989, and founding member McConnell then joined forces with original band member Antonia Jolly (Aurra), and landed a recording contract with Jive Records, releasing several singles including "Jam It Jam", and an album, Rockers from London (Jive, 1990). Rockers From London showcased a move towards the contemporary hip house style, was part written and produced by Todd Terry and featured productions by Technotronic and Double Trouble. "Jam It Jam" reached #58 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1990. [5]
In addition to She Rockers, MC Aurra recorded with Rhythm King artists Bomb The Bass and Merlin, [6] Aurra and Clarkson - as Hit and Run - released a single on Rap Sonic records [7] and Clarkson featured on Beatmasters single "Hey DJ/I Can't Dance To That Music You're Playing" before leaving for a successful solo career, [8] which led Music Of Life to release a Simon Harris remix of "Give It A Rest" billed as She Rockers Featuring Betty Boo. [9]
Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [10] | ||||||||||||||
1988 | "Give It a Rest" | — | Single only | |||||||||||
1989 | "On Stage / Get Up on This" | 89 | Rockers from London... | |||||||||||
"Jam It Jam" | 58 | |||||||||||||
1990 | "Do Dat Dance" | — | ||||||||||||
"Hands Across the Ocean" | — | |||||||||||||
"Give It a Rest (1990)" (featuring Betty Boo) | — | Single only | ||||||||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |
3rd Bass was an American hip hop group that was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Formed by MC Serch, Pete Nice, and DJ Richie Rich, the group was notable for being one of the first successful interracial hip hop acts. Along with Beastie Boys and producer Rick Rubin, MC Serch and Pete Nice were two of the very few white hip hop artists who were widely respected in the community. The group dissolved in 1992 and again in 2000 and 2013 after short-lived reunions. The group released two studio albums in their initial career and both of them were certified gold by the RIAA.
Kevin Smith, best known by his stage name Lovebug Starski, was an American MC, musician, and record producer. He began his career as a record boy in 1971 as hip hop first appeared in the Bronx, and he eventually became a DJ at the Disco Fever club in 1978. He is one of two people who may have come up with the term "hip-hop". Starski claimed that he coined the phrase, while trading the two words back and forth, while improvising lines with Keef Cowboy of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, at a farewell party for a friend who was headed into the Army. In an interview with Dave Hill in the newspaper The Observer, Starski explained, "I picked up the mic and just started saying ‘a hip hop, hip hop, de hibbyhibbyhibbyhibby hop’. The people couldn’t believe it but it stuck."
Alison Moira Clarkson, better known as Betty Boo, is an English singer, songwriter and rapper. She first came to mainstream prominence in the late 1980s following a collaboration with the Beatmasters on the song "Hey DJ/I Can't Dance ". Between 1990 and 1992 she had a successful solo career, which spawned a number of chart-placing singles, most notably "Doin' the Do", "Where Are You Baby?", and "Let Me Take You There".
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