Da Beatminerz are an American hip-hop production crew from Bushwick, Brooklyn, known for their dark, gritty sound that is very popular with the underground hip-hop scene.
Black Moon is an American underground hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1992 by East Coast rappers Buckshot and 5ft and record producer DJ Evil Dee, they debuted in 1992 with the release of the single "Who Got da Props". The group was most notable for their debut album Enta da Stage, and their affiliation with the Boot Camp Clik. As of 2024, the group has released four studio albums.
Smif-N-Wessun, also known as Cocoa Brovaz and Tek-N-Steele, is an American hip hop duo from Brooklyn, New York City. It is composed of rappers Tekomin "Tek" Williams from Bedford–Stuyvesant and Darrell "Steele" Yates from Brownsville. The duo comprise one quarter of supergroup Boot Camp Clik, together with Buckshot, Heltah Skeltah and Originoo Gunn Clappaz. Both members are known for their Jamaican Patois during their raps, which was more evident during the earlier stages of their career.
Boot Camp Clik is an American hip hop supergroup from Brooklyn, New York City, which is composed of Buckshot, Smif-N-Wessun, Heltah Skeltah and O.G.C.. Most of the members are from Brownsville, but Buckshot is from Crown Heights and Tek is from Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Dah Shinin' is the debut studio album by American East Coast hip hop duo Smif-N-Wessun. It was released on January 10, 1995, via Wreck/Nervous Records. Recording sessions took place at D&D Studios in New York City. Production was handled by Da Beatminerz. It features a guest appearance from the Boot Camp Clik. The album peaked at number 59 on the Billboard 200. The production is the signature Beatminerz sound which is elevated from their work on Black Moon’s 1993 effort ‘Enta da Stage’. The album spawned 4 singles: Bucktown/Let’s Git It On, Wrekonize/Sound Bwoy Burriel, Wrekonize (Remix)/Sound Bwoy Burriel (edit) and Wontime. A track known as ‘Nothin’ Move but The Money’ was left of the release of the album due to sample clearance issues and was released on white label as a result.
Nocturnal is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Heltah Skeltah. It was released on June 18, 1996 via Duck Down/Priority Records. Recording sessions took place at Chung King Studios, at Dollar Cab, at D&D Studios, and at Unique Recording Studios in New York City. Production was handled by Da Beatminerz, Buckshot, Shaleek, Shawn J. Period, Supreme, E-Swift, Lord Jamar and Sean Price. It features guest appearances from Originoo Gunn Clappaz, Illa Noyz, Representativz and Vinia Mojica. The album peaked at number 35 on the Billboard 200 and number 5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
Da Storm is the first studio album by American hip hop trio Originoo Gunn Clappaz. It was released on October 29, 1996, through Duck Down/Priority Records. Recording sessions took place at Chung King Studios, at D&D Studios, at Platinum Island Studios and at Unique Studios in New York, and at WPGC FM in Washington. Production was handled by Da Beatminerz, DJ Ogee, E-Swift, Shaleek and Steele. It features guest appearances from Bad Vybes, M.S., Sadat X, Sean Black and the Representativz. The album peaked at number 47 on the Billboard 200 and number 10 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Two singles were released from the album: "No Fear" and "Hurricane Starang".
Kenyatta Blake, known professionally as Buckshot, is an American rapper from New York, best known as a frontman of hip hop groups Black Moon and Boot Camp Clik. He rose to prominence with Black Moon's debut 1993 album Enta da Stage, which is critically acclaimed and influential in hip-hop.
Sean Duval Price was an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Boot Camp Clik. He was one half of the duo Heltah Skeltah, performing under the name Ruck, along with partner Rock.
For the People is the debut album by American hip hop supergroup Boot Camp Clik. It was released on May 20, 1997, via Priority Records and re-released as Still For the People on April 24, 2007, via Duck Down Music. Recording sessions took place from September 1996 to March 1997 at D&D Studios and at Chung King Studios in New York. Production was handled by Mark "Boogie" Brown, Buckshot, Shawn J Period, Tony Touch, BJ Swan, Shaleek, EZ Elpee, Squia and Louieville Sluggah. The album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200 and number 4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Magnum Force is the second studio album by the American hip hop duo Heltah Skeltah. It was released on October 13, 1998, through Duck Down/Priority Records.
Basic Training is a greatest hits album by American hip hop collective Boot Camp Clik, composed of singles released by Black Moon, Smif-N-Wessun, Heltah Skeltah and Originoo Gunn Clappaz between 1992 and 1999. It was released on March 14, 2000 via Priority Records. Production was handled by Da Beatminerz, BJ Swan, Black Market, Cuzin Bawb, E-Swift, Mark "Boogie" Brown, Self and Starang Wondah, with Buckshot and Drew "Dru-Ha" Friedman serving as executive producers.
Monkey Barz is the debut solo studio album by American Brooklyn-based rapper Sean Price of Heltah Skeltah. It was released on May 31, 2005 through Duck Down Records as a part of the label's "Triple Threat Campaign", followed by Buckshot's Chemistry and Tek & Steele's Smif 'n' Wessun: Reloaded. The cover art is based on the Planet of the Apes series. Production was handled by Khrysis, TY Deals, Agallah, 9th Wonder, Ayatollah, Dub Z, Edward Maximillion III, Justice, Kleph Dollaz, MoSS, P.F. Cuttin', Phat Babyz, Star.com and Tone Mason, with Buckshot and Drew "Dru-Ha" Friedman serving as executive producers. It features guest appearances from fellow Boot Camp Clik members Buckshot, Louieville Sluggah, Rock, Starang Wondah, Steele, Tek, and affiliate Ruste Juxx.
Duck Down Music Inc is a New York City based record label, talent management, music-marketing, and consulting company founded by Drew "Dru-Ha" Friedman and Kenyatta "Buckshot" Blake in 1995. In Duck Down's 20-year existence, the company has released over 40 albums and sold more than 3 million collective copies worldwide. Home of established hip hop artists such as Boot Camp Clik, Pharoahe Monch, Black Rob, 9th Wonder, KRS-One, B-Real of Cypress Hill, The Away Team, Statik Selektah, Random Axe, Promise, David Dallas, Marco Polo, Ruste Juxx, Torae, Blue Scholars, Special Teamz and Kidz in the Hall.
Representativz are an American hip hop duo formed in 1994 by rappers Supreme The Eloheem and Lidu Rock. The group gained fame through their affiliation with the Boot Camp Clik, with Lidu Rock being the little brother of Heltah Skeltah's Rock, while Supreme being the blood cousin of both Smif-N-Wessun's Steele & O.G.C.'s Top Dog.
The Fab 5 was a Hip Hop group that consisted of Heltah Skeltah and O.G.C.. The group joined the Boot Camp Clik and signed a record deal with Duck Down Records in 1995. They released their debut single "Blah" b/w "Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka" later that year, with the B-Side "Leflah" becoming a surprise Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1995. The two groups split up to release separate debut albums in 1996, with Heltah Skeltah dropping Nocturnal in June, and O.G.C. dropping Da Storm in October. Da Storm did not feature a Fab 5 track, and neither did Heltah Skeltah's 1998 second album Magnum Force. The next "Fab 5" track came on O.G.C.'s 1999 second effort The M-Pire Shrikez Back, on the song "Dirtiest Players in the Game", which was supposed to serve as a prelude to a full-length Fab 5 album. Multiple Duck Down Records releases noted plans for a Fab 5 album in the liner notes, with the album being named either Simply Fabulous or Without the Freddy. The album was never released, due to Rock leaving Duck Down Records in 1999 in pursuit of a solo career. All five took part in the latest Boot Camp Clik album The Last Stand, released July 18, 2006. On August 8, 2015, group member Sean Price died in his sleep in his apartment in Brooklyn at the age of 43.
D.I.R.T. is the third and final studio album by American hip hop duo Heltah Skeltah. It was released on September 30, 2008 via Duck Down Music, making it their first album in ten years since the release of Magnum Force in 1998.
Drew "Dru Ha" Friedman is an American music and marketing executive based in New York City. Friedman is Co-Founder and CEO of Duck Down Music Inc., 3D Consulting & Distribution, General Manager for Cinematic Music Group, and former Director of Urban Music at Cornerstone Promotion. Born and raised in White Plains, New York, he is a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications where he studied advertising.
Monumental is a collaborative studio album by American rapper and record producer Pete Rock and hip hop duo Smif-N-Wessun. It was released on June 28, 2011 through Duck Down Music. Recording sessions took place at DaMan Studios in New York. Production was handled entirely by Pete Rock, who also served as executive producer together with Steele and Tek. It features guest appearances from Black Rob, Buckshot, Bun B, Freeway, Heltah Skeltah, Hurricane G, Jahdan Blakkamoore, Memphis Bleek, Raekwon, Styles P, Top Dog and Tyler Woods. The album peaked at number 110 on the Billboard 200 and number 24 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
"Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka" is a song by American hip hop group The Fab 5. It was released in 1995 via Duck Down/Priority Records as the lead single from Heltah Skeltah's debut studio album Nocturnal. Recording sessions took place at D&D Studios in New York City. Production was handled by Baby Paul with executive producers Buckshot and Drew "Dru-Ha" Friedman. The song contains a sample from The Catalyst's "Uzuri". Music video was directed by Marcus Turner.
