Damon Smith, better known as Smoothe Da Hustler, hails from Brownsville, Brooklyn. He came to prominence in the mid-90s thanks to his groundbreaking debut 12″ Broken Language and critically acclaimed underground album Once upon a Time in America. Smoothe is known for his pioneering of the hustler persona and lyrical style in hip hop.

Early Career

Smoothe Da Hustler’s rap career began like many others, performing on mixtapes, local radio and freestyling at shows in the New York area.  In 1994 Smoothe and his manager pressed a self-funded promo single under their own Nexx Level imprint. Smoothe took the single to numerous college radio stations who got behind the track and gave him his first airplay. This created enough buzz to see Smoothe draw major label attention though many A&R’s were unable to understand Smoothe’s depiction of the hustler lifestyle and most thought it unprofitable.

At the time Smith was ghostwriting for future star Foxy Brown who was courting a deal with Def Jam but the legendary hip hop label were only interested in signing a female hustler not the real deal himself. One A&R who could see the potential of the product after attending a number of underground shows was ‘Ill’ Will Fulton, who took the promo to his employers Profile Records, the home of Run DMC at the time.

Broken Language era

Profile Records finally took the plunge and signed Smith, instantly re-releasing his debut Hustlin’ on their label in 1995. However, it was the singles’ b-side that would see Smoothe Da Hustler catapulted to hip hop notoriety, as Broken Language instantly became an underground smash.

Not wanting to waste anytime Profile placed Smoothe in the studio to record his debut album Once Upon a Time in America. At the time of writing the album his long time collaborator and producer D/R Period was working on the M.O.P album To Death and Smoothe was forced to rhyme over empty drum tracks with a promise from D/R that he would create classics once free. Many have noted that the album’s production does have a rushed feel with many unimaginative samples and drum tracks being used more than once on the album. Problems aside, the album was a critical success and underground hit making Smoothe Da Hustler a household name on the global hip hop stage.

Post Profile records

After the success of his first album much was expected of Smoothe’s sophomore album, but due to Profile Records sale to Arista records in 1997 the album never saw the light of day. Rumoured to have heavily featured rising star Big Pun, the reasons for the album being shelved are unknown and are usually put down to the industry cliche ‘label politics’. It is likely that because Arista was owned by major label BMG Group, underground acclaim was no longer a good enough marker of success and Smoothe’s relatively low record sales would have warranted little or no promotion for his second album.

With his second album effectively recorded but without a release date Smoothe’s situation was further complicated by the death of his eldest son’s mother from an aneurysm. The hustler was at a crossroads: keep hustling in the music industry or take a hiatus and concentrate on raising his son. Smoothe maturely chose to raise his son and left the industry for many years. He resurfaced some years later to form the group SMG (Sex, Money and Gunz) with Trigga Tha Gambler and Ice T – who reached out to Smoothe to bring him on tour in 2003. They went on to record an album together, Repossesion in 2004, and still work together today. Smoothe is currently working on new material to be released via his own SMG records following on from his digital release Violenttimes Day, as well as working on a hip hop cartoon entitled Big Wheelz.

Highlights

Broken Language

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Fuck Watcha Heard

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Murdafest

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Hustlin

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Selected Discography

Singles

Hustlin / Run (12″) Nexx Level Entertainment 1994

Hustlin’ / Broken Language (12″) Profile Records 1995

Hustler’s Theme / Murdafest (12″) Profile Records 1996

My Crew Can’t Go For That (12″, Promo) Def Jam Recordings 1996

Albums

Once Upon a Time in America 1996 (Profile Records)

Once Upon A Time…

Fuck Whatcha Heard ft Trigger Tha Gambler

Dollar Bill ft D.V Alias Khrist

Glocks On Cock

Broken Language ft Trigger Tha Gambler

Speak My Peace

Neva Die Alone

Food For Thoughts

Family Conflicts

Only Human

Hustler’s Theme

Murdafest ft Trigger Tha Gambler & D.V Alias Khrist

Hustlin’

My Brother My Ace ft Trigger Tha Gambler

Dedication

download Once Upon a Time in America

Full discography

Related Acts

Trigger Tha Gambler

D.V Alias Khrist

D/R Period

Kovon

Ice T

Nexx Level Entertainment

Hill Playaz

Trivia

Trigger Tha Gambler is Smoothe Da Hustler’s younger brother

Smoothe’s mother appears on the track “Family Conflicts” on Once upon a Time in America

Links

smoothedahustler.com

myspace.com/smoothdahustler

References

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Smoothe+Da+Hustler

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1351/title.these-are-our-heroes-smoothe-da-hustler

http://www.sixshot.com/interviews/10663/

http://allhiphop.com/stories/features/archive/2008/03/20/19498912.aspx

http://hiphopgame.ihiphop.com/index2.php3?page=smoothedahustler

1990 saw a spate of conscious rap releases that would influence the lyricism of the next 5 years but is sadly missing from the majority of modern hip hop. Imagine if the biggest artists of the day were rhyming about Allah, black empowerment and Egyptian history instead of whips, tricks and shine and you can catch a glimpse of the conscious rap movements heyday. The majority of artists releasing conscious albums were either members of the Nation of Islam, Nation of Earths and Gods (Five percenters) or closely affiliated with these groups that were considered extremely radical at the time.

Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet

When Public Enemy dropped their 3rd album they were undoubtedly the biggest hip hop group on the planet and this record sold accordingly in all corners of the globe. The godfathers of conscious rap were on fine form again with an insatiable appetite for finding previously unchartered ground both musically and lyrically. The Bomb Squad returned with a more diverse attitude to sampling and Chuck was determined to meet every controversy P.E had courted head on. Proffesor Griffs anti semitism and departure from the group to white americas treatment of black stars through to the pronouncement of Elvis Presley as a racist Public Enemy was once again provided food for though and ammo for the army of media detractors they had picked up in the 80′s.

911 is a Joke

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Welcome to the Terrordome

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Fight the Power

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Brothers gonna work it out

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Can’t do nuttin for ya man

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On the DL

Ice Cube – Amerikkka’s Most Wanted/Kill at Will

NWA were at the peak of their popularity when Ice Cube departed the group on the solo tip and to add awe to the shock hooked up with the East coast production powerhouse the Bomb Squad for his first album. Hank Shocklee’s Bomb Squad were the team responsible for Public Enemys first 3 albums but many were uncertain of how Ice Cubes gangster rap style would sit on top of Bomb Squads funky high energy beats. It turned out to be a match made in heaven as Cubes proximity to Public Enemy had given him a new found political conscious and whilst he was still saying Fuck tha police he was now willing and able to explain why and where that statement came from. Even the title with the obvious kkk conotations was a middle finger to racist white america but the breadth of targets for Cubes ire was breathtaking; commercial radio stations, golddiggers, police brutality, scandalous women, wannabe gangsters and preachy rappers are all given the verbal treatment.

Dead Homiez

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Jackin’ For Beats

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Who’s the Mack

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On the DL

BDP – Edutainment

By 1990 Boogie Down Productions had been reduced from 3 to 1 by the death of Scott La Rock and the departure of D-Nice leaving just KRS-One to continue the legacy. Krs had been deeply affected by the murder of La Rock and had long departed from the gritty street life tales of Criminal Minded to concentrate on socially and politically conscious themes. Edutainment is the Teacha at his best preaching his sermon to the masses. Historical innaccuracies, materialism and ignorance are all tackled in typical Krs style and theres also plenty of disses for the philosophyless MC’s who are just after fame and cash that could apply to the majority of todays rappers. Edutainment was an absolutley classic album full of knowledge, rhetoric and even a diss for Bush and Thatcher.

Love is Gonna Get’cha

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On the DL

Brand Nubian – One for All

Brand Nubian fronted by Grand Puba, Lord Jamar and Derek X (Sadat X) who were all prominent members of the Nation of Gods and Earths burst into the rap game amidst a cloud of controversy. Heavy criticism of the Five percenter doctrine that was at the centre of their lyricism and media hysteria that surrounded MTV’s decision to ban the video for Wake Up gave Brand Nubian instant notoriety. The video (below) which was directed by the legendary Fab 5 Freddy depicted a black man with his face painted white which was enough to offend the MTV hierachy but the exposure it gave Brand Nubian only insured extra record sales for the group meaning more people were exposed the ideas of the Nation of Gods and Earths.

Wake Up

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One for All

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Slow Down

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On the DL

X Clan – To the East Blackwards

The X Clan were one of the most innovative and exciting groups in the conscious movement combining black power messages of the blackwatch movement with afrocentrism and jovial wordplay. The blackwatch movement was an organisation set up to influence and guide young black rap artists as X Clans Brother J explains;

The Blackwatch Movement was originally put together for Hip-Hop artists that felt like they had to get off the ego for a little bit and get back into learning knowledge of self and understanding what it’s like in the higher realms of manhood. So Blackwatch combined Black nationalist aspects and Hip-Hop knowledge into one house.

They will be forever remembered for the word ‘vanglorious’ and their frequent use of the word ‘sissy’. This their debut album is a classic which invokes visions of a ‘Warriors’ style gang focused on the positive.

Funkin Lesson

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Heed the word of the brother

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Review

On the DL

Poor Righteous Teachers – Holy Intellect

Another Fiver Percenter’s inspired group PRT, were proud to be part of the conscious movement, even their individual names Wise Intelligent, Culture Freedom and Father Shaheed were statements of black power and enlightenment. Their debut album coins many God’s and Earths sayings like ‘I self lord and master’ (I.S.L.A.M) that would later become common themes in hip hop through the Wu down to Lil Wayne (so I’m told I usually nod off when he’s “rhyming”). Holy Intellect is not the pinnacle of the groups work by any means but is fast funky and fluid throughout and the beats are very much of the time though the knowledge imparted is timeless.

Rock Dis Funky Joint

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On the DL

Kevin Madison aka K-Solo was the harder edge of the EPMD collective The Hit Squad who recorded 2 albums in the early 90′s. His 1990 debut Tell the World My Name was entirely produced by EPMD with Parrish Smith handling the majority of the work but Erick Sermon adding the classic opening track ‘Spellbound’. Vocally Solo was reminiscent of Big Daddy Kane with a high-speed hard delivery that, coupled with his storytelling style, vividly illuminated his adventures in prison, flirtation with crack, racism and of course sexual exploits.

Solo briefly became famous for his ‘Spellbound/Letterman’ style which entailed crafting his rhymes around the spelling out of words to create a delayed reaction punchline as the listener would take an extra second or so to decode the spelled out word.

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Spellbound would lead to one of the biggest beefs of the time between Solo and former cellmate DMX who also recorded a track entitled Spellbound featuring spelled out wordplay. DMX claimed that K-Solo had stolen the concept for Spellbound from him when they were inside together whilst Solo responded by claiming it was X who had bit his style and lost a freestyle battle to him in jail.

Solo even went as far as taking a lie detector test in the Beef II documentary to prove his claims, but the feud was never settled and the two traded diss tracks down the years. Unfortunately for Solo, by then few were checking for his name. After splitting from Hit Squad in ’93 following EPMD’s demise and signing to Death Row without releasing any material, he spent the rest of the 90′s as a ‘guest’ rapper often dissin’ his former friends.

Trivia

K-Solo stands for Kevin Self Organisation Left Others

K-Solo claims to have brought Keith Murray and Rockwilder into the Hit Squad family

Trained as a boxer and has offered to fight both DMX and Keith Murray in a ‘cage match’

Changed his style in the mid 90′s to sound harder and guested on Redman’s Muddy Waters LP

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Singles

Fugitive

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Spellbound

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Your Mom’s in My Business

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Slang Dictionary

Not much I think he says Phat once

90s Guy says

K-Solo was one of the most talented rappers in The Hit Squad and one of the more talented rappers of the 90′s to fall by the wayside. His later gruff ‘hardcore’ vocals showed that style eventually triumphed over substance and that the labels were only interested in pushing gangsta personas. Personally I preferred his storytelling rhymes over his gimmicky ‘spelling bee’ style but the dude would’ve smashed it on Countdown still. Shame he didn’t do more but he still managed to squeeze out this classic and ‘Times Up’ before EPMD split and fractured the Hit Squad.

90s Guy Favourites

All the singles above plus;

Tales from the Crack Side Tales from the crack side

Real Solo Please stand Up Real solo please stand up

Renee Renee Renee Renee

In fact just download the whole album below!

Link

On the DL

HipHopDX Interview

In a time when rappers were either hardcore and gangster or political and militant the Native Tongues collective were neither. Abstract, witty and intelligent is the best way to describe A Tribe Called Quest’s approach to lyricism, with an evidently coherent jazz backdrop that was much less radio friendly than De La and the JB’s, but would leave more of a lasting imprint on hip hop production values of the 90′s. Made up of Phife Dawg, Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and sometime member Jarobi White, A Tribe Called Quest entered the stage with their 1990 debut Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.

Their debut album was full of random rhymes that touched on topics as diverse as safe sex, vegetarianism, wallet loss, as well as odes to the ladies, French hip hop artists and fools. This lyrical lightheartedness gave Tribe a vast appeal which reached out to younger children, the white mainstream and the larger dance community, areas that more militant or hardcore artists could not breach. The fact that a lot of their early audiences didn’t get the lyrical content of a rap album but still chose to enjoy it is a testament to the ear friendly production. This album wasn’t the ear melting stuff of say NWA or Public Enemy but was a mellow full sound that hadn’t been heard from a New York scene which had so far favoured sparse cold production. The warmth of the beats and the varied vocal styles of Phife and Q-Tip make this a classic debut but fortunately for hip hop the best of A Tribe Called Quest was still to come.

Trivia

The album was entirely produced by Q tip

Tribe were originally managed by the legendary DJ Red Alert

Tribe were the least known members of the Native Tongues collective behind Jungle Brothers and De La Soul

The members of ATCQ and Jungle Brothers went to the same school

Singles

Can I Kick It (Boilerhouser mix)

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Bonita Applebum

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Left My Wallet in El Segundo

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Slang Dictionary

Slammin, Jimmy Hat, dome, Propmaster, Freak y’all, lowdown, Blunts, 40,

90s Guy says

De La Soul and Jungle Brothers were already huge in England thanks to a multitude of ‘Dance’ remixes that had brought them into the style of the club music that was already being played over here. Thankfully Tribe were largely spared this fate but it made them a lot less accessible than their Native Tongue brothers. The quirkiness of the single releases meant no one knew had to market them and the music mags didn’t have a clue what they were about, so groups like the Dream Warriors got more play at the time. Then in 92 there was that Ian Wright Nike ad and a new reason to check out Peoples Instinctive Travels which now could be scooped up from the Woolworth’s bargain bin on tape for about £3 along with new Album Low End Theory and the love affair with Tribe truly began.

90s Guy Favourites

Luck of Lucien Luck of Lucien

Footprints 04-a_tribe_called_quest-footprints-rv

Description of a Fool 14-a_tribe_called_quest-description_of_a_fool-rv

Link

Review

On the DL

Tribe Vibes (sample collection) on the DL

Tribe Vibes Vol.2 on the DL

Tribe Vibes Vol.3 on the DL

Alaia dress and Versace bondage body pics from Decade

The street look borrows from high fashion, but dresses are replaced with cycling shorts and bra tops. From House Party’s Sidney and Sharane to the backing dancers of Hammer and Sir Mix-a-lot, hey even Cindy Crawford, they were all on it. Although sometimes they did look like they were coming from the gym.

Some of our favourite body-con looks from the 90s

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It’s definitely a fashion trend that is being revisited at the moment. Herve Leger is the currently celebrity favourite (here) and pop stars from the UK’s Craig David to Flo Rida have bought it back for the noughties:

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Trivia

Body-con, which stands for body-conscious – or should that be body confidence? – was first championed by designers such as Azzedine Alaia, Herve Leger and Gianni Versace in the 80s and provided the inspiration for a hot look!

Take a Look Around is a genuine rap classic from the most slept on Juice Crew member Masta Ace. Almost entirely produced by Marley Marl, the man who defined the hip hop sound in first years of the 90′s, with 4 tracks handled by Mister Cee, this was one of the tightest albums of 1990. Ace had made his debut on the iconic Juice Crew track ‘The Symphony’ back in ’88, holding his own alongside heavyweights of the mic Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane and Craig G. Ace was signed to the Marley Marl-fronted Cold Chillin Records and released his first single the following year before following up with his debut album Take a Look Around.

The album is a solid 15 tracks from start to finish featuring no fillers, intros, outros or skits and all being above standard for a 1990 release. The album showcases Masta Ace’s lyrical diversity – being comfortable spittin’ on any topic and vibe seems to come effortlessly to Ace. He steers between battle raps on ‘Aces Wild’ to comedy on ‘Me and the Biz’ through to conscious raps on ‘I Got Ta’ and opens a window into ghetto life on ‘Brooklyn Battles’ and the title track ‘Take a Look Around. The album spawned 4 singles, the most popular being ‘Me and the Biz’- the video for which features Ace controlling a Biz Markie marionette puppet.

Trivia

Me and the Biz doesn’t feature Biz Markie; it’s actually Ace’s impression of his fellow Juice Crew member

Was a member of the original ‘Crooklyn Dodgers’ who recorded a track for Spike Lee’s ‘Crooklyn’ film.

Singles

Me and the Biz

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Music Man

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Slang Dictionary

Bumrush, high postin, livin large, blunts, fly, diss, slimmy, British walkers, Jimmy, Cuban Link, homeboys, wack

90s Guy says

This is an instant classic that has aged well but can instantly take you back nearly 20 years in one listen. Marley Marl was a rap factory the way Timbaland is now, except he never sold out, never went pop, just made album after album of real hip hop classics. Masta Ace was a jack of all trades; he could flip it any which way but was always commanding despite being laid back. This may have been his main downfall commercially: the labels couldn’t pigeonhole him and the fact that he openly attacked the fake gangster rappers of the time who were doing major sales probably didn’t help. His pro knowledge positive lyrics sum him up best:

I got ta teach the youth that they capable
I got ta show the ghetto is escapable

I got to understand the pain and strife of the next man
So I got avoid flaunting, showing off, and high posting if I can

90s Guy Favourites

Brooklyn Battles, Take a Look Around, I Got Ta, Music Man, Postin High, The Other Side of Town

Link

Listen for yourself

On the DL

Bonus disc

1990 saw Compton rise to international fame primarily due to the success of N.W.A and the controversy that constantly surrounded them. Off the back of N.W.A’s notoriety a number of Compton rappers and groups were catapulted into the limelight, many of them associated with the Eazy-E’s Ruthless records, or produced by Dr Dre.

N.W.A – 100 Miles And Runnin’

N.W.A’s stopgap EP 100 Miles and Runnin was released in 1990 to maintain media interest in the group and defy rumours that the group was imploding following the departure of Ice Cube. Though only a 5 track EP it served its purpose by going gold and also providing a steady platform to diss departed Cube for not signing the long term Ruthless records contract. Dre tries to step up the aggression and intensity of his flow to account for the loss of Cube, but sounds weaker than ever on these tracks. The group would only release one more album after this (efil4zaggiN) before the other members realised that Cube had been right all along and Eazy-E had been ripping them off for years.

100 Miles and Runnin’

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On the DL

Comptons Most Wanted – Its A Compton Thang

Though covering the same ground as N.W.A, CMW always came off as being more laid back in sound and lyrical delivery. With slower funkier beats that you’d associated with Dr Dre’s later productions plus MC Eiht and MC Chill’s sun drenched Cali rhyme styles made this a summer classic in 1990. The production of the unknown DJ and DJ Slip was ahead of the time and subsequently still sounds tight today. As debuts go this was the kind of album that would normally have catapulted the quartet towards bigger and better things but with MC Chill’s incarceration following the albums release this was the high point of their recording career though later releases would do better in terms of sales.

This is Compton

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On the DL

Above the Law – Livin Like Hustlers

Above the Law were signed to Eazy E’s Ruthless records and featured Dr Dre’s studio understudy Cold 187 Um on the boards making them every bit N.W.A protege’s. Dre even hits them off with 2 beats on their debut album including the classic single Murder Rap. The whole album features funky loops, laid back synths and piano riffs giving the perfect backdrop for the four MC’s to recount tales of west coast gang life.

This is one of the best west coast albums ever made but yet again their impressive debut sadly was not the start of a legacy. When N.W.A split and Dre went to Death Row records Cold 187 stayed with Ruthless records taking on the lions share of the production duties, whilst Dre went on to become a global star. 187 claims he is not bitter but also claims to have originally created the G funk sound and even claims Snoop imitated his voice and took his place on his Deep Cover debut.

Untouchable

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On the DL

CPO – To Hell And Black

Another trio affiliated with N.W.A, Capital Punishment Organisation were in tight with MC Ren who lends his vocals and production skills to a number of tracks on this album. This album was unfortunately their only release due to the untimely death of DJ Train in a house fire in the early nineties. Without ever reaching any climactic highs the production is solid and promising which mirrors the complex flow patterns and delivery of MC Lil Nation. It is a shame we never got to hear anymore from the group as this album sounds more polished than the majority of albums of the same year.

Ballad of a Menace

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This Beat is Funky

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On the DL

King Tee – At Your Own Risk

King Tee’s second album features a classic west coast icon the droptop lowrider on the front cover but is anything but conventional Compton fare. Taking his lead from east coast influencesTee is more prone to bragging and battling than the gangbanging and pimping his contemporaries were espousing in 1990. King Tee proved you can be serious and witty in equal measures without having to resort to a one dimensional gangsta persona, unfortunately this was not a sentiment shared by the rest of Compton’s rap community.

At Your Own Risk (Marley Marl remix)

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On the DL

Trivia

Future presidents George Bush Snr & Jnr briefly lived in Compton in the post war years.

Eazy E day is celebrated every year in Compton to commemorate the death of the N.W.A founder.

90s Guy says

As a big fan of N.W.A 100 Miles and Runnin was a dissapointing appetizer that did nothing to quel my thirst for ‘street knowledge’. On the other hand though, in a time when Hip Hop albums had a stack of filler tracks in them Above the Laws album was one that never had me holding the fast forward and high speed dubbing buttons down together to get to the good bits cos it was all good. The whole Compton style of LA and White Sox hats and generally dressing in all black was so easy to imitate it got rocked a lot over in England especially by yours truly.

90s Guys Favourtites

Comptons Most wanted

Its a Compton Thang comptons-most-wanted-11-its-a-compton-thang

Late Night Hype compton-most-wanted-09-late-night-hype

I’m Wit Dat compton-most-wanted-02-im-wit-dat

Above the Law

Another Execution another-execution

Flow On flow-on-move-me-no-mountain

Freedom of Speech freedom-of-speech

Murder Rap murder-rap

CPO

Homicide 06-homicide

Gangsta Melody 10-gangsta-melody

King Tee

At Your Own Risk (album mix) 02-at-your-own-risk

On the Dance Tip 04-on-the-dance-tip

Playedd Like a Piano 14-played-like-a-piano

By 1990 Mike Tyson was a household name around the world for all the right reasons. Trading the tough streets of Bed Stuy and Brownsville in Brooklyn for the discipline of the boxing gym, Tyson personified the rags to riches story. After being arrested 38 times by the age of 13 Iron Mike inevitably found his way to a juvenile detention centre. Due of his history of violence and anger he was urged to take up boxing while inside to channel his aggression and immediately showed promise. His natural athleticism and boxing ability were shown to legendary trainer Cus D’Amato who pulled him out of juvie and brought him to his Catskills gym.

D’Amato was not only versed in a plethora of little known boxing techniques but was also extremely experienced in dealing with troubled kids, having turned round the lives of many hoodlums including Rocky Graziano and Floyd Patterson who both became world champions. The transformation from street brawler to accomplished amateur highlighted the skills of both fighter and trainer. D’Amato showed the young Tyson how best to use his short stocky frame and negate the reach disadvantage he would invariably suffer throughout his career as a 5″9 heavyweight. During this time Tyson’s mother passed away and he was legally adopted by Cus D’Amato, the only father figure he had known in his life.

Tyson missed out on the chance to represent the US at the Olympics in 1984 but that would soon be forgotten as he turned pro in March 1985 and blazed through 15 fights in that year winning all by knockout, 11 of those coming in the opening round. Unfortunately in November of that year, just days after his 11th win, Cus D’Amato passed away leaving 19 year old Tyson to all intents and purposes orphaned. Determined to fulfill D’Amato’s dream of training another world heavyweight champion, Tyson was straight back in the ring racking up 12 more wins in 1986 before preparing for a November World Title shot against Jamaican Olympian Trevor Berbick.

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Berbick had only been champion for 8 months but was a seasoned heavyweight who had previously fought Larry Holmes and had ended the career of Muhammad Ali with his unanimous decision victory over the legend. Tyson’s speed and power were no respecters of records though and he subsequently demolished Berbick, stunning him at the end of the first round before flooring him twice in the second. Tyson was crowned the youngest ever heavyweight champion at just 20 years and 4 months old and stood by his declaration that he wished to fight the worlds best by taking on 2 more champions the following year.

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Iron Mike added the WBA belt to his WBC title after beating ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith in his next fight before knocking out former champion Pinklon Thomas. In only his third defence he became the first heavyweight champion in history to hold all 3 titles at once, after a decision victory over IBF champ Tony Tucker. Tyson continued to clear out the division despite his tender age, successfully defending against legend Larry Holmes and top contenders Tubbs, Spinks and Britain’s own favourite Frank Bruno. By the end of the decade however, his troubles outside of the ring were mounting. A failed marriage to Robin Givens, a punch-up with Mitch Green and dismissal of trainers Kevin Rooney and Teddy Atlas left him alienated, alone and under the control of the less than savoury Don King.

The 90′s would continue as the eighties had ended with the controversy and disruption that had begun to shroud his personal life following him into the ring. It seemed his life had come full circle as the taunts and mocking of his high pitched voice and lisp which had drawn him into many streetfights as a child returned, this time coming from a media desperate to find a chink in his armour. Iron Mike would spend the decade between jail cells, comeback fights and ridiculous money making promotions like WWF wrestling. For half a decade he was ‘the baddest man on the planet’, an undisputed champion and icon of invincibility, immortalised in countless video games, TV shows and films. A product of the tough streets and a victim of a cold society he was arguably the last great heavyweight champion.

Back in 1990 hip hop was part Afrocentric education and part fun and vibrancy. House Party definitely falls into the second category. Taking much inspiration from the Spike Lee movies of the era, but without of the preachy tone, this film showed normal black teenagers just out to have some fun – in spite of their over protective parents, schoolyard bullies and police harassment. In other words, this is a rare ‘feel good in the hood’ movie that shows ghetto life doesn’t have to involve guns, drugs and alcohol but shows good people having a good time together.

The action revolves around rap duo Kid ‘n Play (Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin) and their attempts to organise a party at Play’s house whilst his old folks are on holiday. Sounds easy if you don’t take into acccount some comedic bad boys in the form of RnB production powerhouse ‘Full Force’ who will stop at nothing to cut Kid and his oversized high top fro down to size. If that wasn’t enough, Kid also has to contend with his old school ‘Pop’, played to full comedy value by the late Robin Harris. Harris’ portrayal of this role has set somewhat of a blueprint and been imitated by the likes of Bernie Mac and John Witherspoon (who makes a brief appearance as a nosy neighbour).

When the party finally gets started, Martin Lawrence handles the DJing duties whilst Kid n Play engage in a freestyle battle to impress the two female leads Sidney (Tisha Campbell) and Sharane. The defining moment of the film is the 90′s new jack swing dance-off that ensues between Kid n Play and the girls, parodied and mimicked countless times, and easily one of the most enjoyable moments of 90′s cinema. There is a warning about the dangers of drinking and a safe sex message to boot, but in the midst of all the teenage fun its a fleeting moment of parental nagging in a film that is rarely condescending to the viewer.

Trivia

Robin Harris died shortly after the film was made

Roles originally written for DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

Martin Lawrence & Tisha Campbell went on to star in sitcom Martin

Full Force have produced recent hits for Rihanna and The Black Eyed Peas

Cast

Kid N Play (Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin), Robin Harris, Martin Lawrence,

Tisha Campbell, A.J. Johnson, Paul Anthony, Bow-Legged Lou, B-Fine, Barry Diamond,

Mike Pniewski, Gene “Groove” Allen, Daryl Mitchell, John Witherspoon, George Clinton

Clips

Original trailer

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Girls v Kid n Play dance off

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Pop (Robin Harris) gets stopped by the police

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Pop busts up the party

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90s Guy says

In the 90′s a lot of hip hop movies were only memorable for their soundtracks but House Party had a pretty weak soundtrack and was a wicked film. A rap battle, dance off, George Clinton scratching plus Robin Harris and John Witherspoon delivering their customary cusses make this watchable over and over again. Full Force play the gangster role so over the top, with ‘Bow Legged Lou’ sounding like a badly dubbed Kung Fu villain that any tension in the film evaporates as soon as he speaks. In fact the only scary people in the whole film are the bumbling cops and the prison dudes who want Kid to drop the soap

Links

IMDB page

On the DL

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was without doubt a driving force in bringing hip hop from the underground to the mainstream in the 90′s. Taking elements from The Jeffersons, Cosby Show and Different Strokes and coupling them with the infectious personality of young rap star Will Smith, the show was a welcome breath of fresh air when it amazingly premiered on BBC 2 of all channels in the UK in late 1990.  The show is centred on the struggles of streetwise teenager Will, who is uprooted from the ghettos of south Philly to the mansions of Bel Air to live with his rich Uncle Phil and his 3 cousins.

This show embodied the essence of early 90′s hip hop with Will sporting a wardrobe colour matched to the front cover of De La Souls 3 Feet High and Rising, whilst spouting the popular slang of the time. Between Will and best friend and occasional guest star Jazz the unsuspecting audience is slowly introduced to the elements of hip hop; turntablism, beatboxing and break dancing, though Will’s dancing is more Heavy D and the Boyz than Crazy Legs.

Though primarily a family show, the Fresh Prince occasionally touched on more serious topics such as crime, racism and absentee fathers, although a gag was never far away to lighten the tone. By the later series a number of running jokes had been firmly established, Aunt Viv had been replaced, Ashley had grown up and a new family member Nicky had been added but the show was just as popular as ever, avoiding the axe on couple of occasions.

Trivia

The running gag of the “Carlton Dance” throughout the show was actually a parody of the Bruce Springsteen dance he did in his video for “Dancing in the Dark” in 1984.

The cab driver in the opening credits is Quincy Jones, the executive producer on the show and whose Swedish son produced the now infamous opening music and score for the show.

Geoffrey’s last name is Butler and in the episode Hare Today, it’s revealed that his middle name is Barbara

Nicky’s full name is Nicholas Michael Shawn Nathan Wanya Banks. He is named after the four members of Boyz II Men, after they performed at his christening.

Running jokes

Jazz gets thrown out of the front door by Uncle Phil

The Carlton dance – usually to Tom Jones

Uncle Phil fat jokes

Hilary and Jazz’s unrequited love

Slapping Carlton or hitting him on the head with anything that comes to hand

Clips

Theme tune

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The best Carlton dance ever

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Will beatboxes at a formal Dinner

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Carlton and Tom Jones

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Jazz gets thrown out for the first time

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Carlton dance compilation

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List of Guest Stars

Richard Roundtree / Sherman Hemsley (The Jeffersons)

Nia Long / Tyra Banks / Jay Leno / Vivica Fox / Chris Rock

Malcolm Jamal-Warner (Cosby Show) / Queen Latifah

Evander Holyfield / Boyz II Men / Kareem Abdul Jabbar

Raven Symone / Donald Trump / Kadeem Hardison

Tisha Campbell / Robin Givens / Isiah Thomas / Isaac Hayes

Oprah Winfrey / Lark Voorhies (Saved by the bell)

Tevin Campbell / Bill Cosby / Tom Jones / B.B King

Gary Coleman / William Shatner / Don Cheadle

Tom ‘tiny’ ‘zeus’ Lister / Jaleel White ‘urkle’

Vanessa Williams/ Jasmine Guy (different world) / John Witherspoon

90s Guy says

This was must see TV for hip hop lovers young and old in the UK. There was only Yo! MTV Raps and the Fresh Prince on telly plus Westwood’s radio shows later on to check for week in week out for a hip hop fix. I’ve never been a big Will Smith fan but this is him at his best; cocky, outrageous and genuinely funny. Later on Ashley was another good reason to tune is as she was one of the only fly girls on TV who was my age. Still can’t believe they never made a movie though?

Links

Official Site

On the DL