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The Beatnuts, Big Pooh, and Termanology
The Beatnuts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Beatnuts
Origin Queens, New York City
Genres Hip hop
Years active 1989present[1]
Labels Combat Records
Relativity Records
Violator Management
Loud Records
Landspeed Records
Penalty Recordings
Website www.pitfightmusic.com
Members JuJu
Psycho Les
Past members Kool Fashion (later Al' Tariq)
V.I.C.
The Beatnuts are a New York-based hip hop group and production duo from Queens, New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu (born Jerry Tineo on December 4, 1972) is Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les (born Lester Fernandez on April 10, 1972) is a Colombian American from Jackson Heights. The Beatnuts are the only Latino members of the Native Tongues collective. Although only peripheral members, they are routinely acknowledged by Q-Tip. The Beatnuts were originally a trio before Fashion, now known as Al' Tariq, left the group to start a solo career. V.I.C. (Groove Merchantz, Ghetto Pros) was also a member of The Beatnuts' production team for a while.
Contents
1 History
1.1 Origins
1.2 Early production work
1.3 Debut albums
1.4 Commercial breakthroughs
1.5 Return to underground
1.5.1 "Watch Out Now" controversy
1.6 Recent endeavors
2 Style
3 Discography
4 References
5 External links
History
Origins
JuJu and Psycho Les grew up in different communities in Queens, New York. Psycho Les started producing beats and DJing at age 15 under aliases including DJ Les Jams and DJ Incredible. At a high school in Flushing, Queens, a friend DJ Loco Moe introduced Les to fellow producer JuJu. While crate digging, both Beatnuts ran into hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. Bambaataa introduced them to Native Tongues members including De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and the Jungle Brothers. At this time, JuJu and Psycho Les were DJing parties under the alias Beat Kings. The Jungle Brothers claimed that they were not kings, but rather two nuts for their comical nature and the fact that they were crazy enough to carry hundreds of records to every show they played. They thus changed their name and "it stuck."[2] The two Beatnuts members later met up with rapper Kool Fashion.
Early production work
The Beatnuts entered the recording industry in 1990 producing two tracks for the British alternative hip hop/electronica group Stereo MCs as well as a song for British rapper Monie Love. Over the next two years, they produced songs for rappers including Common, Pete Nice & DJ Richie Rich and Kurious, as well as a full album for Chi-Ali. As of 1992, JuJu had not appeared on a record, but fellow Beatnuts rappers Fashion and Psycho Les appeared on tracks that he produced. In 1993, The Beatnuts produced more songs for the artists they had previously collaborated with as well as Fat Joe, Suprême NTM and Da Youngsta's. At the same time, The Beatnuts made their name as remix specialists by remixing songs for MC Lyte, Da Lench Mob, Naughty by Nature, Jomanda and others.
Debut albums
The Beatnuts' early production work earned them a record deal with Combat Records in 1992. The Beatnuts planned on releasing a "mini-LP" through that label, but its release was delayed when Kool Fashion was sentenced to six months of jail for drug convictions (p. 31).[3] After Fashion completed his sentence, The Beatnuts left Combat Records and signed deals with Violator Management and Relativity Records. On April 6, 1993, The Beatnuts released their debut album, Intoxicated Demons: The EP, through their new label. It featured 11 songs, including the two singles "Reign of the Tec" and "No Equal". The album was characterized by its hedonistic party-style lyrics and sample-heavy jazz beats. It was a critical success receiving favorable reviews by Allmusic, The Source and Entertainment Weekly.[4][5]
Intoxicated Demons was followed in 1994 with the eponymous full-length album The Beatnuts: Street Level. Street Level followed its preceding EP in style, but slightly surpassed its commercial success by charting on the Billboard 200. It featured two singles, "Props Over Here" and "Hit Me with That", neither of which were commercial hits. Street Level was the last Beatnuts album released before Fashion left the group to become a devout Muslim and solo artist under the alias Al' Tariq. He left The Beatnuts on good terms and collaborated with his former group on future albums.
Commercial breakthroughs
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LocationThe Shaskeen (View)
909 Elm St.
Manchester, NH 03101
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 21 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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