5 Rap Groups You May Not Know

5 Rap Groups You May Not Know

Rap music has been an evolving and forever changing genre of music. Throughout its time there have been hundreds upon thousands of artists stepping to the scene, but only a handful rising to stardom. In this series, we cover five rap groups that you may have never heard of before, dating back from the start, to present day rap music. 

Funky 4 + 1

The Funky 4+1 is a group that emerged out of New York City, specifically the Bronx. The members of the crew were; DJ Breakout, K.K. Rockwell, Keith Keith, Lil Rodney Cee, Jazzy Jeff, and Sha Rock, a woman who was the "plus one". Having Sha Rock on their roster made them the first rap group with a woman.  This group may be one of the most underrated rap groups during the birth of rap. They were one of the first to commercially sell their records, as well as created tracks that were sampled for years to come by some of the greats, even The Beastie Boys, which was covered in my last post. On top of this, they also have one of the longest recorded records, some may say the longest. They recorded a 12" single, containing a 15-minute song called "Rappin and Rocking the House Down". Although they never released a full-length project the group made a huge impact on the culture and where rap is today. 

Main Source

Main Source is another group out of New York City. The group consisted of brothers out of Canada, Sir Scratch and K-Cut, as well as Queens native Large Professor. Early into their career Large 

Professor split from the crew and Mikey D filled his role. The group did not last long as a unit and split before their second album in 1994, the album never released. Two of the members, Sir Scratch, and K-Cut released an album under the "Main Source" name, but it had a different title than what was originally in store.  This means some content was changed as well, having Mike D on the new revamped second album, as well as having a first appearance of the early "The LOX" rap group formerly known as "The Dog Pack".  This album, as well as the first, was put to storage due to inner conflict in the group. Another first appearance Main Source had the first appearance of Nas on their record "Live at the Barbecue". 

3 6 Mafia

 

If you know the crew, you didn't read that in a normal tone of voice. Rising in 1991 out of Memphis Tennessee, the group consisted of Dj Paul and Juicy J, the more well-known members, but included Lord Infamous, Crunchy Black, Gangsta Boo, and Koopsta Knicca. A well-known track by the group "It's  Hard Out Here for a Pimp" won an Acadamy Award for the best original song at the Acadamy Awards Show for its playing in "Hustle & Flow", a true rap fans favorite. 3 6 Mafia can be remembered on MTV as their videos ran. They had multiple platinum tracks and sales of over 5 million.

CunninLynguists

This is one that you can't not be interested in, and you know if you've seen that name before or not. Out of Lexington, Kentucky,  and Atlanta, Georgia, starting up in 2000. The crew was made up of three founding members; Deacon the Villain, Kno, and Natti. Later on after, another member was added, Mr. SOS. They have released a bunch of projects since their start and have been proactive up to present times. The CunninLynguists are known for their deep lyricism and layered production.  

Digital Underground

This last group is structured a little different than the rest mentioned in this blog post. The members of digital Underground would change as the artists put together each album and tour. Founded in 1987 in Oakland, California by the main man, the el jefe of the crew, was Shock G, aka Humpty Hump, Chopmaster J, and Kenny-K. This group had a knack for sampling the funk of the '70s and really paved the way for West Coast beats. The group gained a big influence when creating "The Humpty Dance" to their hit song.  Another notable act of the crew was bringing 2Pac to the scene of rap. Although he only worked within the group for a year, he launched his career with Digital Underground.