Mohandas Dewese
, better known as Kool Moe Dee
, is an American old-school MC prominent in the late 1970s, throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. He was born in Manhattan, New York. He was one of the first rappers to earn a Grammy award and he was the first to perform at the Grammys.
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KOOL MOE DEE TICKETS
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Early career
In the late 1970s, he met Special K and DJ Easy Lee. Kool Moe Dee joined with other rappers Special K and L.A. Sunshine as well as DJ Easy Lee to form the influential
old school hip hop group the
Treacherous Three. It is with The Treacherous Three that Kool Moe Dee performed his
freestyle on-stage
roast of old school
party rapper
Busy Bee Starski, a performance frequently cited as a pivotal moment in the development of the
battle rap. In 1981, they moved to Sugar Hill Records along with another Enjoy act
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The Treacherous Three became well known for their singles Feel the Heart Beat and Whip It. They were featured in the 1984 film the breakdance cult-movie
Beat Street
performing the song Xmas Rap with Doug E Fresh, but disbanded shortly afterwards.
Solo career
In 1985 the Treacherous Three disbanded with each member pursuing solo careers. After leaving the group he attended college in NY and received a degree in communications. In 1986, Kool Moe Dee went solo, releasing a self-titled album, which ranked 83 on
Billboard. He co-operated with the young producer Teddy Riley which contributed greatly to the
New Jack Swing movement that would gain popularity in the years to follow. Kool Moe Dee released his second album,
How Ya Like Me Now
which was his most successful album commercially, achieving platinum status. He then went on to release his third album,
Knowledge Is King
in 1989, which went Gold. The single from this album, "I Go To Work" is considered by some to by the pinnacle of his work, with high speed delivery and superior lyrical content. He was chosen in 1990 to appear on
Quincy Jones' album
Back on the Block
along with fellow rappers
Melle Mel,
Big Daddy Kane and
Ice T. The album gained considerable critical and financial success and winning the
1991 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. In 1991 the release of his album
Funke Funk Wisdom
signaled his downfall and eventual decline. Moe Dee himself has stated that this was his worst album(1). He induced his release from
Jive Records in 1992. After a two year lay off he released his greatest hits album which gained some of his former success and acclaim. In 1994 his album
Interlude
was released and failed to gain Moe Dee much of his former success on the mid 80's. In 1993 he re-united with his fellow ex members of the
Treacherous Three to release the album
Old Skool Flava
on DJ EasyLee's record label
Ichiban. His last commercially released was the single
Love Love/What You Wanna Do
which was released on
Spoiled Brat Entertainment inc
Feud with LL Cool J
Kool Moe Dee is perhaps most well known for his long running rivalry with fellow New York rapper
LL Cool J, he, among other rappers such as
MC Shan, claimed that LL had stolen their rap styles. He also felt that LL was disrespecting the reigning MCs at the time, himself,
Melle Mel and Grandmaster Caz by proclaiming that he was the greatest without paying due respects to those who came before him. He challenged LL on his platinum selling album
How Ya Like Me Now on the single of the same name. He also took a shot at LL by appearing on his album cover with a jeep in the background with the wheel crushing one of LL's trademark red
Kangol hats. The feud continued on with both MCs proclaiming themselves the victor.
Other appearances
Kool Moe Dee appeared on
Will Smith's #1 pop hit "
Wild Wild West" from Smith's 1999
motion picture,
Wild Wild West
, on which he re-performs the chorus to his 1988 single also named "
Wild Wild West".
In 2003 he authored a book called
There's A God On The Mic
(ISBN 1-56025-533-1). The book breaks down his 50 favorite MCs in terms of originality, concepts, versatility, vocabulary, substance, flow, flavor, freestyle, vocal presence, live performance, poetic value, body of work, industry impact, social impact, longevity, lyrics and battle skills, where he ranked himself as number #5, ahead of MCs such as
The GZA, and
Tupac (ironically, he placed LL Cool J at #7, despite the past beef that the two had, even referring to him as an "unbreakable master").
In 2007 he appeared on the remix to
Nas' "
Where are They Now Remix", with fellow old school artists. On his
Myspace page he has released some new tracks and a video to accompany one of the songs.
In 2008 he took the job of hosting a new Hip Hop talk show called "SpitFire with Kool Mo Dee". The show contains discussion on issues relating to both Hip Hop culture and general issues that affect the world. Each show has a different panel of guests, including; Xzibit, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, DMC and many others. The show is broadcasted on www.iamhiphop.com.
2009 Comeback
In a recent interview with www.houseofhiphop.nl, Kool Moe Dee stated that he would be releasing a new album in 2009.
'I will be the first oldschool artist in 2009 to have a very relevant record in stores. That’s right, Kool Moe Dee is coming out with a new album, for the first time in fifeen years! And I will be doing more albums in the future. That’s the paradigm shift right there. The next album is called Immortality, and it’s coming out in August. As far as production goes, I got some stuff from Teddy Riley, I’m also reaching out to Pharrel. I actually have some young guys that gave me some nice beats too. It’s as good as finished right now. It’s just a matter of what single I’m coming out with, and what direction I want to promote it in. Even with all the development and growth in hiphop I just described, I feel like we still don’t have grown man hiphop. I’m not going to be gangster, baller or player, it’s just going to be beats and rhymes. It will be interesting to see how people respond to everything, from the dresscode to what I’m actually talking about. I will be talking about topics from an older perspestive. Come on, I’m in my forties, haha! I’m not in a club behind the bar, you know? This is grown men stuff.' [3]
Acting career
Kool Moe Dee had a brief cameo appearance in the movie
Wild Style
and appeared in the film
Beat Street
with the
Treacherous Three and
Doug E. Fresh. Since then, he has appeared in a total of 17 Movies and TV shows as an actor and 21 as himself. He also had a role as a bartender in
Crossraods with
Britney Spears.
Trivia
- Kool Moe Dee's Trademark sunglasses are Porsche 5620
Discography
Year
| Title
| Sales [1]
| Chart positions [2]
|
Billboard 200
| Top R&B/Hip hop albums
|
1986
| I'm Kool Moe Dee
|
| 83
| 23
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1987
| How Ya Like Me Now
| Platinum
| 35
| 4
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1989
| Knowledge Is King
| Gold
| 25
| 2
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1991
| Funke, Funke Wisdom
| –
| 72
| 19
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1993
| Greatest Hits
| –
| –
| –
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1994
| Interlude
| –
| –
| –
|
1995
| Jive Collection Vol. 2
| –
| –
| –
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References
- &artist=Kool%20Moe%20De&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25
- Albums chart history