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 is a Dominican from Corona and Psycho Les is a Colombian from Jackson Heights. The Beatnuts are the only Latino members of the Native Tongues Family. Although only peripheral members, they are routinely acknowledged by Q-Tip, who has shouted them out at least twice on record (once in 1991 and once in 1996). The Beatnuts were originally a trio before Kool Fashion, now known as Al' Tariq, left the group to start a solo career. The Mighty V.I.C. (Groove Merchantz, Ghetto Pros) was also a member of the Beatnuts' production team for a while.
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BEATNUTS TICKETS
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History
Origins
Both Junkyard 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 fellow
Native Tongues 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. They thus changed their name and "it stuck."
[1] 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
electronica group
Stereo MCs. 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).
[2] 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
, though their new labels. 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
.
[3] [4]
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
The Beatnuts did not follow up their 1994 album until releasing
Stone Crazy
in 1997. Although it contained "
Off the Books", a single that charted on the
Billboard
Hot 100 and featured the first on-record performance by
Big Pun, the album was not a critical success. Leo Stanley of
Allmusic attributed its mediocre reception to its lack of energy--not its "jazz-inflected rhythms and hardcore rhyming".
[5] Chris Ryan of
Rolling Stone
conceded that the album was still "something of a breakthrough" for the Beatnuts in spite of itself.
[6] Two weeks after the release of
Stone Crazy
, The Beatnuts released
Hydra Beats, Vol. 5
, a small-scale instrumental album.
Vol. 5
was one album in a series of vinyl instrumental albums released by
underground label
Hydra Entertainment.
1998 saw the release of
The Spot
, a remix EP that revamped songs from the first three non-instrumental Beatnuts albums. It additionally featured sequels to older Beatnuts tracks and one new song, "Treat$". It was released in anticipation of 1999's
A Musical Massacre
, The Beatnuts' most commercially and critically successful album.
A Musical Massacre
reached #35 on the
Billboard
200 due to its hit single "
Watch Out Now". The album is hailed for its "eclectic" and "textured" beats as well as its "rough, rugged, and raunchy" lyrics with slightly more content variation than past releases.
[7]
After
Sony released The Beatnuts's first hits compilation, 1999's
World Famous Classics
, The Beatnuts did not record another album until 2001's
Take It or Squeeze It
. Their 2001 album contained two slightly popular singles, "
No Escapin' This" and "
Let's Git Doe," but was unable to match the commercial or critical success of
A Musical Massacre
. Reviews by both
Allmusic and
Rolling Stone
claimed that
Take It or Squeeze It
had a mix of inventive production and clichéd gangster rhymes.
[8] [9]
Return to underground
In November 2001, it was announced that
Loud Records—whose father label
Relativity Records had released all Beatnuts albums since their 1993 debut—had cut ties with The Beatnuts. The decision was followed by the release of two greatest hits: 2001's
Beatnuts Forever
and 2002's
Classic Nuts, Vol. 1
. While The Beatnuts were free agents, a rumor surfaced that Juju and Psycho Les were going to collaborate with Al Tariq under the group alias 'Intoxicated Demons'.
[11] The Beatnuts did not reunite with Al Tariq, but instead signed with the
underground label LandSpeed Records. In 2002, they released
The Originators
, a commercial failure that did not reach the
Billboard
200 or contain charting singles. The album was still was a critical success because of its catchy hooks and creative beats. Steve Juon of RapReviews.com remarked on the correlation between The Beatnuts' critical and commercial success:
If they are less known and don't sell as well being on an indie imprint like LandSpeed Records, it will still be worth it if the increased quality of their beats and rhymes remain this high. [12]
Instead of remaining on LandSpeed Records, The Beatnuts signed to
Penalty Recordings before releasing their 2004 album
Milk Me
. Although Penalty was also an underground label,
Milk Me
was still able to scrape the bottom of the
Billboard
200. The album was almost unanimously held to be solid. Nonetheless, three singles and an
Akon guest appearance did not propel the album to the commercial success of prior Beatnuts albums.
"Watch Out Now" controversy
Milk Me
contained the song "Confused Rappers", a track that
dissed
Jennifer Lopez for essentially stealing the beat from The Beatnuts' "Watch Out Now" on her 2002 hit "
Jenny from the Block". The song criticizes Lopez's singing ability and looks, but ultimately criticizes the track's producers--
Trackmasters and
Cory Rooney--for stealing the beat.
[13] Although The Beatnuts did eventually receive
royalties, Psycho Les is still critical of the track's producers. The beats on both "Watch Out Now" and "Jenny from the Block" sample "Hi-Jack" by
Enoch Light.
Recent endeavors
In March 2007, Psycho Les released his debut solo album
Psycho Therapy (The Soundtrack)
on Pit Fight Records. Psycho Les additionally joined with Al Tariq and Problemz to form the group Big City. In June, they released the
The City Never Sleeps
on
Nature Sounds.
In June, The Beatnuts appeared on the
Chinga Chang Records compilation
Official Joints
, a collection of previously unreleased songs by NYC rappers. It is unclear whether they signed to the
Chinga Chang Records.
In December, Juju was arrested in
Stockholm,
Sweden for an alleged assault. He was detained for 36 hours for a "minor assault" after performing a concert.
[14]
On
September 30,
2008, Pit Fight Records released
U.F.O. Files
, a compilation of previously unreleased Beatnuts songs.
July 24th 2009, The Beatnuts performed with Slick Rick and Rahzel at the Roseland Theater in Portland, Oregon. Presented by Global Market Productions the show included all elements of Hip Hop (Beat Boxing, Break Dancing, Deejay, Emcee Battles and Graffiti Art)
Style
The Beatnuts are known for their sample-heavy beats and explicit party-ready lyrics. In early records, the beats had a jazz and funk-influenced sound, but later songs were influenced by Latin American music|Latin music. Critics have commented that The Beatnuts have consistently good beats, but lack in terms of lyrics. Juju addressed this in a 2004 interview:
Their
production is noted as some of the most accomplished, if unheralded, in all of hip-hop, often intricately detailed (as in their finely honed work for
Mos Def on two tracks from
Black on Both Sides
) but more regularly barnstorming, club-friendly, flourish-laden party music.
The Beatnuts are noted for being unabashedly, bullishly ribald and in-your-face performers. Recent Beatnuts albums are characterized by more
Latin influences.
Discography
- Intoxicated Demons: The EP
(1993), Relativity/Violator
- The Beatnuts: Street Level
(1994), Relativity/Violator
- Stone Crazy
(1997), Relativity/Violator/Epic/Sony
- Hydra Beats, Vol. 5
(1997), Hydra
- Remix EP: The Spot
(1998), Relativity/Violator/Epic/Sony
- A Musical Massacre
(1999), Loud/Sony
- World Famous Classics
(1999), Sony
- Take It or Squeeze It
(2001), Loud/Epic/Sony
- Beatnuts Forever
(2001), Relativity
- Classic Nuts, Vol. 1
(2002), Loud/Epic/Sony
- The Originators
(2002), Landspeed
- Milk Me
(2004), Penalty
- U.F.O. Files
(2008), Pit Fight
- Planet of the Crates
(2009), Pit Fight
References
- Features - The Beatnuts: Still 7:30
- Allmusic. ''All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap & Hip-Hop'', Backbeat Books (2003). ISBN 0-879-30759-5.
- ''Intoxicated Demons: The EP'' Review
- ''Intoxicated Demons: The EP'' Summary
- ''Stone Crazy'' Review
- The Beatnuts: Biography
- ''A Musical Massacre'' Review
- '' Take It or Squeeze It'' Review
- ''Take It or Squeeze It'' Review
- Emery, Andrew. ''The Book of Hip Hop Cover Art'', Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. (2004). ISBN 1-840-00919-5.
- News: The Beatnuts Dropped From Loud
- ''The Originators'' Review
- ''Milk Me'' Review
- "American hip hop star arrested in Stockholm"
- Features - The Beatnuts: Back