Spyder D
Hailing from Hollis Queens, Spyder-D (Duane Hughes) took the Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live Buckwheat skit to wax with his track “Buckwheat Beat.” He raps on the track as both Buckwheat and as Spyder-D. In the song, he refers to Sparky D, a female emcee who he had a hand in producing. He was also under the management of Russell Simmons during the early 80’s where he recorded a track called “Rollerskating...
Run DMC
Members Run (Joseph Simmons) b. 11/15/64 DMC (Darryl McDaniels) b. 5/31/64 Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell) b. 1/21/65 d. 10/30/02 “Two years ago a friend of mine asked me to say some emcee rhymes So I said this rhyme I’m about to say, the rhyme was def and it went this way: Took a test to become an emcee, and Orange Krush became amazed at me So Larry put me inside his Cadillac, the chauffeur drove off and we never came back...
Spoonie Gee
Spoonie Gee, born Gabriel Jackson, had something a lot of other old school hip hoppers didn’t have- an uncle in the music industry. Bobby Robinson was already an accomplished producer when he decided to sign Spoonie to Enjoy! Records. Although Spoonie originally wanted to be an R&B singer, he knew he didn’t have the voice for it. So he took to rapping instead. His uncle helped him get his first recording...
Sparky D
Sparky, born Doreen Broadnax, grew up in the Van Dyke Houses Projects in Brownsville, Brooklyn, NYC. Sparky first recorded with Brooklyn crew The Playgirls who were on Sutra records. In 1984, Sparky appeared in a cameo on her boyfriend Spyder D’s “Placin the Beat” on Profile. Her first solo effort was “Sparky’s Turn (Roxanne You’re Through)” on NIA records produced Spyder D. This was one of...
Roxanne Shante
Born Lolita Shante Gooden, Roxanne Shante was part of a phenomenon that took place in 1984. UTFO’s song “Roxanne Roxanne” was a huge hit that year about their attempts to seduce a woman named Roxanne. One night Shante overheard WHBI’s Tyrone Williams, Mister Magic, and Marley Marl discussing the fact that UTFO has skipped out on promised appearance. Shante offered to record a dis record. Her skills seemed up...
The Real Roxanne
Like so many other female rappers in 1984-85, Adelaida/Joanne? Martinez adopted the name Roxanne and set about to answer UTFO’s smash single “Roxanne, Roxanne.” The Real Roxanne as she was known is usually considered near the top of that very crowded group of women. Her main competition came, of course, from Roxanne Shante. She made a record called “Romeo” on Select in 85 which was an inversion of...
