The Beatnuts

The Beatnuts是來自紐約皇后區(qū)的一支說唱組合，隊員有Juju和Psycho Les，最早時還有一個Rapper Kool Fahsion，如今化名為Alariq，The Beatnuts屬于Native Tongues Family，他們也當中唯一的拉丁美洲人，盡管這兩個人可算是外來成員，不過Q-Tip在91年還有96年都曾與其合作過，他們的制作為人稱贊，爵士以及老放克的采樣在他們的歌里隨處可見，后期的作品則是受拉丁音樂的影響，The Mighty V.I.C(Groove Merchantz,Ghetto Pro)也曾為The Beatnuts制作過一小段時間，一些評論家也申明說The Beatnuts的beats已近乎完美了，只不過他們的歌詞還有待改進，為此，Juju在2004年的一篇采訪里也說到:”We are all about the beat, that’s our formula when we produce shit, the beats gotta be hot, it’s gotta grab you. ‘Cause I’ll be the first nigga to say that we’re not the best MC’s in the world. It kills me to hear these nice MC’s rhyming over [內(nèi)容被過濾，請注意論壇文明]ing garbage.”
　　制作人Psycho Les也曾在Mos Def的首張專輯《Black On Both Sides》里面獻上了兩首最品，分別是ew World Waterock ‘n’Roll? Pesycho Les 在15歲便開始學(xué)習(xí)制作以及DJing，藝名包括DJ Les Jams和DJ Incredible，經(jīng)朋友介紹認識了Juju，而之所能成為Native Tongues Family的一員是由于大師Afrika Bambaataa的推薦，要知道Native Tongues可是包括了De La Soul，ATCQ，Jungle Brothers這樣的大牌，剛出道的The Beatnuts并不如意，甚至受到Jungle Brothers嚴厲的批評，知道1990年，團體的發(fā)展才有點眉目，先是為電子組合Stereo MCs制作了兩首，接下來的幾年更是不得了，與他們合作的有Common，Pete Nice，DJ Richie Rich，Kurious，F(xiàn)at Joe，甚至還有法國的NTM，有時則化身為Remix專家，MC Lyte，Da Lench Mob，Naughty by Nature這些都在名單之內(nèi)，他們的制作得到越來越多人的認可。
　　The Beatnuts于1992年與Combat唱片公司簽約，并預(yù)備發(fā)行一張LP;但由于成員Kool Fashion以涉及吸毒被判刑六個月，Kool Fashion出來后，由于一些矛盾，The Beatnuts毅然決定離開Combat唱片公司投奔Relativity唱片公司，于1993年簽署協(xié)議，同年發(fā)行了他們的首張EP《Intoxicated Demons》，一共收錄了11首歌曲，包括了兩首經(jīng)典曲目eign of the Teco Equal?引起了不小的反響，The Source，Entertainment Weekly對其都有相當不錯的評價。94年發(fā)行的《Street Level》則是延續(xù)了第一張的風(fēng)格，在商業(yè)上也取得了一定的成功，在Billboard 200上也獲得不錯的名次，rops Over Here?it Me with That;兩首也依舊是經(jīng)典，可惜的是，在第二張專輯發(fā)行后不久，成員Kool Fsahion離開了The Beatnuts，開始他個人的說唱生涯。
by John Bush
An underground Latino crew who moved from being strictly producers to make some action on the other side of the mixing board as well, the Beatnuts first hooked up in the late 80s, with Junkyard Ju-Ju (aka JuJu, born Jerry Tineo) and Psycho Les (born Lester Fernandez) being joined by Fashion (aka Kool Fashion, born Berntony Smalls). After working with the Jungle Brothers, the trio connected with Monie Love on a production job for Pups Lickin Bone from her 1990 debut album, Down to Earth. They also worked on remixes for Cypress Hill, Naughty by Nature, da Lench Mob, and Prime Minister Pete Nice, earning their own contract with Combat Records for the 1993 mini-LP Intoxicated Demons. The albums release was held up when Kool Fashion was arrested and jailed for six months on a drug conviction, but the Beatnuts released a self-titled album the following year, on Violator/Relativity. After a hiatus verging on three years, Fashion became a Muslim and left the Beatnuts, releasing his debut solo album, God Connections, with production help from his old bandmates. JuJu and Psycho Les finally returned to release the Beatnuts third album, Stone Crazy, in 1997. Musical Massacre followed two years later. Take It or Squeeze It, issued in spring 2001, captured the Beatnuts danceable funk as well as collaborations with Method Man and Fat Man Scoop. The next year, The Originators brought back Al Tariq (that is, Kool Fashion) and delivered another round of bionic beats.