The Lost Boyz
Encyclopedia
The Lost Boyz is a hip hop
group from South Jamaica, Queens
, New York
. The original group members were lead MC Mr. Cheeks
, backup MC and promoter Freaky Tah (1971–1999), DJ Spigg Nice and Pretty Lou.
. The release landed them a record deal with Uptown Records
. The group contributed a single to the Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood
soundtrack, titled "Renee
". The song became a major hit, breaking into the Top 40 on the Hot 100 chart. The single also reached Gold status in 1996. On June 4, 1996, they released their debut album Legal Drug Money
. The work was highly acclaimed, and the album featured five Hot 100 hits, including their past singles "Lifestyles of the Rich & Shameless", "Renee", as well as "Music Makes Me High", "Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz" and "Get Up". The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in late 1996. Their second album, Love, Peace & Nappiness
, was released on June 17, 1997 on Uptown
/Universal Records
. It featured another Hot 100 hit single, "Me & My Crazy World". One of the most famous songs on the album was the posse-cut "Beasts From The East", featuring A+, Redman and Canibus
. The album wasn't as acclaimed as their debut, but fared well commercially, reaching Gold status in late 1997.
In 1996, the group appeared on the Red Hot Organization
's compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly
, alongside Wu-Tang Clan
, Coolio
, and Fat Joe
, among others. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as "a masterpiece" by The Source
magazine.
On the night of March 28, 1999, at a birthday party for Mr. Cheeks, Freaky Tah was shot in the head while exiting the Sheraton Hotel in Queens. Tah was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:20 am, at the age of 27. The getaway driver, Raheem Fletcher, was sentenced to 7 years in prison for Manslaughter. In 2001, Kelvin Jones pleaded guilty to the murder. The three remaining group members finished their third album LB IV Life
, released in September 1999. The effort fell short critically and commercially, failing to provide any Hot 100 hits, and failing to reach Gold status. The three split-up after the release, and lead MC Mr. Cheeks began a solo career. He released his first solo effort John P. Kelly in 2001, which featured the smash hit "Lights, Camera, Action!". The album also featured a heartfelt tribute song to Freaky Tah, titled "Till We Meet Again", featuring Bob Marley
's son Stephen
. Cheeks released another album in 2003, titled Back Again!, then followed in 2004 with Ladies & Ghettomen. On January 16, 2004, DJ Spigg Nice was tried and convicted of multiple bank robberies in New Jersey
and was sentenced to 37 years in prison.http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=2798 The group released a compilation album Lost Boyz Forever
in 2005, featuring past hits and previously unreleased material. Lost Boyz reunited in 2010. A new single was released on their website. It's called "Haaay".
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
group from South Jamaica, Queens
South Jamaica, Queens
South Jamaica, known colloquially as Southside & Southside Jamaica Queens, is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, located south of downtown Jamaica, the Long Island Rail Road tracks Jamaica Avenue and Liberty Avenue. The western border is the Van Wyck Expressway, and it...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The original group members were lead MC Mr. Cheeks
Mr. Cheeks
Mr. Cheeks is a Grammy Award winning rapper best known for his work with the musical group Lost Boyz, and his career as a solo artist.-Biography:...
, backup MC and promoter Freaky Tah (1971–1999), DJ Spigg Nice and Pretty Lou.
Recording career
In 1995, the group released their debut single "Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless", charting on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. The release landed them a record deal with Uptown Records
Uptown Records
Uptown Records was an American record label, founded by Andre Harrell in 1986. It went on to become one of the most popular Hip-Hop and R&B labels of the late 1980's and early 1990s. Featured on the roster were such luminaries as Guy, Heavy D & The Boyz, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, and Soul for Real...
. The group contributed a single to the Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood is a 1996 parody film by Shawn and Marlon Wayans. Similarly to I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, the film spoofs a number of black, coming-of-age, 'hood films' such as Juice, Jungle Fever, South Central, Higher Learning, Do the Right...
soundtrack, titled "Renee
Renee (song)
"Renee" is a song by rap group Lost Boyz from their second studio album Legal Drug Money and the Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood soundtrack. It samples the Janet Jackson song "Funny How Time Flies "...
". The song became a major hit, breaking into the Top 40 on the Hot 100 chart. The single also reached Gold status in 1996. On June 4, 1996, they released their debut album Legal Drug Money
Legal Drug Money
Legal Drug Money is the debut album from Hip Hop group Lost Boyz, featuring members Mr. Cheeks, Freaky Tah, DJ Spigg Nice and Pretty Lou. The album featured 5 major hits "Renee", "Music Makes Me High", "Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz", "Get Up" and "Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless"...
. The work was highly acclaimed, and the album featured five Hot 100 hits, including their past singles "Lifestyles of the Rich & Shameless", "Renee", as well as "Music Makes Me High", "Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz" and "Get Up". The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in late 1996. Their second album, Love, Peace & Nappiness
Love, Peace & Nappiness
Love, Peace & Nappiness is the second album from Queens, New York Hip Hop group Lost Boyz. The album wasn't as widely accepted as their debut, Legal Drug Money, but still managed to sell over 500,000 copies...
, was released on June 17, 1997 on Uptown
Uptown Records
Uptown Records was an American record label, founded by Andre Harrell in 1986. It went on to become one of the most popular Hip-Hop and R&B labels of the late 1980's and early 1990s. Featured on the roster were such luminaries as Guy, Heavy D & The Boyz, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, and Soul for Real...
/Universal Records
Universal Records
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
. It featured another Hot 100 hit single, "Me & My Crazy World". One of the most famous songs on the album was the posse-cut "Beasts From The East", featuring A+, Redman and Canibus
Canibus
Germaine Williams , better known by his stage name Canibus, is a Jamaican-born American rapper. He is a part of supergroup The HRSMN. Canibus rose to fame in the mid-nineties...
. The album wasn't as acclaimed as their debut, but fared well commercially, reaching Gold status in late 1997.
In 1996, the group appeared on the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
's compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly
America Is Dying Slowly
America Is Dying Slowly is a compilation album, the eighth in the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series of recorded by the Red Hot Organization...
, alongside Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
, Coolio
Coolio
Artis Leon Ivey Jr. , better known by the stage name Coolio, is an American musician, rapper, actor and record producer.-Late 80s:He recorded two singles in the late 80s, titled "Watcha Gonna Do" and "You're Gonna Miss Me"...
, and Fat Joe
Fat Joe
Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
, among others. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as "a masterpiece" by The Source
The Source (magazine)
The Source is a United States-based, monthly full-color magazine covering hip-hop music, politics, and culture, founded in 1988. It is the world's second longest running rap periodical, behind United Kingdom-based publication Hip Hop Connection. The Source was founded as a newsletter in 1988...
magazine.
On the night of March 28, 1999, at a birthday party for Mr. Cheeks, Freaky Tah was shot in the head while exiting the Sheraton Hotel in Queens. Tah was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:20 am, at the age of 27. The getaway driver, Raheem Fletcher, was sentenced to 7 years in prison for Manslaughter. In 2001, Kelvin Jones pleaded guilty to the murder. The three remaining group members finished their third album LB IV Life
LB IV Life
LB IV Life is the last studio album recorded by Hip Hop group Lost Boyz. Member Freaky Tah was murdered exactly 6 months before the release, but makes multiple appearances here. The album fell short commercially and critically, failing to reach Gold status, and failing to produce any hits. Lead MC Mr...
, released in September 1999. The effort fell short critically and commercially, failing to provide any Hot 100 hits, and failing to reach Gold status. The three split-up after the release, and lead MC Mr. Cheeks began a solo career. He released his first solo effort John P. Kelly in 2001, which featured the smash hit "Lights, Camera, Action!". The album also featured a heartfelt tribute song to Freaky Tah, titled "Till We Meet Again", featuring Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
's son Stephen
Stephen Marley (musician)
Stephen Robert Nesta "Raggamuffin" Marley is a Jamaican American musician and the son of reggae legend Bob Marley and his wife Rita Marley. He is a five-time Grammy award winner as an artist, producer, and member of Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers.-Life and career:Marley was born in Wilmington,...
. Cheeks released another album in 2003, titled Back Again!, then followed in 2004 with Ladies & Ghettomen. On January 16, 2004, DJ Spigg Nice was tried and convicted of multiple bank robberies in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and was sentenced to 37 years in prison.http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=2798 The group released a compilation album Lost Boyz Forever
Lost Boyz Forever
Lost Boyz Forever is a compilation album from Hip Hop group The Lost Boyz. Group member Freaky Tah was murdered in 1999, and the three remaining members split after their album LB IV Life. DJ Spigg Nice was sentenced to prison after a string of bank robberies, leaving only Mr...
in 2005, featuring past hits and previously unreleased material. Lost Boyz reunited in 2010. A new single was released on their website. It's called "Haaay".
Discography
- Legal Drug MoneyLegal Drug MoneyLegal Drug Money is the debut album from Hip Hop group Lost Boyz, featuring members Mr. Cheeks, Freaky Tah, DJ Spigg Nice and Pretty Lou. The album featured 5 major hits "Renee", "Music Makes Me High", "Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz", "Get Up" and "Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless"...
(1996) - Love, Peace & NappinessLove, Peace & NappinessLove, Peace & Nappiness is the second album from Queens, New York Hip Hop group Lost Boyz. The album wasn't as widely accepted as their debut, Legal Drug Money, but still managed to sell over 500,000 copies...
(1997) - LB IV LifeLB IV LifeLB IV Life is the last studio album recorded by Hip Hop group Lost Boyz. Member Freaky Tah was murdered exactly 6 months before the release, but makes multiple appearances here. The album fell short commercially and critically, failing to reach Gold status, and failing to produce any hits. Lead MC Mr...
(1999)
External links
- LB Fam Online
- [ Allmusic page]
- "Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless" music video