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Damon Wimbley,
best known as Kool Rock-ski and one-third of the Fat
Boys, is the
"dominating MC"...The Rock Man can be found in the gym where he works
hard to stay slim and trim; weighing in at 185 pounds, Kool Rock is
serious about his weight. Kool Rock was excited to work with Chris Rock
at the MTV Music Awards and would love a chance to work with him again.
Delighted to be in front of the camera as much as he is to be on the
mic, Kool Rock is focused on his return to what he does best and is
looking forward to his TV show. Currently residing in New York, Kool
Rock can be found working in the studio with Eric B. of Eric B. and
Rakim,where he brings over two decades of hip-hop experience to the
Uncle Louie Managment Production Team.
Check out the Official Homepage of Kool Rock-ski today at www.KoolRockSki.com
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Mark
Morales, best known as Prince Markie Dee and
one-third of the Fat Boys, went solo during the '90s with a pair of
albums. 1992's Free, billed to Prince Markie Dee & the Soul
Convention, combined R&B with rap and was success reaching
Billboard's Top 10; the single "Typical Reasons (Swing My
Way)" topped
Billboard's rap chart, and "Trippin' Out" peaked at number ten. The
follow-up to the debut, Love Daddy, dropped in 1995.
Morales also honed
his skills as a producer; throughout the '90s and into the early 2000s,
and today, Markie Dee has racked up an impressive
number of credits,
working with the likes of Mary J. Blige, Craig Mack, Shabba Ranks,
Mariah Carey, 50 Cent, Destiny's Child, Lisa Stansfield...and
the list
goes on. Markie Dee enjoys success as the host of Miami's afternoon
drive radio show on 103.5 The Beat where he was named #1 Radio DJ in
Miami for the last three years by the Maimi Sun Post newspaper. The
Puerto Rican Prince is excited to do TV. |
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Darren
"The Human Beat Box" Robinson, Mark "Prince Markie Dee" Morales, and
Damon "Kool Rock-ski" Wimbley all grew up rapping in the
same
neighborhood. Robinson's family could not afford a drum set, so Darren
perfected a technique of making percussion like sounds with his mouth
-- hence the birth of his nickname The Human Beat Box. The group, then
known as the Disco 3, entered the Coca-Cola/Tin Pan Apple rap contest
at Radio City Music Hall and won the event hands down. But they were
disappointed -- first prize was a record contract, second prize was a
stereo, and the group wanted the stereo! In October 1983, shortly after
winning the contest, their first single, "Reality," was released on
Sutra Records. The Human Beat Box (also known as "Buff Love," "Doc
Nice," and "The Ox That Rocks"), provided a rhythm track that was a
first in recorded vocalization.
When,
during an early European tour, the trio's first manager, Charles
Stettler, was presented with a $350 hotel bill for "extra breakfasts,"
he recommended that they change their name to the Fat Boys. With that
came their second single, "Fat Boys," released in May 1984. The song
kicks off with The Human Beat Box doing what he does best, then brings
in the 808 -- the B-Boy drum machine of choice. Prince Markie Dee and
Kool Rock-ski then break into lyrics like, "I'm overweight but it ain't
no thing/ because I'm always fresh/ and guaranteed to pass any MC
contest." The song is completed with a fluid keyboard bass line and the
ever- present syncopated hand-clap snare. The most requested radio
record in New York, "Fat Boys" remained in the Top 15 for an impressive
18 weeks as it swept across the country's clubs and airwaves; the zany
video's celebration of overeating, meantime, fed the group's growing
fan base. It was at this time that the Fats Boys, along with Whodini,
LL Cool J, and Run-D.M.C., joined the first major hip-hop concert tour,
the Swatch Fresh Fest. The crew was really starting to blow up (pun
intended).
Sadly,
in early '95, The Human Beat Box was diagnosed with lymphedema, a rare
crippling disease. On December 10th, 1995, the industry lost a great
hip-hop soldier when Robinson passed away at the age of 28 from cardiac
arrest during a severe bout with respiratory flu. Prior to his death he
was working on a production deal with Sony as well as a Fat Boys
reunion album.
The group's legacy does live on. Reflecting on the Fat Boys' impact
on hip-hop, The Awesome 2 confirm, "The Fat Boys were major stars! They
took this art form to another level. Five sold-out Fresh Fest Tours!
Incredible. We had a chance to introduce the group at their first show
in Patterson, New Jersey, with the Cold Crush Brothers, and they tore
the roof down! They added the visual element of the show to hip-hop.
With the Fresh Fests you had the hard-core style of Run-D.M.C., the
smooth, mack-daddy style of Whodini, the comedic style of the Fat Boys.
They really created a niche for themselves."
If
you sit down and seriously listen to the early B-Boy material, if you
rent Krush Groove and check out their performance, if you think about
who really rocked the Fresh Fest you attended back in the day, you'll
realize the Fat Boys did indeed leave a major impression on hip-hop.
The Fat Boys represent an era in hip-hop when music was fun. When we
didn't have to kill 100 people on record to justify how "hard" we were.
When we didn't have to smoke ten bags of weed to prove a point. When we
could say "yes, there are troubles in the ghetto, but we're gonna work
through them with hope, humor, and confidence." The Fat Boys made us
laugh at ourselves as well as think about the consequences of our
actions. They possessed what many rap artists today lack -- creativity.
On stage, video,and wax, the Fat Boys stretched the stereotypical
boundaries of machismo and dared rappers to challenge their untapped
creative potential. Producers should be sampling
tracks like "Can You
Feel It" and "In The If
you sit down and seriously listen to the early B-Boy material, if you
rent Krush Groove and check out their performance, if you think about
who really rocked the Fresh Fest you attended back in the day, you'll
realize the Fat Boys did indeed leave a major impression on hip-hop.
The Fat Boys represent an era in hip-hop when music was fun. When we
didn't have to kill 100 people on record to justify how "hard" we were.
When we didn't have to smoke ten bags of weed to prove a point. When we
could say "yes, there are troubles in the ghetto, but we're gonna work
through them with hope, humor, and confidence." The Fat Boys made us
laugh at ourselves as well as think about the consequences of our
actions. They possessed what many rap artists today lack -- creativity.
On stage, video,and wax, the Fat Boys stretched the stereotypical
boundaries of machismo and dared rappers to challenge their untapped
creative potential. Producers should be sampling
tracks like "Can You
Feel It" and "In The House"; both sound just as fresh today as
they did
ten years ago!House"; both sound just as fresh
today as they did
ten years ago!If
you sit down and seriously listen to the early B-Boy material, if you
rent Krush Groove and check out their performance, if you think about
who really rocked the Fresh Fest you attended back in the day, you'll
realize the Fat Boys did indeed leave a major impression on hip-hop.
The Fat Boys represent an era in hip-hop when music was fun. When we
didn't have to kill 100 people on record to justify how "hard" we were.
When we didn't have to smoke ten bags of weed to prove a point. When we
could say "yes, there are troubles in the ghetto, but we're gonna work
through them with hope, humor, and confidence." The Fat Boys made us
laugh at ourselves as well as think about the consequences of our
actions. They possessed what many rap artists today lack -- creativity.
On stage, video,and wax, the Fat Boys stretched the stereotypical
boundaries of machismo and dared rappers to challenge their untapped
creative potential. Producers should be sampling
tracks like "Can You
Feel It" and "In The House"; both sound just as fresh today as
they did
ten years ago! |
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