Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Ugly Duckling

 
Artist: Ugly Duckling
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Similar Artists:

Jungle Brothers, The Pharcyde, Digable Planets, A Tribe Called Quest, Rob Base, De La Soul, Soul Position, Biz Markie, Jurassic 5, Iller Than Theirs, Typical Cats

Influenced By:

The Fat Boys, Whodini, Run-D.M.C., Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth

Followers:

Winnie Coopers
See Ugly Duckling Lyrics
  • Genres: Rap
  • Representative Albums: "Bang for the Buck", "Best of Ugly Duckling

Biography

Comparable to De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, the Pharcyde, the Jungle Brothers, and Digable Planets, Ugly Duckling is a quirky, jazz-influenced alternative rap trio who formed in the Los Angeles suburb of Long Beach in 1995. Group members Dizzy, Young Einstein, and Andy Cat started collaborating around 1995, and the hip-hoppers took the name Ugly Duckling because they felt like outcasts on the Southern California hip-hop scene of the mid-'90s. Gangsta rap was the West Coast's dominant hip-hop trend at the time, and Ugly Duckling's members had no interest in the type of macho posturing and violent, threatening lyrics for which gangsta rap was known. In 1998, the group put out "Fresh Mode," a single that sold more than 3,000 copies and seemed to get a buzz going. Later that year, Ugly Duckling was signed to 1500 Records (initially a subsidiary of Interscope/Universal) and recorded their debut EP, which was also titled Fresh Mode and came out in 1999; Journey to Anywhere followed a year later. In 2003, Taste the Secret was released. They later signed to the Brooklyn-based independent hip-hop label Fat Beats, where they issued Bang for the Buck (2006) and Audacity (2008) . ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Ugly Duckling (hip hop group)
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Question book-new.svg
 This article does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009)

Ugly Duckling is a hip hop group that formed in 1993 in Long Beach, California. Ugly Duckling's members include Dizzy Dustin (Dustin McFarland), Young Einstein (Rodney Pleasant Jr) and Andy Cooper. The group's style is alternative hip hop, influenced especially by old school performers such as the Native Tongues. Most of their songs follow the creed that hip hop is about having fun and often mock the clichéd gangsta emcees who dominate the mainstream. An example of this can be heard in the song "A Little Samba" and in "Smack," in which they rhyme about the enormous wealth about which mainstream emcees brag, and the ridiculous nature of their possessions, such as gold name plates on their cars, pet sharks, and jetting off to Bermuda on private planes. Andy Cooper professes himself to be a follower of Christ and a Christian, as does Young Einstein on his Facebook page. The band's songs often incorporating Christian themes such as love, forgiveness and rejection of worldly values. Some songs include lyrics pertaining to the biblical End Times. Both Young Einstein[1] and Dizzy Dustin[2] have Facebook pages where fans are encouraged to keep up-to-date with the band's antics, tours and music releases. Young Einstein daily posts inspirational phrases he collects from the internet onto his Facebook page for people to read and comment on.

Being heavily influenced by old school hip hop, it conforms to the original basics of hip hop music: turntablism and MCing. The group's DJ, Young Einstein, forms the backbone of the group: he is renowned for performing very complex scratches both on the record and live, unlike in most modern hip hop where the DJ has been pushed to the back in order to emphasize the emcee. He is also the owner of a famous 'dookie gold rope' that is the subject of the group's song "Eye on the Gold Chain," and is donned by Einstein during most live performances of the track. The group is renowned for its live shows in which they perform various antics on stage and interact with the crowd, getting it very hyped and affording them the reputation as brilliant live performers.

Their song "Smack" was featured on Tony Hawk's Project 8 game and also on skater Paul Rodriguez Jr.'s Footage soundtrack.

Their song "Get On This" was featured in the movie "Boiler Room".[3]

Their song "Turn It Up" was featured in the movie "Eurotrip".[4]

Contents

Discography

Albums

EPs

  • Fresh Mode (originally released on Bad Magic Records, 20 April 1999, Cat. No: MAGICCD1. Re-released on 1500/A&M/Interscope/Universal Records)
  • The Leftovers EP (Earshot, 2003)

Singles

  • Everybody, C'mon (Bad Magic/1500 Records, 1999)
  • Now Who's Laughin' (Bad Magic Records, 1999)
  • I Did it Like This (XL Recordings, 2000)
  • A Little Samba (XL Recordings, 2001)
  • A Little Samba (Remixes) (XL Recordings, 2001)
  • Eye on the Gold Chain (XL Recordings, 2001)
  • Eye on the Gold Chain (Remixes) (XL Recordings, 2001)
  • Dumb it Down (Emperor Norton/Rykodisc Records, 2003)
  • Pass it On (Emperor Norton/Rykodisc Records, 2003)
  • Rio de Janeiro (Emperor Norton/Rykodisc Records, 2003)
  • Turn it Up (Emperor Norton/Rykodisc Records, 2003)
  • Get Ready (2004)
  • Yudee! (Fat Beats, 2005)
  • Smack (Fat Beats, 2006)
  • Left Behind (Fat Beats, 2006)
  • Left Behind (Wichita Mix) (Fat Beats, 2006)

External links

  1. ^ http://www.facebook.com/youngeinstein?ref=ts
  2. ^ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=524756252&ref=nf
  3. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181984/soundtrack
  4. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356150/soundtrack

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ugly Duckling (hip hop group)".  Read more