Tha Lowa ‎- Tha Lowa EP - 1994

EP - 1994 - Massacres Production

Photo courtesy of L Aleam Morgan

Tha Lowa was a NYC based group from Alphabet City (Lillian Wald Housing) in the Lower East Side and was composed of Durty Rob, Da Uzi and Terra Devil. The crew was formed in 1993 and was also known under the name of L.E.S Niggas. 
Their first appearance was their demo on the ultra rare "Phat Flavor '93 Unsigned Hip Hop" tape.

Photo courtesy of Justine Juice 

Da Uzi : "We all grew up together in the same project at the time we got started, we were all pretty much working on solo projects except for Terra he had a partner that went by the name of Bal short for Balance . I had a friend of mine that was for the most part managing me that went by the name of Big Shot and together we decided to form the Lowa. Terra was locked in a contract which initially stalled the union. I was able to run into Terra’s manager and through some let’s say persuasive dialogue was able to free Terra from the contract."

Tha Lowa EP came out in 1994 on Massacres Production (originally named Mass Acres), a record label originally founded by Da Uzi and Elroy Gay a.k.a Big Shot. Technically the record is considered to be a Maxi-Single and not an EP because the songs content is the same for both sides and is just remixes, not different records due to the lyrics. Artwork for the record was done by artist Dontay TC5.

Most of the tracks were produced by EZ-M a.k.a Eddie Matos except the remixes of "Hard 2 Get" and "Never Give Up" which were produced by Mad Man Scheme. 

Da Uzi : "We were all from the Lower East Side, just different parts, and were all involved in that Lower East Side music scene. Through mutual friends we all came together." 


Mad Man Scheme a.k.a "The Scheme Almighty" was an active member for the L.E.S Hip-Hop community. He was a member of The Bellevue Bound Crew and was also known as "Scheme" the graffiti artist. In the early and mid 90s, he did productions for The Bellevue Bound Crew, Balance & Terror, Main One and more...

Scheme : "The record was really a vinyl demo and was only used for promo not for sale at the time. Only about 500 copies were made, which lead to its bootlegging by some Japanese guys a few years back. I believe it became sought after due to a mention in a book by Freddy Fresh as a classic 90's record.

I knew the guys from the group from the neighborhood and I had worked with them as solo artists prior to the group being formed. We sort of grew up together. My boy "EZ" Eddie Matos of House music fame was working with them at the time, they were going to the studio to record his songs with them when I got a call that morning. He did the original versions of the songs on the maxi-single and asked if I was interested in doing some remixes but only had about an hour or so before they left to the studio. I quickly grabbed a bunch of records I already had lying around and threw together the remixes in about 45 mins. I met them and recorded the remixes to their songs with different vocals but with the same lyrics as the originals for the most part, different order and such. EZ was credited as the producer and I was credited as the Remix producer. (Side note*) I was not paid for my work, I just wanted to help the group, I was already working with signed artists and developing for labels back then. 

The rappers Da-Uzi, Terra and Dirty Rob worked the song well as a group. I believe their solo efforts were good but worked so much better as a group because their voices were very unique. They did a few demos after the record's release to the record pools and DJs but they were never to record and make a vinyl record again. The demos were supposed to be for an album that never happened. Unfortunately the masters were lost and DATs were destroyed. Maybe the reels are in the possession of the executive producer "Big Shot" but I can't say for certain because he never confirmed that he has them."

This record will be the only one released by Tha Lowa... after the release of the vinyl, the streets were so much more appealing at the time, one of the members had got serious law problems and had been locked up ... as a result the group ended.  

Massive Props to Da Uzi and Scheme