Skemen - Under Pressure - 1995

12" - 1995 - Skemen Records 

Let's talk about this very good 12" which isn't really hard to find but is a must have in your collection, released by the duo named Skemen who consisted of KC and Gab hailing from Chelsea Projects in Brownsville, Brooklyn. 

Gab & KC - Photo courtesy of KC a.k.a Mystere Jones

KC : "In 93 we officially formed the group Skemen. Back then we used to wear ski mask and ski coats with baggy Guess jeans lol. Ske (Ski) - Men (2 of us) = Skemen..." 

The wax is composed of 2 tracks, "Under Pressure" on the A-Side which is the lead single of the record produced solely by KC, and "Size 'Em Up Play 'Em" on the B-Side produced by FMS and featuring other Brooklyn-based artists like Rock The MC a.k.a Roc Da Guard, Tone, Unraveltry. The 12" came out on Skemen Records  in 1995, a record label managed by KC. 

KC : "The connection with Rock The MC, Tone and Unraveltry happened through a local barbershop in Brownsville Brooklyn that they would frequent and shared the same interest in NYC Hip Hop, then decided to collaborate on some music.

FMS which was short for "Foreign Mix Sounds", consisted of two brothers from Brooklyn named D Sorce & Dirty Ox. Their family is from Honduras, hence where we get the "Foreign" in FMS... The Barbershop is what connected us all..."

 For those who don't know yet ... after that 12", Roc Da Guard and KC founded the Group called 'Da Noe Doe Network' and released a few 12" singles and EP in 1996 and 1997. 

Photo courtesy of KC a.k.a Mystere Jones

KC : "I guess we never expected the record would have such an impact. After that we focused more on Noe Doe group projects, but there was a Skemen's album in the works tho..."

As I know that most of Skemen tracks were produced by KC, we could expect that the unreleased album could see the light of day soon ... fingers crossed !

Mad props to Mystere Jones, thanks for your time.