The Zoo Crew from Brick City, New Jersey, is a multifaceted community initiative that began in 1991. Initially, it was a group of friends organizing parties and events for young adults in Newark, providing much-needed recreational activities for those aged 21–27.
Over time, the Zoo Crew expanded its mission to include youth development and community engagement. In 1996, they established the Zoo Crew Basketball program to offer young people an alternative to street life. This program has positively impacted thousands of lives over the past 25 years.
All the members are from different parts of New Jersey, but a street called Chadwick ave in Newark was where they all called home base. That's where the Zoo Crew was born...
The interesting part is that the Zoo Crew was also in the music business. In the early 90s, 2 members named Supreme C. and L-Boogie founded the record label Zoo Crew Records. They dropped 3 records featuring Quan Capone, Supreme C. and MRKD Men. which remain very hard to find nowadays !
"Time To Think" is the debut 12" released by Supreme C in 1992. The wax contains 4 songs on the A-side titled "Mad Props", "Fatal Attraction", "Stray Bullet" and "Time To Think", all produced by Pzaz.
The B-side contains all the instrumentals.
If you're looking for more info about Supreme C., you need to know that he felt into hip-hop when he was very young. His father had a record collection with Jazz, James Brown and some of the first hip-hop records like Rappers Delight. He was a kid that gotinto graffiti and breakdancing as the culture developed. He was born in Brooklyn so he used to travel a lot all over the city so he was exposed to all the elements of hip-hop from an early age. Then his family settled in New Jersey so between the back and forth he became a seasoned emcee. When he was coming out his Piers were artists like Nas, Biggie, MOP. He was influenced by the Zulu nation and then later the 5% nation, so Eric B & Rakim was a big influence on him.
Although there is nothing else released officially between "Time To Think" and his appearance on the tracks "Neva Faded" released by Lords Of The Underground in 1994 or "Lick A Shot" released by Rottin Razkals in 1995, Supreme C. worked on a bunch of material during this period. He was a ghostwriter for the group Da Youngsta's from Philly, Pa. Marley Marl asked him to help him to produce the album "No Mercy" after the first time he met him and heard him. Marley did the tracks and Supreme C. did most of the songs ("Hip Hop Ride" / "Mad Props" / "No Mercy" / "Backstabbers"/ "No More Hard Times"). 2 unreleased albums were also recorded but never saw the light of day : One when Queen Latifah gave him his first deal on Flavor Unit and the second one when he was on RCA records.
"Funkin With The Wrong People" is a 5-song EP delivered by the MRKD Men in 1992, a group comprised of 2 emcees named Big Rell & Pzaz who also managed all the productions. The A-side contains the tracks "Stroke", "Bashin Heads W/A Concept", "P-Funk" and "Keepin On", and the B-side contains the track "Standin On The Block" and 3 instrumentals.
Pzaz was dope as a producer and he also had Rhymes. At that time Supreme C. was the primary artist and Zoo Crew Records plan was to introduce Pzaz as they grew. For your knowledge, you need to know that in addition to producing for his Crew, Pzaz also produced for other Brick City groups such as Black Widow Society and Newark Natives, who were dropped on cassette tape at the time.
The last 12" was dropped by Quan Capone who was not a real artist... Quan was an official street dude and not a rapper. Supreme C. actually wrote that song for him and it was almost a joke, Supreme C. was trying to encourage guys in the crew to pick up the mic because he knew the game was changing and they had amazing opportunity ahead of them. The wax came out around 1992-1993 and contains 4 songs entitled "Fuck What You Heard", "All Caged In", "Big Fu"and the lead single "Get a Grip", all produced by Supreme C.and Pzaz of Mrkd Men.
Newark,NJ-based DJ/Producer DJ ES-P drops the first visuals from his upcoming "The Lab Mixtape" which will be released this summer (Digital and Physical Format). The album features Big Remo, yUthe78er and El Da Sensei, just to name a few... Stay Tuned !
Here is another wax which is really cheap and easy to grab... it's the debut 12" released by the Brick City-based emcee Loose (The Lyrical Living Legend).
It was released in 1997 on Lost Trybe Records a record label managed by Govna Mattic a.k.a The Governer (RIP).
The A-side contains the track "Say What" produced by Gudda Budda Productions (DJ Rob, Gudda Budda & Mr Pito) which was mostly managed by Gudda Budda a.k.a Glenn S.O.N Faide (RIP), who was also known for his productions for the Lost Boyz.
The B-side contains the track "It Don't Stop" produced by AlTariq Hannah a.k.a DJ Alize for Section 8 Music. Both songs are available in their Radio Edit, Street and Instrumental versions.
It seems that an album entitled "All Hell Breaks Loose" was planned at the time but it never saw the light of day. After that 12", Loose appeared on DMX's multi-platinum debut album and was reviewed in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine (March 1999) for the release of his 5-Track demo. Then he dropped a second single produced by P. Killer Tracks of the Ruff Ryders... that 's all I know ! Peace
Here is the second 12" released on Tribal-Child Records by Raw Elements from Newark,NJ , a group consisted of four members named King Vega Roc, Nasty Onasis, the Buzzsaw Greg Gee and the Queen Nemesis.
The wax came out in 1997 and is composed of the tracks "Changin' Seasons" (Radio Edit / Raw Edit / Instrumental) on the A-side also called the Water Side, "20 Below" (Radio Mix / Instrumental) and "Elz 4 Life" (Remix) on the flip side also called the Earth Side . All the tracks are produced by Michael "Vega" Allman a.k.a King Vega Roc.
It was the last official 12" dropped by Raw Elements. Later, the crew teamed up with a group called the Pact and became BlackWatuz a.k.a BlackWatuz Cipher, which released their debut 12" single, "Da' Kitchen" on Cipher Records and Echo International in 1999 .
There is a bunch of 12" released on white label during the 90s. A lot of crap for the most part but some interesting material sometimes. It is the case for that one due to the good quality of the tracks pressed on it, "On the Real" performed by Nas and produced by Marley Marl on the A-side and "Coast II Coast " performed by an unknown emcee named Jac Swinga on the B-side
Let me give you some info about Jac Swinga... his track "Coast II Coast" was released in 1997 on Undaground Buttas, a white label managed by a lady (don't know her name, sorry) from around Canal St in NYC back then. The track is produced by a guy named Jack Beats from Elizabeth, New Jersey. All I can say about Jac Swinga is that he is from Newark, NJ and he is the little brother of DoItAll, 1/3 of the legendary group Lords Of The Underground, who was like his mentor and who also features on the track by the way.
This white label is really cheap and definitely something to grab to expand your hip-hop vinyl collection.
Brand new 7" released by Chopped Herring Records yesterday ! Here are 2 previously unreleased joints "B.U.K. (Wild Out)" feat Great Dane and "The Gunz Won't Do It", recorded around '96 by FIERCE (Ferocious Intellect Equaling Rap's Cause and Effect) from Newark, NJ.
Let's talk about this 12" released by the duo T.H.U.G.G.S which stands for The Hardest Unit God Gave Society, consisted of Triple SS (Sass) and Maad Skills from Newark, NJ.
Triple SS (Sass) & Maad Skills
The 12" came out in 1995 on Word Is Bond Productions a record label managed by two smooth OG's named Keith Mack and Frankie Lane. The Track "Move Your Body" on the Logo Side was produced by Kasem Coleman a.k.a Mixture (for Noise System Ent.) and "Freaky Flow" on the flip side was produced by Mixture and T.H.U.G.G.S.
Recently, I was lucky to talk with Mixture and he explained to me when he started producing and how he met the members of T.H.U.G.G.S.
Mixture : "I got into hip-hop from the early days. I'm a 70's baby so from Rappers Delight going forward I was into it. I started producing beats around 1985 with a Roland DR.Rhythm drum machine, a Cassio non-midi keyboard sampler, and a Tascam 4 track cassette recorder. My first official released production was on M.C. Peaches "More than Just a Pretty Face" on East/West Records (through First Priority Music/Bum Rush of which I was managed by) in 1991.
I met Triple SS (Sass) and Madd Skillz when I was the hip-hop engineer and programmer at the famous House of Music. It was a house that had four studios in it. Based in West Orange, NJ artist from all over Essex County, NJ all the way to NYC were clients. Keith Mack and Frankie Lane, the owners of Word is Bond Productions brought them up for sessions and we started vibing. I played them some beats of mine and the rest was history. The single was the only release worked on Sass ultimately became an associate member of the Outsidaz with Young Zee, Pace One, Rah Digga, etc..."
Rick Da 'Bro is an artist from Newark, NJ (East Orange). His "Unsigned" EP came out in 1996 on F.Records. All the tracks were produced by DefscottyB a.k.a Spaz , except "Casket" and "Next Nig Love" produced by Parafenalya.
This is the only one physical release I know from Rick Da 'Bro.
In 2011, my man OGDonNinja uploaded on his youtube channel 2 demos from 1994 produced by Spaz, but don't know if a demo tape exists.
Everyone knows that Brick City was full of good Hip-Hop artists in the early 90s, and Hardwe're is the good example ! Hardwe're was a group composed of Kmack, Little 7 and Hahz the Rippa from Newark, NJ (Forest Hill).
The crew was formed in 1992, Kmack and Little 7 were childhood friends and they met Hahz at a contest at Club 88. Hahz came in 1st place and Little 7 came in 2nd !
They were active during that period but no trace of a physical release until 1995, except maybe Little 7's Demo Tape from 1993 which has been recently uploaded on youtube.
Nick Wiz also hit us recently with some unreleased Hardwe’re joints on his Cellar Sounds compilations. Tracks like "The Bricks" or "Fill In The Blanks" were recorded in 1994 but never came out.
"I met Nick thru Marc Ecko the big clothing designer. He wanted me on his free mixtape he used to give out with his Ecko shirt. So he hooked up with Nick" - Little 7
In 1995, came out their first 12-Inches "Comin' From Da Hood / Intimidation" which is considered as a classic and the most interesting record from their full discography.
The wax came out on Tough Tool Entertainment. and was produced by Hahz the Rippa, Phlex Dog and the well-known Clark Kent.
We're lucky because the video of the Single "Comin' From Da Hood" was uploaded earlier this year by Wayne J. Keeley, the guy who produced and directed the video.
After that, the group dropped few other 12" on the label Non-stop Entertainment and one track on Mark Ecko's tape "Reborn - Underground Airplay Vol. 5" but unfortunately an album never came out. "We kept breaking up. Our last deal was went Jay-Z gave us a deal with Rocafella Records. He actually make us get back together in order to do the deal. Unfortunately we still broke up 3 months into the deal. This is why a Hardwe're album never came out." - Little 7
"Gov Mattic, also known as Tha Governer, got into the hip-hop scene early on as a member of the local Newark, New Jersey hip-hop collective Revolutionary Party of Terrace. The group formed in the late 1980's and included such up-and-comers as Redman and several rappers that would become part of the group Lords Of The Underground. In the 1990's Gov Mattic teamed up with another local Newark hip-hop artist to form the group Diezzle Don & Tha Govener. The duo released two albums, 1995 (Year Of The Independent) (1995) and "Hell Up In Newark" (1998). Gov Mattic continued to appear on underground mixtape releases and was known more for his production work."
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