I've been a huge Natural Elements fan and everything affiliated with this crew since day one. The first three 12-inches dropped by the group Raidermen are something that I instantly bought when they were released in 1996/1997.
I don't have a lot of info about G-Blass, but I've got more about Stex... He was raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn and he fell into hip-hop during the 80s, as a basement DJ first, but also as a graffiti writer who tagged and pieced trains from Brooklyn to the Bronx, with Hash, Cope 2, Surf, Saz and Dezzy Dez (also known as Kay Slay of the Drama Hour... RIP). As he said to me... "Hip hop and Graffiti went together like a foot and a shoe."
G-Blass & Stex formed Raidermen in 1996. After meeting Charlemagne through a friend of his, Stex met G-Blass at the Bronx studio in Vidal Goring's attic. G-Blass said that Stex had lyrics, so he asked him to work together on a record. After that, every Saturday they made joints.
"Magnetic" was followed the same year by the singles "Top Dollar" & "Strategy". "Top Dollar" on the A-side was produced by Charlemagne, G-Blass and Stex with cuts by DJ Finesse. On the B-side, "Strategy" featuring Natural Elements, Sean Price, Lace Da Booms and Mike Zoot, was produced by Shaself.
Two other 12-inches were released in 1998 after that one, but I've never bought them. There are no more Raidermen records after the last 12" and the Raidermen album never saw the light of day unfortunately... Stex became Stocky Stex and then started a group called the Fugitives, with Born Sinn & Sinister Zoe. He also produced most of the Fugitives recordings.
