The crew with the Juice

Keep It Oldskool  Presents Artists Profile 
   The Juice Crew


  In this era of Maybach Music,Young Money,The Apple Dumpling Gang (not a real crew but could be) It is a given that a crew of M.Cs hang and bang together. It is rare though that  ALL of the MCs in the clique are lethal. During the 80s one the most potent crews/super groups was the Juice Crew.  The Juice Crew was the creation of Legendary Producer Marley Marl and manager Tyrone "Fly Ty" Williams. The origins of the Juice Crew was an "answer record" by 15 year old Roxanne Shante. Taking a hugely popular UTFO song like "Roxanne Roxanne" and recording an answer "Roxanne's Revenge" was all the catalyst that Marley needed to branch out and start building a crew.

 

His 2nd recruit was MC Shan. Shan was the Kangol and Puma wearing fly talker from Queensbridge Projects. He burst on to the seen dissing his Queens counterpart LL Cool J. It was the B-side single of the LL dis that got Shan really noticed. "The Bridge" was an ode to "where THEY came from" The Juice Crew began to form and soon two of the greatest MCs to ever do it would be become part of the family.

With the crew rounding into form Shante's beat boxer and sometimes MC Biz Markie joined the fold. Biz Markie was the quintessential party M.C. A Biz Markie song was going to be 2 things a lot of fun and a beat that you could dance to. Fly Ty had signed a distribution deal with Warner Brothers and created Cold Chillin' Records. Both M.C Shan and Biz Markie debut albums were released by Cold Chillin'.

A writer of some Biz Markie songs and being a homie from Brooklyn, Big Daddy Kane became a member of the Juice Crew. Kane was a rapper who could rhyme in any style you wanted. He offered rapid fire delivery or smooth lyrics. Kane was also the ladies man of the Juice Crew as most of the ladies loved Big Daddy Kane. 

Another all time great M.C that joined the crew was Kool G Rap. G Rap's DJ (Polo) was on friendly terms with Marley Marl mentor and WHBI-FM (NYC) radio personality Mr. Magic. That association allowed Kool G Rap and DJ Polo to record in his studio "Its a Demo" From that initial meeting Marley requested that G Rap join the collective.

Rounding the original lineup was  Master Ace, Craig G and Tragedy. They were every bit a part of the crew and all were very good M.Cs in their own right. It was through no fault of theirs that they were sometimes overshadowed. 
 

With the Juice Crew set, Marley set about to let the world know that he was with "the crew with the Juice" The Juice Crew boasted some of the hottest M.Cs in the game. When they came together to do songs it was well you know, a Symphony. With the release of "In Control Volume 1" in 1988 Marley had an album with songs composed of almost exclusively by Juice Crew members.The album's stand out song was "The Symphony"  although the track did not feature Shante or Shan it is mentioned as one of the greatest posse cuts of all time. 

During the time the Juice Crew were ascending to the top of Hip Hop, they had a serious challenge in the form a crew from the Bronx. Boogie Down Productions whose front man was all time great M.C Krs One did not take kindly to Juice Crew affiliate Mr Magic not playing their demo. This started the Shan vs Krs One battle songs dissing each other. From "The Bridge is Over" to "Kill that Noise" this battle on wax launched the career of Krs One.

Like all great things the crew did break up. One of the last songs that featured most of the Juice Crew was 1991s "Symphony Part 2" . At that point Hip Hop was changing and most of the crew went their own way. The crew breaking up doesn't take away from that even today the Juice Crew is one of Hip Hop's greatest crews ever put together. Every crew since then rightly or wrongly is compared to the Juice Crew. Some measure up and some do not. The Juice Crew's legacy is that all crews do not have to be top heavy (meaning there is one standout M.C. and the rest are just along for the ride)

Juice Crew Members albums and the years they came out

Albums listed are only the ones made while Juice Crew members

These albums were either Cold Chillin' releases or were produced by 

Marley Marl

Roxanne Shante 

Bad Sister (1989)

MC Shan

Down By Law  (1987)

Born to be Wild (1988) 

Biz Markie

Goin' Off  (1988)

The Biz Never Sleeps (1989)

Big Daddy Kane

Long Live the Kane (1988)

It's a Big Daddy Thing (1989)

Kool G Rap and DJ Polo

 Road to the Riches (1989)

Master Ace

Take a Look Around (1990)

Craig G

The Kingpin (1989)

Tragedy 

 Intelligent Hoodlum (1990)

KEEP IT OLDSKOOL