No Gas Face for KMD
KMD Trading Card (found at
Freemotion)
Having just given the gas face to top-40, I thought it might be fun to talk about some of the stuff I am listening to right now. For example, 1990s New York rap group KMD. KMD got their recording start working with fellow New York rappers and anti-MC Hammer raptivists 3rd Bass. The original lineup consisted of Zev Love X, his little brother DJ Subroc, and Rodan. But Rodan, who was still in high school, was replaced by Onyx the Birthstone Kid for their debut album Mr. Hood in 1991.
KMD was short-lived. Onyx left the band before making the second album, Black Bastards. And while this album was in production, DJ Subroc was struck by a car and killed while he was crossing an expressway. Zev Love completed this album on his own in 1994, but Elektra — ducking in order to allow the sarcasm and social commentary fly over their heads — shelved the album for seven years because of cover image of a picaninny hanging from a gallows.
Zev Love X disappeared for several years, finally re-emerging in 1998 as MF Doom. Black Bastards was finally released in 2001.
KMD’s style was similar to 3rd Bass, but they distinguished themselves from 3rd Bass by focusing more on social issues than music criticism and brags about genitalia size. But unlike other serious, socially-conscious groups like Arrested Development, KMD tempered Mr. Hood with humor, fun, and occasionally even self-deprication (see “Peachfuzz”). Which is why I keep coming back to this album.
