Lords of the Underground - HERE COME THE LORD

The Lords of the Underground (L.O.T.U.G.) are a hip-hop trio based out of Newark, New Jersey. MCs Mr. Funke and DoItAll Dupré met DJ Lord Jazz (a native of Cleveland) when all three were undergraduates at Shaw University.

The three are perhaps best remembered for the singles "Funky Child", "Chief Rocka" and "Tic Toc"; all of which were wildly eccentric manifestos. The music video for "Funky Child" features the group members parading around in their underwear.

Their chief producer was Marley Marl's protégé, K-Def. Pete Rock remixed their songs "Flow On" and "Check It" in 1994 .

In their initial releases, their first two albums Here Come The Lords (1993) and Keepers of the Funk (1994), earned them an award from Black Entertainment Television in 1993 . They collaborated with George Clinton; their second album's title track, which samples his work, features him in a cameo. The track is generally more abrasive and less conventionally tuneful in its instrumentation than most of their work.

Gangster posturing was rhetorically referenced, but never outright indulged in, by the group, except on their 1995 single "Burn Rubber", which took a cavalier pro-carjacking attitude and featured a line where Mr. Funke unapologetically said he'd "even jeopardize [his] friends" for the sake of a jacking. However, the song was recorded for and prominently featured in the Newark car-jacking film "New Jersey Drive," and can be seen as a reflection of that film's mentality, as well as the popularity of joyriding carjacks in that city in the 1990s, rather than an endorsement of violent crime. Because their dalliance in gangsterism was half-hearted, they were one of a number of groups lost in the shuffle when gangsta rap became dominant.

Their reunion album Resurrection (1999), released via Queen Latifah's Jersey Kidz imprint, was so small-scale a release that few realized it had been recorded. Da Brat made an appearance on it.

The Lords are best remembered in connection with the golden age of hip hop. As such, when Nas, a legend of East Coast hip hop, decided in 2007 to do a remix of his song "Where Are They Now?" (which asked of the fates of several long-forgotten golden age rappers). The Lords were among those requested to appear. DoItAll Dupré performs eight bars on the track. The others featured include Positive K, Father MC, Rob Base, Redhead Kingpin, Monie Love, and members of Black Sheep, Salt-N-Pepa, Three Times Dope, the Jungle Brothers, the Fu-Schnickens and Das EFX.

DoItAll appeared briefly in the final scene of the final episode of The Sopranos credited as Du Kelly, as one of a series of potentially ominous figures entering the diner.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• rap
• hip-hop

[dezzerkent5]

the beat at 2.22 is the most ill beat i herd

[rokra2]

4 so ! i love it to

[HHCarbee]

they forced me to learn english...i´m german

;( xcuse me mista funkyman

[719kai719]

I was actually a student at Shaw University when this video was made on the campus. I was somewhere in their with my friends, though its so many people. Good that the represented Shaw and it was very exciting that they made their video on the campus! I don't know what happened to their career after that ,but they were good then!

[seanc1906]

LOL, I remember watching this as a kid...little did I know I'd grow up to be an Alpha

[danjaflava]

damn sonnn

diz video is hard to find

big up for da post

"peace n knowledge

[BallsKid2007]

i suggest to anyone who feels them cop the original CD from like amazon, I did that last summer, this has become one of my favorite CDs of all time because all the tracks are explosive, hip hop back then was pure energy unlike today u can play a song once and its done because it only has a hot beat and no content, I feel Mr Funke the most he really pulls a lot of the weight for this group on all the tracks

[RussellAthletics]

I see you Frat you better rep that A Phi A. A Phiiiii!!!!!06!!!!!!!

[obilinx1]

the shaw university is where the graduate and first met each other

[pimppolice1986]

this video was shot in raleigh north carolina,,shaw university.....about 3 blocks from my parents home

[egokilla732]

another ill jersey rap group somebody told me that redman used be there dj before lord jaz