T.Q.D: T.Q.D's Corner

I was recently chatting with my friend Hater Dave about 90s Hip Hop and was inspired to cook up this installment of T.Q.D's Corner.  We briefly talked about Young Black Teenagers, who are living proof that attempts at being clever can backfire rather easily if one isn't careful.  Let's start from the beginning.

Young Black Teenagers were an early ‘90s New York Hip Hop crew who sound very much their time period.  The best description of their style would be equal parts Leaders Of The New School, Das Efx, and Fu-Schnickens.  They were discovered and signed by Hank and Keith Shocklee from The Bomb Squad (see: Public Enemy).  The group members were Kamron (who you may remember as Jamal from House Party 2), First Born, DJ Skribble (who is probably better known for his days at MTV), ATA, and Tommy Never (who left after the first record). 

The story sounds normal so far, but what's the big deal?  Well…all of the members of Young Black Teenagers were white.  I recall an interview back in the day suggesting the name was a tribute the influence black culture had on them.  While that actually makes sense, most people (myself included) thought the name was corny.  Since it was known that they were a Hank and Keith Shocklee discovery, the ridicule their name received was much less then it could’ve been.

Their first album was the self titled Young Black Teenagers.  The combination of people laughing at their name and the fact that their rapping was generic for it’s time led to mediocre sales and minimal critical praise.  However, they fared slightly better next time around.

Their second and final album Dead End Kidz Doin Lifetime Bidz sold poorly as well, but they did manage to score a hit single with “Tap The Bottle”.  Those of us who watched Yo! MTV Raps back in the day saw that video in regular rotation.  With Hank and Keith Shocklee as well as Terminator X once again handling the beats, they were safe on that front and the rapping was much better this go round.  While they kept their name, they thankfully started calling themselves YBT at every opportunity, but everyone still remembered what the acronym meant.

They ended up breaking up after the second album for reasons I’m not aware of.  Looking back, they were not the greatest group in the world, but it’s hard not to assume they might have had a much better commercial career had they not been too clever their own good.  Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.  And hey, they still can say they had a top 10 Rap single. 

 Watch the “Tap The Bottle” video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E5JNYoDT48