Personnel: Aaron ”Crunch” Brown, rapper, spokesman; Brent ”Blood”
Brown, dancer; Lamond ”Sweat” Cogdell, dancer, writer; Johnny ”Tears”
Johnson, dancer, writer; Raymond ”X-Ray” Williams, disc jockey.
Formed: 1988. Aaron Brown previously rapped in the group Hard Posse.
Current lineup together since: Nov. 1990, when X-Ray replaced D.J. Hot.
Background: ”All of us were raised up on 103rd Street except for the deejay,” Aaron Brown says. ”He`s from Kentucky.”
Sound: ”We try to make our music as deep as the lyrics,” Brown says.
”Our music is funky, and it`s aggressive.”
Influences: Brown cites the 1960s group the Last Poets-”They were doing basically what we`re doing now; it was poetry with music”-plus Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions.
Songwriting: Brown, Cogdell and Johnson call themselves the Pride Writers.
Onstage cover versions: None.
Memorable concert experience: ”We were doing a talent show at the Copherbox two years ago, and we got gonged onstage,” Brown says. ”It challenged the maturity of the group. We could have been boys and said,
`Forget it,` but it made us work harder.”
Namesake: ”103rd Street: 10, trey,” Brown says. The group was originally Ten Tray Posse, but ”we dropped the `Posse` because there were a million `posses` out there.”
Recordings: Smash Records just released the band`s first single, ”I Convey.” The album, ”Realm of Darkness,” is due out March 17. The band recorded it at Chicago Recording Company with producer Duane Buford. ”This first album is basically like a sounding of the alarm to the black
community,” Brown says. ”Right now we`re talking about a psychological revolution because our minds are polluted.”
Mix: The album includes drum machines, synthesizers, some live guitar and no samples.
Local viewpoint: ”Chicago probably has more talented rappers than anywhere because we`ve been doing it so long without recognition,” Brown says. ”When you`re doing something and you`re not getting the respect you deserve, you work harder and harder.”
Philosophy: ”Rap music is more than something to dance to,” Brown says. ”Rap music has a big responsibility toward the black community, and we have to realize that our message to the kids cannot be watered down because the assault on our community is not watered down.”
Goals: ”Eventually to have our own record label, to put out positive artists and to raise the consciousness of black people and to turn that awareness into action,” Brown says.
Next appearance: Saturday at the South Side YMCA (63rd Street and Stony Island Avenue) for a Black Heritage College Party, with a portion of the proceeds going to the United Negro College Fund.
