RECOVERY RECORDINGS RE-ISSUES HARD HITTIN'
AN OLD-SCHOOL, HIP-HOP CLASSIC BY DEF SQUAD, TEXAS
Introducing, Def Squad, Texas.
It’s not a place, it’s a state of mind.
Back in 1988 in the sleepy, backwater coastal town of Freeport, Texas, Champ & KB were writing rhymes, producing beats & honing their performance skills at weekend house parties and after-school social gatherings on the beach. They christened themselves Def Squad, Texas and they became America’s first inter-racial, “Tu-Tone” rap group.
One of their demos made its way to Houston’s Mr. Henry Records resulting in their first single, “Hard Hittin,” b/w “I’m Def and I’m Proud.” This eventually evolved into the long-playing album, "Hard Hittin’," which was then licensed to Atlanta’s Ichiban Records in 1989. From that album, Ichiban released the single, “Love is Blind” b/w “Hardcore Hip-Hop,” which has recently been re-discovered by Sirius XM Satellite Radio Hip-Hop programmers. The music video for “Love Is Blind” was a favorite of the television program, “Rap City,” and was broadcasted often that year on Black Entertainment Television (BET), as well as on New York’s “Video Music Box” and Oakland’s “Soul Beat.”
Def Squad, Texas was featured in multiple regional and national publications during this period, including the Brazosport Facts, the Houston Post, the Beaumont Enterprise, the Austin American-Statesman, Texas Monthly, New York’s Right On and Rap Masters magazines, and a feature article that was run by United Press International and distributed worldwide. Def Squad, Texas was also the first rap group invited to perform at the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas, in 1989. They also won consecutive Houston Press Music Awards, sponsored by Houston's alternative weekly, for Best Rap Group in both 1990 and 1991.
In late 1993, Mr. Henry released, the group's second album, “Countdown to the Year 2000.” These tracks reflected a more mature, “issue oriented” Def Squad, Texas, whose broader, geo-political outlook reflected Champ’s growing devotion to the teachings of the Nation of Islam and KB’s increasing personal commitment against oppression and racism in society. By 1995, Def Squad, Texas disbanded.
Today, Champ is active as a lecturer, a history teacher, and a screenwriter. KB, as always, is actively championing truth, justice and the American way.
If you’re a fan of Hip-Hop luminaries such as Run-DMC, vintage Beastie Boys, De La Soul, and Stetsasonic, then you will enjoy the music and message of Def Squad, Texas.
*Released: March, 1988
*Recorded at Musician's Sound Lab, Richwood, Texas
*Executive Producers: Ivan Koop Kuper & Hank Lam
*Produced by Mike Dean
*Mixed by Hank Lam
*Re-Mastered by James Hoover
*Art Direction: Ishmael Obregon
There You Have It...Another Fine Recording From Recovery Recordings!
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