Remember back to the days when annoying, gimmicky raps were flavour of the month? A time when groups like the Fu-Schnickens* were actually taken seriously, and you could dance around with a muppet in your video and still get respect (UMC‘s “Blue Cheese”)? In a similar vein, Marley Marl unleashed the Lords of the Underground from his House of Hits, a NJ-based trio who shared The Pharcyde‘s fondness for energetic, high-pitched vocal outbursts. Not only did they ruin some outstanding K-Def and Marley productions with their corny new-jack techniques, but they also managed to piss-off several key DITC legends.
One of the members of LOTUG went by the name of Mr. Funkee, which didn’t sit too well with Lord Finesse, since he has been calling himself The Funkyman since his first record. As a seasoned performer who had been battling for years in school yards, on street corners and on stage, Finesse made like his “Grandpa” character and got grumpy at these kids claiming themselves to be “Lords” of the rap underground, when he insisted that no one in New York had ever heard of these clowns. Finesse aired-out his feelings on the matter at the Rocksteady Anniversary Jam (a few minutes after Grimm appeared), resulting in a classic example of a verbal ass-whipping.
But the Underboss wasn’t the only Bronx resident who took a disliking to this group. The 12″ for their biggest hit, “Funky Child”, contained a remix which featured an identical beat to Showbiz & AG‘s “Hold Ya Head”. Keep in mind, this was an era when biting was still considered sacreligious, instead of expected, so The Giant had no qualms about voicing his contempt on a couple of tracks. On “Next Level”, Goodfellas lead single, AG spits: “Fake Lords they get strangled with mic cords, taking beats from my LP for sure ain’t healthy”, while the white label treat “Stand Strong” added the following: “…The Giant’s on a mad mission, suckers sampled off the LP with no goddamn permission / they like our style that’s why they choose it, might as well let me write your rhymes and let Show do all your music.”
Naturally, the whole thing eventually got sorted out and, as confirmed by Finesse himself, the beef was deaded. The “Lords” went on to release another couple of albums which nobody bothered to pick-up, while Finesse’s production skills have kept him on the rise, contributing to projects for Capone-N-Noreaga, Brand Nubian and most notably Dr. Dre‘s Chronic 2001. He’s currently developing the Funky Technician Remix Project.
* Although it’s worth noting that they beat the Wu to the one-inch punch with the whole kung-fu movie samples angle, although flying around in Chinese take-out boxes in the “Ring The Alarm” video didn’t give the whole concept much credibility!
DITC vs LOTUG Audio:
Lord Finesse Live Rocksteady Anniversary Jam Volume 2 (white label)
“Stand Strong” – Showbiz & AG (white label)
Firstly, I have a lot of respect for you guys posting all these forgotten gems. Lord Finesse is the funkiest with a doubt. Peace
listen i know the lords and ag personally.i grrew up with ag and went to school with the lords.they all made it from hard work.aint no beef like wah deen said from ruff ryders.aint no beef until bodied start dropping. one
thanks G. fo real , you are the man
“aint no beef until bodied start dropping”
That’s true, but “Forgotten Disagreements” doesn’t really have the same ring to it.
that finnesse freestyle live joint was ill. i heard some of those lyrics before on one of his tracks but not with the dissing . mr funky jump off on it.
ill……….
The track your referring to Chris is ‘Check The Method’
Theres only one thing u can say about the L.O.T.U.G they were doing the hip hop that made the 1988-1996 a golden age of hip hop yo respect ! best hip hop ever fuck this new gangsta shit the beat is whack…peace L.O.T.U.G 4 ever yo!
Oh by the way FUCK YOU HATERS!
This little scrap between Lord Finesse and Lords of the Under was cool,and if I’m not mistaken it was over the name Mr.Funky(in reference to Lord Finesse)utilized by”Lords”member Mister Funkee,and AG& Show had beef with “The LOrds”over the alledged use of one of their beats.But really though,as for forgotten beefs,what about Rakim and Puba?Rakim hit Puba up on”No Omega”and Puba responded on”Who can get busy like this man”if forgotten beefs are the subject,lets really discuss one that’s interesting,cause Finesse could have really aired those kids out if he wanted,they posed no threat at all.-Roger Jones
Forgotten beefs, what about Antoinette vs. M.C. Lyte…….The whole crazy thing is, in my opinion Antoinette was the best girl M.C. ever to touch a mic……Some said she didn’t write her own shit, I don’t know…….But no woman sounded as angry and wild on the mic as her to this day…….She never gets any publicity at all…It’s a shame because she had the vocal presence to really do damage and she slipped out of the spotlight…………Rakim vs. Puba.. Follow the leader…………
Yo Shamz respect,hands down Antoinette was the absolute nicest female I ever heard(respects to Shante)and unlike Lyte who I think grabbed her crotch more than any dude at that time,Antoinette presented her self as a lady,and she was fine.As for their beef,HipHop lore tells us that it started with Lyte and her brothers(Audio Two)answering Antoinette’s “I got an Attitude”single,they claimed it was just for fun,and Antoinette took it too seriously.That’s bullshit,they were trying to blow Lyte up at the time,both women were from Brooklyn,Antoinette was being vocally compared to Rakim,and in all fairness her ghostwriter(I.G.Off)was giving her some powereful punchlines.In the end,Lyte enlisted the assistance of(EPMD,Grand Puba,KIngs of Chill,and her brother Milk)to follow up her debut with solid punchlines and production,that Antoinette simply could not compete with on a (label budget level)far as I’m concerned she layed Lyte out with her”Unfinished business”diss,respects Shamz.-Roger Jones
Respect to you Roger…….Sounds like you are on that Hip Hop general shit like myself, salute……”Who’s the Boss”, layed out all female mc’s, and a gang of dudes too….And yo she was fly as hell, with the doorknocker earings and shit………..Forgotten beefs…..Saafir vs. The entire Hiero crew and killing every single one of them, with affiliate Del not showing up to help……Peace
Roger,
Good idea for a new article, I might give it a go.
Don’t forget this:
“You need more power, better bring Battlecat
But this ain’t Grayskull, and you ain’t rippin jack”
Not exactly subliminal…
Thank you both Shamz & Robbie,there are so many forgotten beefs,damn I remember when Master Ace went at Rakim on”4 minus 3″from”Take a look around”,and Tribe called Quest and P.E were beefing,
remember?Chuck saying,”Can I kick it?/Who the hell is on the radio?And Phife responding on”Scenario-remix”,I’m not a corny emcee/Like Chuck D/I shut’em down”.Classic.
But that Rakim diss to Grand Puba has always puzzled me…Ra spit…”Played em/said he was gonna do what?/sprayed em/Emcee Grand Pu-putt/stole his lady/drove her crazy/she asked me why?/cause your man tried to play me”.Then Puba responded,”Brothers keep wishing but see they”No Competition”/dissin the Puba/I keep’em eager to listen”.Those two comments from Puba are titles to two tracks on Ra’s(opus)”let the rythm hit’em”album.So somethin was definitely up at that time.
Yo,remember when JJ Fad got dissed by Shante,after her”Wackitt”diss?Those girls responded crazy with that”Ya goin down”track produced by Dre,but Shante served that ass on”Bad Sister”.I could go on for days,Comments fellas?-Roger Jones
I just found your blog and I love it. But damn, ease up on Fu-Schnickens and LOTUG! They had a few joints that was aight! Not to compare them with DITC, but I have room on a couple tracklists for those guys.
One.
The only thing antoinette had on lyte was looks….”shut the eff up” murdered her
Amazingly, I ran across a video of Finesse giving LOTUG 5 across the eyes. Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7JMMEwa_zk
^^ NICE FIND!
Was listening to that NY finest Pete rock album the other day and one of the lotug dudes said”when did it become cool for people to share names” I thought of this.
Still cracking up at KRS in that video. Dude’s feeling it.
Interesting Blog…. i just wandered upon this while looking for some info on Masta Ace…..
Why is this dude trying his hardest to discredit the LOTU? Dudes had like 7 dope singles on their first LP.
I love all parties involved, and appreciate the backstory, but it would have been a much more effective piece if dude wasn’t trying so hard to diss the Lords.
Because the author on this site is a hating motherfucker, no reasons why, he just full of shit