Tha Alkaholiks were born in LA during the ‘90s when the Likwit Crew – with members like Xzibit, Defari, King Tee and Lootpack – were pretty major players in the scene. It’s an experience that DJ E Swift says stays with you for life. “There is nothing like being around the golden days of hop hop in LA in the ‘90s. Not saying today ain’t all good, but to understand and appreciate it you really had to be there and experience it for yourself. Despite a few ups and downs along the way we’re still all family and it’s Likwit till the end.” They still get the gang together to relive the magic once in a while, too. “Everyone’s still cool: me, J-Ro, Tash, King Tee, Xzibit, everyone. We was just all together at Rock The Bells performing, and shit was crazy! I mean everyone’s got their own thing going on here and there, but in the end it’s still all good.”
Legend has it that the other half of Liknuts, The Beatnuts (then playing under the moniker Beat Kings), got their start when they were crate-digging and ran into Afrika Bambaataa, who introduced them to the Native Tongues crew including De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and Jungle Brothers. Apparently Mike Gee and Afrika Baby Bam of Jungle Brothers declared that Beat Kings they weren’t in fact kings, but rather “nuts” for their comical nature and the way they carried so many records to their gigs, and the name stuck.
The first track from their combined effort is the grumbling Grumpy Crocodile that ruminates on the youthful bravado and inexperience that characterises much of hip hop today, while still managing plenty of egotistical references to sex, drugs, and violence. It’s an exercise in restraint beat-wise, with sparse production allowing the often-outlandish lyrics to take the spotlight. The next drop is Bang, a hazy, hedonistic ode to partying with an earworm hook. As far as the production-versus-lyrics debate, JuJu says, “They both play an important role. There’s a lot of n****s around that spit so nice on a track and the production lets them down, or it can be the other way around, you hear a track and think ‘Damn, if only that n****s spat a little nicer that would have been a hit’. You really need both ingredients to bake the perfect cake.”
Liknuts are about to embark on their first Australian tour, and along for the ride are hardcore-Queens-dudes Onyx, who’ll unleash their ruthless rhymes on Australian audiences. Onyx’s Sticky Fingaz is pretty modest about how it all came about for his crew: “Jam Master Jay got our demo and out of like 15 songs he picked one song and said, ‘Give me ten more like this.’ He brought in Russell Simmons and they gave us a single deal, which turned into an EP deal, which turned into a album deal, which turned into legends… and the rest is history.”
These guys are old school, nasty and they obviously know how to rock a gathering. With all of these hip hop legends under one roof, I think it’s safe to say things are going to get crazy.
BY NATALIE AMAT
