Leaders of the New School was an American hip hop group based in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

History

The crew was composed of

Uniondale, New York Uniondale is a census-designated place (CDP), as well as a suburb in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead, New York, Town of Hempstead. The population was 32,473 at the 2020 ...

, natives Charlie Brown (born Bryan Higgins on September 19, 1970) and Dinco D (born James Jackson on November 4, 1971);

North Amityville, New York North Amityville is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York. The population was 18,643 at the 2020 Census. Geography According to the United States Cen ...

native Cut Monitor Milo (born Sheldon Scott on July 4, 1970); and

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

(born Trevor Smith, Jr. on May 20, 1972), who was originally from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

but later moved to Uniondale at the age of twelve. The group's big break came when they became an opening act for hip hop group Public Enemy. Public Enemy's

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped creat ...

gave Busta Rhymes and Charlie Brown their

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Allmusic Biography AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

/ref> The group wanted to call itself "Leaders of the New School", a name that was sought by a white hip hop group Hank Shocklee of

The Bomb Squad The Bomb Squad were an American hip hop production team known for its work with hip hop group Public Enemy. The Bomb Squad is noted for its dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track. The ...

was producing. To settle who would get the name, according to Busta Rhymes, Chuck D sent the two groups home to make a track called "Fuck the Old School", and the group that The Bomb Squad "felt the most" would get to use the name. After Rhymes and Brown's group earned the name Leaders of the New School, the white group was named

Young Black Teenagers Young Black Teenagers (YBT) was an American hip hop group from Long Island, New York that consisted of ATA, First Born, Tommy Never, Kamron, and DJ Skribble. Despite their name, none of the group's members were black. YBT had the support of ...

. Leaders of the New School made its first appearance on an

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

compilation titled '' Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary'', with a song called "Mt. Airy Groove". It was the only hip hop song on that album. LONS soon joined up with popular hip hop collective the

Native Tongues The Native Tongues were a collective of late 1980s and early 1990s hip-hop artists known for their positive-minded, good-natured Afrocentric lyrics, and for pioneering the use of eclectic sampling and jazz-influenced beats. Its principal me ...

, along with the Jungle Brothers,

De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

, and

Black Sheep In the English language, black sheep is an idiom that describes a member of a group who is different from the rest, especially a family member who does not fit in. The term stems from sheep whose fleece is colored black rather than the more comm ...

. In 1991, Busta Rhymes, Dinco D and Charlie Brown made a guest appearance on A Tribe Called Quest's hit single " Scenario", and LONS joined ATCQ on ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'' to perform the track with the group. The group's debut album, '' A Future Without a Past...'', was also released in 1991. It included the hits "

Case of the P.T.A. "Case of the P.T.A." is the first single by Leaders of the New School from their debut album '' A Future Without a Past...''. It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles charts. The song contains a sample from Ramsey Lewis, The Migh ...

", "

Sobb Story Sobb Story is the second single from Leaders of the New School's debut album '' A Future Without a Past...'', where it followed up at #8 at Hop Hip Singles charts. It contains samples from a Hugo Montenegro recording, Aces High. Music video The ...

", and "The International Zone Coaster". The group was praised for its light-hearted content and old-school call-and-response deliveries. The group's second and final album was '' T.I.M.E.'' ("The Inner Mind's Eye"), released in 1993, and spawning the fan-favorite singles " What's Next", "Time Will Tell" & "Classic Material". As time passed, fans and critics began to focus less on LONS as a group and more on Busta Rhymes as a solo artist. During an infamous appearance on the TV show '' Yo! MTV Raps'', the group was seen arguing, with member Charlie Brown becoming upset over Rhymes' show-stealing. The group soon split up, with Charlie Brown, Dinco D and Milo garnering very limited success individually, while Busta Rhymes' popularity continued to increase. The group made an appearance on Rhymes' 1996 debut album '' The Coming'', on the track "Keep It Movin'" and was the last time they would collaborate as a group. In July 2012, the group reunited on stage during Busta Rhymes' headlining set at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival, to perform "Case of the P.T.A." and "Scenario" in its entirety with A Tribe Called Quest. The group later reunited again in 2015 on the song "We Home" from Busta Rhymes' mixtape ''The Return Of The Dragon: The Abstract Went On Vacation''.

Reunion

The group reunited for two shows in 2012. Dinco D released his debut solo album ''Cameo Flows'' on November 4, 2016. The album features appearances by fellow members Charlie Brown and Cut Monitor Milo. In December 2016, Dinco D and Charlie Brown announced on
The Library With Tim Einenkel
'

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

that the group was working on new material together but did not give any indication to when it would be released. The following month, Busta Rhymes made similar comments on

N.O.R.E. Victor James Santiago Jr. (born September 6, 1977), better known by his stage names Noreaga and later N.O.R.E., is an American rapper. Born and raised in Queens, New York, Santiago first rose to prominence as one half of the East Coast hip hop du ...

& DJ EFN's ''Drink Champs'' podcast.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leaders Of The New School East Coast hip hop groups Elektra Records artists Five percenters Musical groups established in 1986 Musical groups disestablished in 1994 Musical groups from Long Island Native Tongues Posse Rappers from New York (state)