Donald Lamont, professionally known by his stage name Donald D, is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

from

the Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...

. He is a member of the

Universal Zulu Nation The Universal Zulu Nation is an international hip hop awareness group formed by and formerly led by hip hop artist Afrika Bambaataa. The Universal Zulu Nation promotes the idea that hip-hop was created to sustain the ideals of “peace, love ...

, a former member of the B-Boys, and is best known as a member of Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate.

Career

Late 1970s–1987: Universal Zulu Nation and the B-Boys

Donald D began his career in 1978 in the Bronx, New York, when he became a member of the

joining forces with

Afrika Islam Charles Andre Glenn (born 1967), professionally known by his stage name Afrika Islam, is an American hip hop DJ and producer. He was one of the pioneers of hip hop culture and the hip hop radio station. He began his musical career in 1977 as a ...

DJ Jazzy Jay John Bayas (born November 18, 1961), also known as The Original Jazzy Jay or DJ Jazzy Jay, is an American hip hop DJ and producer. Background Jazzy Jay was born into a Gullah family in coastal South Carolina. He moved with his family to New Y ...

Kid Vicious ''Kid Chaos'' (previously known as ''Kid Vicious'') is a side-scrolling platform video game developed by Magnetic Fields, and published by Ocean Software, for the Amiga and Amiga CD32 The Amiga CD32 (stylized as Amiga CD32, code-named "Spellbo ...

and others as the group the Funk Machine. He was featured on Afrika Islam's radio show the Zulu Beats on WHBI in 1982. Lamont and DJ Chuck Chillout formed a group named the B-Boys. From 1983 to 1985, the group has released several 12" singles via Vincent Davis' Vintertainment and

Morgan Khan StreetSounds is a British compilation record label, that specialised in urban and electronic club/dance music during the mid-1980s. StreetSounds was an offshoot of producer and promoter Morgan Khan's StreetWave label. The first StreetSounds re ...

's Streetwave labels, including a 12-inch

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

''Cuttin' Herbie'', which peaked at #90 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. When the group disbanded, Donald D released a single "Dope Jam / Outlaw" with DJ Chilly-D via Rockin' Hard Records in 1987.

1988–1992: Rhyme Syndicate

In 1985, Lamont met

West Coast rapper West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States, West Coast region of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play an ...

Tracy 'Ice-T' Marrow and later went to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to join the Rhyme Syndicate. His first appearances were in 1988 on the track "The Syndicate" with Hen Gee from Ice-T's album ''

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

'', and on the track "Name of the Game" from Rhyme Syndicate compilation album ''Comin' Through''. Donald-D was featured on the posse-cut single "

What Ya Wanna Do "What Ya Wanna Do?" is a single by American recording artist Ice-T from his third studio album '' The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say''. It was released in 1989 via Sire Records. The song served as a posse cut and featured sev ...

" and released his debut studio album titled '' Notorious'' in 1989. Reaching a peak position of number 78 on the '' Billboard''

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

, the album remained on the US chart for a total of 18 weeks, spawning a single "F.B.I. (Free Base Institute)", which also peaked at number 8 on the '' Billboard''

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

. A year after, he made his guest appearance on his bandmate

Everlast Erik Francis Schrody (born August 18, 1969), known by his stage name Everlast, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter, who was the frontman for hip hop group House of Pain. He was also part of the hip hop supergroup La Coka ...

's debut album ''

Forever Everlasting ''Forever Everlasting'' is the debut solo studio album by American recording artist Everlast. It was released on March 27, 1990 via Warner Bros. Records. The eleven track full-length album features a remix song of his 1988 single "Syndication", an ...

'' on the track "The Rhythm" with

N'Dea Davenport N'Dea Davenport (born September 22, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and producer. She was the lead vocalist in the UK acid jazz band the Brand New Heavies and made pioneering contributions to the genre of acid jazz. Career He ...

and Ice-T. Lamont also appeared on two tracks from '' O.G. Original Gangster'' and provided audio production on ''Home Invasion''. In 1992, Donald D released his sophomore studio effort titled ''Let the Horns Blow'' on

Sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" a ...

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. The song "I'm Gonna Smoke Him" off the album was featured in ''

Trespass (soundtrack) ''Music from the Motion Picture Trespass'' is the original soundtrack to Walter Hill's 1992 film ''Trespass''. It was released in 1992 via Sire Records and Warner Bros. Records. It is composed of twelve hip hop tracks from various rappers and pro ...

''.

1993–present

In 1995, Donald D,

Kurtis Blow Kurtis Walker (born August 9, 1959), professionally known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record/film producer, b-boy, DJ, public speaker and minister. He is the first commercially successful rapper ...

and

Prince Whipper Whip James Whipper II, better known by his stage name Prince Whipper Whip, is an American hip hop recording artist. He is of Puerto Rican descent and an original member of Grandwizard Theodore & the Fantastic Five. Whipper Whip appears in the mus ...

were featured on the track "Old School Jam" from

DJ Honda DJ Honda is a Japanese record producer and DJ best known for his 1995 self-titled eponymous debut, '' DJ Honda'' (also shortened to '' h''). Biography DJ Honda moved to Tokyo at 17 years old to play in an American influenced rock band called 'T ...

's self-titled album. In 2003, he released a single "Hip Hop / The Return of the Culture", that was later included in his debut solo extended play ''B.R.O.N.X. (Beats Rhymes of New Xperience)'', released in 2006 under Dondee alias. In the same year (2003), he's featured duetting with

Marco Masini Marco Masini (born 18 September 1964 in Florence), is an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and pianist. As of 2021, he has released 11 studio albums, 12 compilations, and 3 live albums. Early years Marco Masini was born in the city o ...

in the song ''Generation'', in which he sings in English the final rap part (personally significant is the line «as a boy growing up / in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

»). He has started a new group with another

Rhyme Syndicate member, DJ MC Dynamax, called the Bronx Syndicate.

Discography

Solo albums

Extended plays

* 2006 — ''B.R.O.N.X. (Beats Rhymes of New Xperience)''

Singles

Guest appearances

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donald-D Living people American rappers Sire Records artists Epic Records artists 21st-century American rappers Year of birth missing (living people)