Larry Welsh, also known as Lakim Shabazz is a former hip-hop emcee artist who was one of the founding members of the original version of the

Flavor Unit The Flavor Unit is a crew of emcees and DJs from New York City and Northern New Jersey. It is now known as the Unit. The original version of the crew centered on producer the 45 King. It was Mark's connections to radio personalities DJ Red Aler ...

crew. His stage name refers to the so-called Lost

Tribe of Shabazz The Tribe of Shabazz ( ar, قَبِيلَة ٱلشَّبَازّ, qabīlah ash-shabāzz) was, according to the Nation of Islam, a supposed ancient black nation that migrated into central Africa, led by a leader named Shabazz. The concept is fou ...

, which is based on the teachings of

Wallace Fard Muhammad Wallace Dodd Fard, also known as Wallace Fard Muhammad or Master Fard Muhammad (; reportedly born February 26, – disappeared ), was the founder of the Nation of Islam. He arrived in Detroit in 1930 with an obscure background and several alia ...

Career

As an artist signed with Tuff City, Lakim first gained recognition when he provided vocals for

the 45 King Mark Howard James (born October 16, 1961) professionally known as The 45 King (also known as DJ Mark the 45 King), is an American hip hop record producer and disc jockey (DJ) from The Bronx borough of New York City. James began DJing in The Bron ...

's "The 900 Number". Further collaboration with the 45 King was to follow with the EP titled ''The Red, The Black, the Green.'' Then later, in 1988, his debut album ''Pure Righteousness'' was released as an introduction-style album with a "the 45 King presents" moniker on the cover sleeve. This album was relatively well received, and has become an iconic release of the period in hip hop where the

Nation of Gods and Earths The Five-Percent Nation, sometimes referred to as the Nation of Gods and Earths (NGE/NOGE) or the Five Percenters, is a Black nationalist movement influenced by Islam that was founded in 1964 in the Harlem section of the borough of Manhattan, N ...

style of the late 1980s/early 1990s is concerned. Shabazz released two albums, recorded for Aaron Fuchs's

Tuff City Records Tuff City Records is a New York-based record label founded by journalist Aaron Fuchs in 1981.Verna, Paul (1994)Tuff City Records Moves Forward and Looks Back" ''Billboard'', July 16, 1994, retrieved 2010-08-29 Initially concentrating on hip hop m ...

, featuring production by The 45 King, and his militant lyrics were predominantly about his love of the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...

, and his dedication to

the Nation of Gods and Earths The Five-Percent Nation, sometimes referred to as the Nation of Gods and Earths (NGE/NOGE) or the Five Percenters, is a Black nationalist movement influenced by Islam that was founded in 1964 in the Harlem section of the borough of Manhattan, N ...

, the latter of which he was a member. After his second album, he worked with

Diamond D Joseph Kirkland (born April 5, 1968), better known by his stage name Diamond D, is an American hip hop MC and record producer from The Bronx, New York City, and one of the founding members of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew, abbreviated as D.I.T. ...

briefly before exiting the music industry. He lives in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and makes occasional appearances at Five-Percenter Show and Prove events. In 2015, Shabazz was featured on the Shady Corps' track "Lost Souls".

Influences

In an interview with ''

AllHipHop AllHipHop is a hip hop news website founded by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur in 1998. History The website was founded in 1998 by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur. In 1997, Watkins registered the allhiphop.com domain to promote the artists on ...

'', Lakim said, "I came up listening to Cold Crush,

Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ Da ...

Jazzy Five Jazzy Five was a hip hop group founded in the mid-1970s. History The group was initially formed in South Bronx as the Jazzy Four by Charlie Choo, Master Bee, Master Ice, and MC Sundance, with Jazzy Jay as the group's DJ. Prior to the group's for ...

. A lot of my influences were, like,

Grandmaster Flash Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Fur ...

Kool Moe Dee Mohandas Dewese (born August 8, 1962), better known by his stage name Kool Moe Dee, is an American rapper, writer and actor. Considered one of the forerunners of the new jack swing sound in hip hop, he gained fame in the 1980s as a member of one ...

; then later on in life, you had

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim Allah or simply Rakim (), is an American rapper and record producer. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

, Kane". In the song "

Rap God "Rap God" is a song by American rapper Eminem. The song premiered via YouTube on October 14, 2013, and was released in the United States on October 15, 2013, as the third single from Eminem's eighth studio album, ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2'' (2 ...

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

called Lakim Shabazz a rap personality who influenced him.

Discography

Singles

* "Pure Righteousness" (1988) * "Black is Back" (1988)

Albums

* ''Pure Righteousness'' (1988) * ''The Lost Tribe of Shabazz'' (1990) (No. 78 on the

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 ...

)

References

External links

Living people Five percenters American rappers Rappers from New Jersey 20th-century American rappers 20th-century African-American musicians 1968 births {{US-hiphop-bio-stub