The Coughee Brothaz (formerly known as the Odd Squad) is a

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

hip-hop trio consisting of

Devin the Dude Devin Copeland (born June 4, 1970), better known by his stage name Devin the Dude, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He is known for his unique rapping style and his 2002 songs "Lacville '79" and "Doobie Ashtray". Early life Devin Cop ...

, Jugg Mugg and Rob Quest.Odd Men In
Rap Pages article by Jai Boden, August 1994.

Origin

The group members Devin and Rob met at a 1989 talent show sponsored by

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 a ...

. Devin lost the contest but was greatly impressed by Rob's performance. He and Rob became close friends and eventually Devin's friend Dexter Johnson came along as well. With Rob's production, the group recorded a series of demos and befriended many of their future label-mates and affiliates such as

Big Mike Big Mike is a nickname of: People with the nickname * Stormzy (born 1993), British grime artist and rapper * Mike Abrams (criminal) (died 1898), American underworld criminal * Michael Clemente (1908-1987), American mobster * Michael Clarke Dunc ...

UGK UGK (short for Underground Kingz) was an American hip hop duo from Port Arthur, Texas, formed in 1987, by Chad "Pimp C" Butler and Bernard "Bun B" Freeman. They released their first major-label album, ''Too Hard to Swallow'', in 1992, followe ...

, and

DJ Screw Robert Earl Davis Jr. (July 20, 1971 – November 16, 2000), better known by his stage name DJ Screw, was an American hip hop DJ based in Houston, Texas, and best known as the creator of the now-famous chopped and screwed DJ technique. He ...

. Deciding to get more serious about their career, the group slid a demo to

Rap-A-Lot Rap-A-Lot is a hip hop record label co-founded by James Prince and Cliff Blodget in 1986. Smoke-a-Lot Records is a subsidiary. Rap-A-Lot was first distributed by A&M Records with the release of Raheem's 1988 debut ''The Vigilante''. The label w ...

house producer Crazy C, who had previously produced almost the whole of Mr. Scarface is Back. The demo then made it to label head

James Prince James L. Smith (also referred to as James Prince, J. Prince, or Lil J.) (born October 31, 1965) is an American music executive, promoter and manager. He is the CEO and co-founder of the Houston based record label Rap-A-Lot. Smith and his son ...

. He soon offered them a recording contract and Rob handled the bulk of the album production with the group writing all the tracks with aid from such staple southern producers as Mike Dean, N.O Joe and John Bido.

Music

Their first album, ''

Fadanuf Fa Erybody!! ''Fadanuf Fa Erybody!!'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop trio Odd Squad (now known as the Coughee Brothaz), consists of Devin the Dude, Jugg Mugg and Rob Quest. It was released on February 1, 1994 through Rap-A-Lot Records with distr ...

'' was released on February 1, 1994 under

Rap-A-Lot Records Rap-A-Lot is a hip hop record label co-founded by James Prince and Cliff Blodget in 1986. Smoke-a-Lot Records is a subsidiary. Rap-A-Lot was first distributed by A&M Records with the release of Raheem's 1988 debut ''The Vigilante''. The label w ...

. The album is considered by Scarface to be the label's finest release. Despite much praise, the album was a failure, reaching only #66 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Soon after, Devin would join Scarface's protege group

Facemob Facemob was an American hip hop group put together by rapper Scarface. The group consisted of 350, DMG, Devin the Dude, Chi-Ray and Smit-D, with Scarface producing and writing songs for the group's debut album. The group first made an uncre ...

before going solo in 1998. His ties with the Odd Squad however continued.

Odd Squad

Whereas Odd Squad is the group, Coughee Brothaz is the clique, consisting of an innumerable number of members, thus unlimited amount of talent. Coughee Brothaz, founded by Odd Squad released the albums ''Waitin' Our Turn'' in 2007 and ''Fresh Brew'' in 2011. The term "coughee" was created by Original Coughee Brothaz Tony and Boomer (Cleo) Father. Who suggested that the teens find another way to express themselves. HE (Pops) suggested calling it Coughee. Thus the Coughee Brothaz shortly followed. Devin the dude, Odd Squad front man, coined the phrase creating a platform for all of artists, producers, singers, writers etc. of His clique -So they might have an opportunity to showcase their talents. In a 2019 podcast interview with Donnie Houston, Rob Quest stated: “Coughee is a code word that one of our friends made up that he would use in front of his parents, he had elderly parents, so people would come over…he would be like ‘hey man we out back sippin’ coughee’… that was code for ‘I got one in the air in the back, come hit the weed.’”Donnie Houston (28 February 2019). “The Rob Quest Episode“. https://www.donniehoustonworld.com/podcasts/ (Donnie Houston). Donnie Houston. Retrieved 19 February 2021.

References

External links

* Charles, Jeff.
Odd Squad, 2 Low, Yaggfu Front/Rap-A-Lot scores without gangsta and with; N.C. trio out for `Action'
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. Sunday March 6, 1994. Zest 6. {{Authority control American hip hop groups Southern hip hop groups American musical trios