Original Concept was an American 1980s hip-hop group from

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

, best known for their single "Can You Feel It". They only made one album and it was notable for the absence of lyrics on many of the tracks. The group are perhaps better known for their production prowess and instrumentals.

History

In the early 1980s, a group of young men at

WBAU WBAU (90.3 FM) was the call sign of the student-operated radio station located at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, east of Midtown Manhattan. The new web-based radio station iPAWS Web Radio. History WBAU was located at 90.3 on ...

FM formed a group called the "Concept Crew". Their show "The Operating Room" was broadcast on Monday nights from

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

on the same station which featured the Spectrum City DJs (

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 ...

and

Flavor Flav William Jonathan Drayton Jr. (born March 16, 1959), known by his stage name Flavor Flav (), is an American rapper and hype man. Known for his yells of "''Yeah, boyeeeeee!''" when performing, he rose to prominence as a founding member of the rap ...

) who later went on to form Public Enemy. The members were

Doctor Dré André "Doctor Dré" Brown (born December 5, 1963) is an American rapper, radio personality and former MTV VJ. Early life André Brown was born and raised in Westbury, New York, on Long Island. Career In the early 1980s, Doctor Dré was a DJ ...

, T-Money, Rapper G, Easy G. By 1986, the group began calling themselves Original Concept and had released their first record, "Knowledge Me" in February of that year. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of "Knowledge Me" went on to become their first single, "Can You Feel It". The single has since gone on to become one of the most sampled source records in hip-hop music. In 1988, the group was signed to

Def Jam Records Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

and late in that year they released their first and only album, ''Straight From the Basement of Kooley High!'' on Def Jam. The album featured a cameo by

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

member, Mike D. on the track "She's Got a Moustache". The album featured samples from

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

The Fat Boys The Fat Boys were an American hip hop trio from Brooklyn, New York, who emerged in the early 1980s. The group was briefly known originally as the Disco 3, originally composed of Mark "Prince Markie Dee" Morales, Damon "Kool Rock-Ski" Wimbley, a ...

Run DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

, and

P-Funk Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

Where are they now

The members of the group were generally more successful in their subsequent solo careers as television personalities and radio DJs, than they were as a hip-hop group. *

– went on to become a DJ for the

, a host for ''

Yo! MTV Raps ''Yo! MTV Raps'' is an American two-hour television music video program, which first aired on MTV Europe from 1987 to mid-90s and on MTV US from August 1988 to August 1995. The American version of the program (created by Ted Demme and Peter Dough ...

'', and a hip-hop radio host with

Ed Lover James Roberts (born February 12, 1963), better known as Ed Lover, is an American rapper, actor, musician, radio personality, and former MTV VJ. He hosted "The Ed Lover Show" on SiriusXM's old-school hip hop station BackSpin. As of April 12, 2 ...

. *T Money – was a host for ''

''. T Money has developed his own promotion, management, and marketing company, T450 Style & Launch, and continues to pursue musical and press opportunities under his stage moniker. *Doctor Dre, T-Money and Rapper G wrote the song "Proud to be Black", on the 1986 album, '' Raising Hell'' for

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

. *Rapper Gee, also known as Gerald Gray, went into producing photography at GD Gray Artworks. *Easy G Rockwell – unknown

Discography

Songwriting credits included Andre Brown / Gerald Gray / Tyrone Kelsie.

References

{{Authority control 1986 establishments in New York (state) African-American musical groups Def Jam Recordings artists East Coast hip hop groups Musical groups established in 1986 People from Long Island