Strong Arm Steady, often referred to as SAS, is a

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

group in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

underground hip hop Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...

scene. As of December 2009, the act consists of members Phil Da Agony,

Krondon Marvin Jones III (born July 9, 1976), also known as Krondon, is an American rapper and actor from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of the group Strong Arm Steady, along with rappers Phil Da Agony and Mitchy Slick. As an actor Jones is kn ...

, of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and

Mitchy Slick Charles Mitchell (born December 29, 1973), known professionally as Mitchy Slick, is an American rapper from Southeast San Diego, California. He is a member of the rap supergroup Strong Arm Steady, along with rappers Phil Da Agony and Krondon. H ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. Originally an amorphous collective of at least eight, formed as an alternative to the

gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

-focused productions of

West Coast hip hop West Coast hip-hop is a regional genre of Hip-hop, hip-hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States. West Coast hip-hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during th ...

's then-dominant

Death Row Records Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. D ...

, SAS pared down to four members for recording in the studio and performing live, with

Xzibit Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born September 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced "''exhibit''), is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, radio personality, and record executive. He began his musical career in 1992, ...

as the frontman. Since he left the group in 2006, the three remaining members have been a stable trio. Over the years they have recorded many

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

s and have distributed them all over the world. "Speaking directly to their fans," they were West Coast pioneers in the use of mixtapes as a group's principal method of distribution and marketing, a model necessitated by their neither being DJs nor closely affiliated with a DJ, and a method already proven on the East Coast by

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

and others in the early 2000s.

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He first earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's music ...

signed Strong Arm Steady to his Blacksmith Records label in 2007. The group released a collaboration with producer

Madlib Otis Lee Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American record producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. Critically acclaimed for his eclectic, music sample, sample-heavy production style, he is rega ...

, ''In Search of Stoney Jackson,'' with a roster of guest vocalists including studio head Talib Kweli, former SAS member

Planet Asia Jason Green (born October 24, 1976), better known as Planet Asia, is an American rapper from Fresno, California. He is prominent for being one half of the now reunited Hip Hop duo the Cali Agents and is currently a member of the groups Gold Cha ...

Guilty Simpson Byron Dwayne "Guilty" Simpson is an American rapper and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan whose recording career spans more than 20 years. He is signed to Stones Throw Records, and is known for being one of the late producer J Dilla's favorite r ...

Phonte Phonte Lyshod Coleman, known mononymously as Phonte (born December 28, 1978), is an American rapper, singer, and producer. He is also a member of Team Supreme, that co-hosts the Questlove Supreme podcast. Phonte is a member of the North Caroli ...

(of Little Brother),

Fashawn Santiago Leyva (born October 19, 1988), better known by his stage name Fashawn, is an American rapper from Fresno, California. He first gained recognition for his debut studio album ''Boy Meets World (album), Boy Meets World'' (2009), which recei ...

, and "a host of underground Los Angeles's emerging rap talent." ''Stoney Jackson,'' as it has been called for short, was released online as

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

files in December

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

through

Stones Throw Records Stones Throw Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. Under the direction of founder Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw has released music ranging from hip hop to experimental psychedelic rock. ''LA Weekly'' ...

, with a CD release date of January 26, 2010. The album was named one of the best albums of

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

by numerous media outlets including

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 artist ...

and on the blog of famed producer

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He has been frequently lauded as one of hip hop's greatest producers by publications such as '' ...

. Their album ''Arms & Hammers'' was released on February 22,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

by Blacksmith Records and Element 9 and distributed by

Fontana Distribution Fontana Distribution was a division of San Franciscobased Isolation Network (now owned by the Virgin Music Group unit of the Universal Music Group since 2019). A minority stake of the company was owned by Universal Music until Ingrooves acquired ...

Discography

Studio albums

*2007: '' Deep Hearted'' *2010: '' In Search of Stoney Jackson'' *2011: '' Arms & Hammers'' *2012: '' Stereo Type'' (with

Statik Selektah Patrick Owen Baril (born January 23, 1982), professionally known as Statik Selektah, is an American record producer, disc jockey (DJ) and radio personality originally from the Boston, Massachusetts area. He is also the founder of Showoff Records ...

)

Extended plays

*2012: ''Members Only'' *2012: ''Stereo Type'' (with

) *2012: ''Stereo Jr'' (with Oh No)

Official mixtapes

*2003: ''The Collectors Edition Vol.1: The Best of Mixtapes, Exclusives & Freestyles'' *2003: ''D-Bo Series Vol.1'' *2003: ''D-Bo Series Vol.2'' *2003: ''Gangs of L.A.'' *2004: ''L.A. Ballin' 2004: All-Star Edition'' *2006: ''O-Dog Series Vol.1'' *2006: ''Green Up'' *2006: ''Strong Arm Radio: Klack Music - Blacksmith Edition'' *2007: ''Dilated Steady: 20:20 Official Mixtape'' (with

Dilated Peoples Dilated Peoples is an American Los Angeles-based Hip hop music, hip hop trio, composed of rapper and record producer Evidence (musician), Evidence, rapper Rakaa, and Beat Junkies deejay and record producer DJ Babu. The group is better known in t ...

) *2008: ''Deep Hearted: The Sampler Mixtape'' *2008: ''Cali Untouchable Radio 17: Klak Klak Edition'' *2009: ''Gang Mentality'' *2013: ''2 Many Other Niggas to Name''

Singles

* ''One Step'' (2007) * ''Can't Let It Go'' (2010) * ''Trunk Music'' (2010) * ''Make Me Feel'' (2011) * ''On Point feat.

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by his stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper. A pioneer of West Coast hip-hop, Shaw was among the first acts to receive recognition in the genre during the late ...

'' (2011)Single Strong Arm Steady ft. Too Short "On Point"
/ref> * ''Hand Guns feat. Jelly-Roll'' (2011)

References

{{Authority control Hip-hop groups from California Stones Throw Records artists Musical trios from California