Strong Arm Steady, often referred to as SAS, is a hip hop group in

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 ...

's underground hip hop 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 portra ...

, of

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' ...

, 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. ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

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

gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

-focused productions of

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

'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. Dre ('' ...

, 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, and radio personality. Xzibit began his musical career after the release of his ...

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 A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

s and have distributed them all over the world. "Speaking directly to their fans," they were

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

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 East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

and others in the early 2000s.

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...

signed Strong Arm Steady to his

Blacksmith Records Blacksmith is a music management company and a record label founded by Harlem born Corey Smyth and Talib Kweli of Black Star. Signees include Jean Grae, Strong Arm Steady, Vince Staples and Idle Warship. Kweli has stated he hopes to sign Camp ...

label in 2007. The group released a collaboration with producer

Madlib Otis Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. He is widely known for his collaborations with MF DOOM (as Madvillain), J Dilla (as Jaylib), and Fr ...

, ''In Search of

Stoney Jackson Stonewall W. "Stoney" Jackson (born Alwyn Jackson on February 27, 1960) is an American actor. Jackson was born in Richmond, Virginia. Career He was featured in numerous teen magazines in the 1970s and 1980s, including ''Right On'', ''Teen Beat ...

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

Planet Asia Jason Cullen Green (born October 24, 1976), better known as Planet Asia, is a 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 Chain ...

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 favo ...

Phonte Phonte Lyshod Coleman, known mononymously as Phonte (born December 28, 1978), is an American rapper, singer, and producer. He is currently of the North Carolina hip-hop trio/duo Little Brother (revived in 2019 without producer 9th Wonder) and ...

(of Little Brother),

Fashawn Santiago Leyva (born October 19, 1988), known by his stage name Fashawn, is an American hip hop recording artist from Fresno, California. He first gained major attention after releasing his debut album ''Boy Meets World'' in 2009, which was pro ...

, 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, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

files in December

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

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 Weekl ...

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

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

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 artists on ...

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 is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo ...

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

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and Element 9 and distributed by

Fontana Distribution Fontana Distribution was a division of San Francisco-based 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, INgroov ...

Discography

Albums & EPs

*2007: '' Deep Hearted'' *2010: ''

In Search of Stoney Jackson ''In Search of Stoney Jackson'' is the second studio album by California based hip hop group Strong Arm Steady, released on January 26, 2010 under Stones Throw Records. The album's title is a reference to actor Stoney Jackson ('' The White Sha ...

'' *2011: '' Arms & Hammers'' *2012: ''Members Only EP'' *2012: ''Stereo Type'' (with

Statik Selektah Static may refer to: Places *Static Nunatak, a nunatak in Antarctica United States *Static, Kentucky and Tennessee *Static Peak, a mountain in Wyoming ** Static Peak Divide, a mountain pass near the peak Science and technology Physics *Static el ...

) *2012: ''Stereo Jr'' (EP) (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 hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. They have had little mainstream success in the US, with the exception of the song " This Way", a 2004 collaboration with Kanye West. Better known in the UK, they reached 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 the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on ...

'' (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 American musical trios