RBL Posse is a

gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, emerged in the mid- to late 1980s as a controversial hip-hop subgenre whose lyrics assert the culture and values typical of American street gangs and street hustlers. Many gangsta rappe ...

group from the Hunters Point section in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. The members were Black C, Mr. Cee, and Hitman. The only surviving member is Black C.

History

RBL Posse was formed in 1991 by Black C (Christian Mathews) and Mr. Cee (Kyle Church). Their first release, the self-produced "Don't Give Me No Bammer" came out on In-a-Minute Records and made the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine

Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

chart, peaking at #16."RBL Posse: Chart History."

. ''www.billboard.com.'' Retrieved February 2, 2017. Two albums followed: ''A Lesson to Be Learned'' released in 1992, which peaked at #60 on the ''Billboard'' magazine

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 ...

chart, and ''Ruthless by Law'' released in 1994, which surpassed their debut by making it to #23, and also made

The Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artis ...

at #197. In 1995, the group produced a solo record for group member Hitman (Ricky Herd) called ''Solo Creep''. Their impressive sales for regional indie releases attracted interest from

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

subsidiary

Big Beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as ...

, which signed the group. Before they could deliver an album, Mr. Cee was shot nine times and killed near his home on Harbor Road on

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

1996. This murder set off a wave of retaliation killings in this section of the city. Black C also lost an eye in 1988 during the San Francisco gang wars in a drive-by shooting. Black C and Hitman filled the void created by Mr. Cee's absence with various producers, including

Rick Rock Ricardo Thomas, also known as Rick Rock, is an American record producer originally from Montgomery, Alabama and based in Fairfield, California. He is a founding member of the former rap group Cosmic Slop Shop and the Federation with fellow ra ...

and

MC Eiht Aaron Tyler (born May 22, 1971), better known by his stage name MC Eiht (pronounced MC eight), is an American rapper and actor. Many of his songs are based on his life in Compton. His stage name was partly inspired by the numeral in KRS-One's na ...

, and released ''An Eye for an Eye'' in 1997. Musician and Co-producer Shannon Lacy whom also wrote and performed the instrumentation on "Strictly this game". The album peaked at #70 on The ''Billboard'' 200 chart and got as high as #14 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Another Hitman solo record was released in 1999, and in 2000, RBL Posse released a double album—''Bootlegs and Bay Shit: The Resume''. In May 2001, Hitman was shot in the leg in a gang-related shooting. On February 3, 2003, Hitman was shot in the head while driving at the intersection of Whitney Young Circle and Hudson Avenue in the San Francisco's Hunters Point neighborhood; he died in hospital. 2001's ''Hostile Takeover'' proved to be the group's last album before Hitman's death. Black C, the only surviving member of the group, has continued to release solo albums and RBL Posse-related material.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

A Lesson to Be Learned ''A Lesson to Be Learned'' is the debut album by the RBL Posse. It was released on September 16, 1992, for In-a-Minute Records and was produced by Black C, DJ Switch and TC. ''A Lesson to Be Learned'' gained mild success, peaking at #60 on the Top ...

'' (1992) #60 R&B/ Hip Hop *''

Ruthless by Law ''Ruthless by Law'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group RBL Posse. It was released on November 15, 1994 via In-A-Minute Records. Recording sessions took place at Bayview Productions in Richmond, California. Production was handl ...

'' (1994) #197 Billboard 200, #23 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums *''

An Eye for an Eye "An eye for an eye" ( hbo, עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The principle exists also in Babylonian law. In Roman c ...

'' (1997) #70 Billboard 200 and #14 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums *''

Hostile Takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...

'' (2001)

Compilation albums

*''Bootlegs & Bay Shit: The Resume'' (2000) *''The Bong Show Volume 1'' (2014)

Box sets

*''20th Anniversary'' (2012)

Other releases

*Hitman – ''Solo Creep'' (1995) *RBL Posse Presents N.O.H. Mafia – ''Niggaz on High'' (1996) *Mr. Sandman – ''10% Love Me 90% Hate Me'' EP (1997) *Hitman – ''H2O Volume One'' (1999) *Black C & Taydatay – ''Prime Factorz'' (2000) *RBL Posse Presents Prime Minister – ''No Compromise'' (2002) *RBL Posse Presents Military Minded – ''Ghetto Vietnam'' (2002) *RBL Posse Presents The Rightway Malitia – ''Malitia Muzik'' (2003) *RBL Posse Presents Young Thugg – ''Thugg Livin'' (2003) *Black C – ''Last Man Standing'' (2003) *Black C – ''The City of Gods'' (2007) *Black C – ''70s Baby'' (2010) *Black C – ''Still Ruthless'' (2012) *Black C – ''Black Caesar'' (2021)

References

External links

Official website of RBL Posse
*
Discography at discogs.com
{{Authority control Musical groups from San Francisco Hip hop groups from California Gangsta rap groups Big Beat Records (American record label) artists Bayview–Hunters Point, San Francisco