Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. (born June 22, 1962), better known by the stage name Schoolly D (sometimes spelled Schooly D), is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania.

Career

Schoolly D teamed up with DJ Code Money in the mid-1980s. His lyrics reflected urban realism, violence, and sexual bravado. He was interviewed in the 1986 documentary ''

Big Fun in the Big Town ''Big Fun in the Big Town'' is a Dutch music documentary made by the VPRO in 1986. It was directed by Bram van Splunteren and presented by Belgian TV presenter Marcel Vanthilt. The documentary was shot on location in New York City and consisted of ...

''. He later embraced an Afrocentric style, bringing Afrocentric culture to hip hop along with

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

. Schoolly D contributed songs and music to many

Abel Ferrara Abel Ferrara (born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker, known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use of neo-noir imagery and gritty urban settings. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best kn ...

films, including "P.S.K." and "Saturday Night" (from ''

Saturday Night! – The Album ''Saturday Night! – The Album'' is the second studio album by hip hop artist Jesse Weaver under the alias of Schoolly D. The album was recorded at INS Studios in New York where Weaver created an album of seven tracks that included rapping and i ...

'') as well as "

King of New York ''King of New York'' is a 1990 neo-noir gangster film directed by Abel Ferrara and written by Nicholas St. John. It stars Christopher Walken as a New York City drug kingpin rebuilding his criminal empire after his release from prison, while al ...

" to Ferrara's film of the same name and the title track from '' Am I Black Enough For You?'' that was played during the climactic shoot-out in that film, the title track from ''

How a Black Man Feels ''How a Black Man Feels'' is the fifth album by the rapper Schoolly D. It was released in 1991 via Capitol Records, his first album for the label. The album spawned three singles, "Original Gangster", “Where’d You Get That Funk From”, and ...

'', and "Signifying Rapper" (from ''

Smoke Some Kill ''Smoke Some Kill'' is the third album by rapper Schoolly D. The album was released in 1988 for Jive Records and was produced by Schoolly D. Release Though the album was not as successful as ''Saturday Night! – The Album'', it did manage to ma ...

''), which was used in Ferrara's film ''

Bad Lieutenant ''Bad Lieutenant'' is a 1992 American neo-noir crime film directed by Abel Ferrara. The film stars Harvey Keitel as the titular "bad lieutenant" as well as Victor Argo and Paul Calderón. The screenplay was co-written by Ferrara with actress-mod ...

''. Because

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

successfully sued due to an uncleared interpolation of their song "

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

" in "Signifying Rapper", the song was omitted from the soundtrack of the film and from subsequent releases of the film. Composer Joe Delia tapped Schoolly to co-write and record "The Player" for Ferrara's film ''The Blackout'', which Delia scored. Schoolly also wrote the score to Ferrara's ''

'R Xmas ''R Xmas'' is a 2001 American crime film directed by Abel Ferrara. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. Its release was delayed by StudioCanal but it was eventually released on DVD. Plot A New York ...

''. In 2006, Schoolly D co-wrote the indie film soundtrack of the historical science fiction thriller ''Order of the Quest'' with

Chuck Treece Chuck Treece (born May 30, 1964) is a session musician and professional skateboarder from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1984, he became famous for being the first African-American skateboarder to be featured on the cover of ''Thrasher'' magazin ...

. The project series is produced by Benjamin Barnett, and Jay D Clark of Media Bureau. His last album, '' Funk 'N Pussy'', on Jeff "Met" Thies' Chord Recordings features guest appearances by

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

's Chuck D, Chuck Chillout, Lady B and a

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

remix of the classic Schoolly D track "Mr. Big Dick" (remixed by UK

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...

crew The Sneaker Pimps). Schoolly also performed the music and occasional narration for the

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...

Aqua Teen Hunger Force ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...

'' on the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

programming block. He was a guest on a first-season episode of ''

Space Ghost Coast to Coast ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American adult animated comedy talk show created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and hosted by a re-imagined version of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. In contrast to the original ...

''. He also created the song "Sharkian Nights" for the Adult Swim series ''

12 oz. Mouse ''12 oz. Mouse'' is an American adult animated television series created by Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. The series revolves around Mouse Fitzgerald, nicknamed "Fitz" (voiced by Maiellaro), an alc ...

''. The character Jesse B. Weaver from ''

The Rudy and Gogo World Famous Cartoon Show ''The Rudy and GoGo World Famous Cartoon Show'' was a programming block of cartoons for TNT during the mid-1990s. Hosted by "Rowdy" Rudy R. Moore (a marionette puppet of a young boy, who looked a little like Howdy Doody), and his pet goat Gogo ( ...

'' was also named after him. In November 2006 Schoolly D and Cartoon Network were sued over the ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' theme music. A drummer by the name of Terence Yerves claimed he had also written the theme music alongside Schoolly D in 1999 while working at the Meat Locker Studio. Yerves was aware the song would be used for a television series but did not approve of it being used for ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', however, did not file the copyright to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

until May 2006, after the series' fourth season had already started airing. In the lawsuit Yerves demanded he receive $150,000 for every time the series was aired after the lawsuit was filed, he also demanded that all existing copies of the series' DVDs be impounded and for ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' to cease broadcast. On December 30, 2022 he will release his new album in three years ''Cause Schoolly D Is Crazy''

Legacy

Rapper Ice-T, who is often given credit for the creation of

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 ...

, discussed Schoolly D's influence on him in his autobiography:

Discography

Studio albums

* 1985: ''

Schoolly D Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. (born June 22, 1962), better known by the stage name Schoolly D (sometimes spelled Schooly D), is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Career Schoolly D teamed up with DJ Code Money in the mid-1980s. His ...

'' * 1986: ''

'' * 1988: ''

'' * 1989: '' Am I Black Enough for You?'' * 1991: ''

'' * 1994: ''

Welcome to America ''Welcome to America'' is an album by the rapper Schoolly D (Schooly D on the album cover), released in 1994 via Ruffhouse Records. It was a commercial disappointment. Two singles were released: “Welcome to America” and “Another Sign”. ...

'' * 1995: '' Reservoir Dog'' * 2000: '' Funk 'N Pussy'' * 2010: ''International Supersport'' * 2019: ''The Real Hardcore'' * 2022: ''Cause Schoolly D Is Crazy''

Compilations

* 1987: ''The Adventures of Schoolly D'' * 1995: ''The Jive Collection, Vol. 3'' * 1996: ''A Gangster's Story: 1984–1996'' * 2000: ''Best on Wax (5 Years of Schoolly D)'' * 2003: ''The Best of Schoolly D

References

External links

* * *
Schoolly D's ArtistDirect entry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoolly D African-American male rappers American male voice actors Living people Rappers from Philadelphia 1962 births Jive Records artists Capitol Records artists Rhythm King artists East Coast hip hop musicians Gangsta rappers 20th-century American rappers 21st-century American rappers Album-cover and concert-poster artists 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians