Terror Squad was an American hip hop collective that was first established in 1998. Based in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the members of Terror Squad collectively debuted on a song in member

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper from New York City. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a sol ...

's albums ''

Jealous One's Envy ''Jealous One's Envy'' is the second studio album by American rapper Fat Joe, who had previously released his first album under the name Fat Joe da Gangsta. The album was released on October 24, 1995, by Relativity Records, Relativity. The song " ...

'' and ''

Don Cartagena ''Don Cartagena'' is the third studio album by American rapper Fat Joe. The album was released on September 1, 1998, by Atlantic Records, Craig Kallman's Big Beat Records, Mystic Entertainment Group and Fat Joe's Terror Squad Productions. The ...

''. Terror Squad released its debut album, '' Terror Squad: The Album'', in 1999, with its first major hit "Whatcha Gon' Do", credited mostly to

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx borough of New York City in the ea ...

, who died of a heart attack in 2000. After Big Pun's death, his longtime partners

Cuban Link Felix Delgado (born December 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Cuban Link, is a Cuban American rapper and original member of Terror Squad. Biography Delgado was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1974. He and his family emigrated to the Unite ...

and Triple Seis left the group and were subsequently replaced by

Remy Ma Reminisce Mackie ( Smith; born May 30, 1980), known professionally as Remy Ma, is an American rapper. Discovered by Big Pun, she came to prominence for her work as a member of Fat Joe's group, Terror Squad. In 2006, she released her debut stu ...

rtin (later known as Remy Ma) and

Tony Sunshine Antonio Cruz (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Tony Sunshine, is an American R&B singer of Puerto Rican descent, famous for his affiliation with New York City hip hop group Terror Squad. He sang on tracks such as Cuban Link's "St ...

. In 2004, their song "

Lean Back "Lean Back" is a song by American hip hop group Terror Squad. It was released as the second single from their second studio album, '' True Story'', on June 1, 2004. An uptempo hip hop song built for the club environment, it features Fat Joe wi ...

" peaked at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

History

In 1998, the members of Terror Squad debuted as a group on Fat Joe's album ''

''. Terror Squad, in its debut album '' Terror Squad: The Album'', consisted of rappers Fat Joe, Big Pun, Cuban Link, Prospect, Armageddon, and Triple Seis. As the group was on hiatus following Pun's death, most of its former members fell into obscurity, with

having the most successful solo career among all the former members. The group reunited and released their second album, '' True Story'', in 2004. It included the summer club hit "

", produced by

Scott Storch Scott Spencer Storch (born December 16, 1973) is an American record producer and songwriter. He started off as a keyboardist for the group the Roots. Early life Storch was born on Long Island, New York. He was raised in South Florida and Phila ...

, which peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and 24 in the UK. A

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

to "Lean Back" featured

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971) better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, producer and former frontman of the rap group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. He was instrumental in the emergence of the hip hop subgenre cru ...

Mase Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his mononym Mase (formerly Murda Mase and stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper and minister. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Sean ...

and

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

was released on Fat Joe's 2005 album '' All or Nothing''. Although the album failed to spawn other hit singles, Fat Joe and Remy, who contributed the vocals to "Lean Back", went on to release high-selling solo albums in 2006. Fat Joe commented in a 2006 interview that Armageddon and Prospect had become lazy. Terror Squad signed to

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

that next year. Apart from the three new members,

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...

and

Cool & Dre Cool & Dre are a record production and songwriting duo from North Miami, Florida, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Antonio Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon. The duo are best known for their work with Terror Squad founder Fat Joe, first ...

are retained as regular crew along with Tony Sunshine. Tony Sunshine has since left Terror Squad to pursue a solo career. Furthermore, Terror Squad has since recruited affiliates from Texas, Florida, California, the Middle East, and Africa.

Line-up

(Joseph Cartagena) *

(Christopher Rios) *

(Antonio Cruz) *

(Felix Delgado) * Armageddon (John Eaddy) * Prospect (Richard Perez) * Triple Seis (Sammy Garcia) *

(Reminisce Mackie) *

(Khaled Mohamed Khaled) *

(Marcello "Cool" Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Lyon)

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{Authority control Atlantic Records artists MNRK Music Group artists Hip hop collectives Hip hop groups from New York City Musical groups established in 1998 Universal Records artists Hardcore hip hop groups Entertainers from the Bronx Musical groups from the Bronx