The Dayton Family is an American hip hop group from Flint, Michigan, composed of Ira "Bootleg" Dorsey, Raheen "Shoestring" Peterson and Matt "Backstabba" Hinkle. Its name derives from Dayton Street, one of Flint's most crime-ridden streets.

Musical career

Early history (1993–2005)

In 1993, Ira Dorsey and Raheen Peterson met through their younger brothers. The two began writing together, under the names Bootleg and Shoestring, and created their first song, "Dope Dayton Ave". Rapper Matt Hinkle soon joined the duo under the name Backstabba. The group began working with local producer Steve Pitts and formed The Dayton Family, named after Dayton Avenue, one of the most crime-ridden streets in their hometown of Flint, Michigan. In between studio sessions, they performed at local clubs and quickly gain notoriety within Flint. The Dayton Family recorded a

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

and soon signed with

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

independent record label Po' Broke in 1995. That year, the group released their debut album '' What's on My Mind?'' and were featured on

No Limit No Limit may refer to: Music Record labels *No Limit Records, a record label founded by Master P * No Limit Forever Records, a record label founded by Romeo Miller, son of Master P Albums * ''No Limit'' (Art Pepper album), 1977 * ''No Limit'' ...

s '' Down South Hustlers: Bouncin' and Swingin''' compilation album, which got the trio recognition throughout

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. After the album's release, Hinkle was imprisoned and replaced by Bootleg's younger brother Erick, who performed under the name Ghetto-E. Following a year of touring, the group left Po' Broke due to legal problems with the label's producer and signed with Russ Entertainment . In 1996, they released their second album '' F.B.I.'', standing for Fuck Being Indicted, under Russ Entertainment/

Relativity Records Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his company, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metro New York. Relativity released music that covers a wide variety of musical genres. When it entered in ...

. The Dayton Family was plagued with various legal problems, including Ira being incarcerated soon after release of ''F.B.I.'', which hindered the amount of work the group released. In 1999, both Ira and Peterson released solo albums. Two years later, the group signed with

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

rapper

Esham Esham is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Esham released his debut studio album, '' Boomin' Words from Hell'', in 1989. Since then, he has gone on to release 15 studio albums in total and is best known as a representative of the hip ...

's Gothom label and released solo albums. The next year, they released '' Welcome to the Dopehouse'' under

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 ...

Stabilization (2005-2010)

After a three-year hiatus, the group was trimmed down to Ira and Peterson and they released ''

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'' through Fast Life Records. The following year, The Dayton Family signed with U Be U Records and released ''Back on Dayton Ave.'' The duo added new member Jake the Flake later that same year and released ''Return to Dayton Ave.'' in October. Following Hinkle's release from prison, the group returned to their original lineup of Ira, Peterson, and Hinkle. In 2009, they released ''The Return: The Right to Remain Silent'' under DDA Records.

Hatchet House (2010-2011)

On July 14, 2010, The Dayton Family signed with Insane Clown Posse's subsidiary label

Hatchet House Hatchet House is the sub-label of independent record label Psychopathic Records, based in Royal Oak, Michigan in the United States, which was formed in 2007 by American hip hop group Insane Clown Posse. History Hatchet House was created as a t ...

. The group released the EP ''Psycho'' on February 1, 2011, and a music video was released for the song "Cocaine" on 28 March. Their seventh album, ''

Charges of Indictment ''Charges of Indictment'' is the seventh studio album by American rap group The Dayton Family from Flint, Michigan. It was released on June 21, 2011 via Hatchet House/Psychopathic Records, making it the group's first full-length release on the la ...

'', was released on June 28. They most recently featured in the "Psychopathic Psypher" Part 1 & 2 (Bootleg in Part 1 and Shoestring in Part 2). The video for "The Psypher (Part 1 & 2)" was released on June 5, 2011.

Style and influences

The Dayton Family is known for their gritty lyrics concerning ghetto survival, struggle and poverty.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

reviewer Jason Birchmeier describes The Dayton Family's musical style as "potent hardcore rap". He says that the group has "an idiosyncratic identity" and "a dark, grim mentality focused on modest survival rather than riches or fame". The group lists Run-DMC,

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, LL Cool J,

N.W.A N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...

, Geto Boys,

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

, Notorious B.I.G.,

X-Clan X Clan (formerly stylized as XCLAN and often incorrectly spelled X-Clan) is a hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York, originally consisting of Grand Verbalizer Funkin' Lesson Brother J, Professor X the Overseer, Paradise the Architect, and Su ...

Spice 1 Robert Lee Greene, Jr. (born July 2, 1970), better known by his stage name Spice 1 (an acronym for "Sex, Pistols, Indo, Cash and Entertainment"), is an American rapper from Hayward, California. He began releasing albums in 1992. Career Jive Re ...

Natas The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

and

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 ...

as influences.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Solo albums

*Bootleg **1999: ''Death Before Dishonesty'' **2001: ''Hated By Many, Loved By Few'' **2005: ''The Product'' **2009: ''I Declare War'' **2016: ''Problems EP'' **2016: ''Street Related'' **2018: ''The Transplant'' **2019: ''93ID'' *Ghetto E **2001: ''Ghetto Theater'' *Shoestring **1999: ''Representin' Till The World Ends'' **2001: ''Cross Addicted'' **2016: ''Fix My City'' **2017: ''Black Friday'' **2019: ''The Bake Up Boy'' *Jake the Flake **1992: ''Out 2 Get Rich EP'' **1996: ''Flint Thug Compilation'' **1998: ''Out 2 Get Rich: The Album'' **1998: ''& The Flint Thugs'' **1998: ''Streets Is All I Know'' **1999: ''Mr. Jakafella Volume 1'' **2009: ''Uncut Raw'' **2015: ''Legendary Mixtape (Hosted By Mike Epps)'' **2015: ''Game Is Meant To Be Sold (The Soundtrack)'' **2019: ''Gloves Off'' **2020: ''God Forgive Me''

Guest appearances

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dayton Family, The African-American musical groups American hip hop groups Hatchet House artists Musical groups from Flint, Michigan Musical groups established in 1993 Reel Life Productions artists 1993 establishments in Michigan Gangsta rap groups Horrorcore groups