Whodini is an American hip hop group that was formed in 1982. The

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York-based trio consisted of vocalist and main lyricist Jalil Hutchins; co-vocalist John Fletcher, a.k.a. Ecstasy (who wore a

Zorro Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...

-style hat as his trademark; June 7, 1964 – December 23, 2020); and

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

artist DJ Drew Carter, a.k.a. Grandmaster Dee. Coming out of the fertile New York rap scene of the early 1980s, Whodini was one of the first rap groups to add a R&B twist to their music, thus laying the foundation for a new genre, new jack swing. The group made its name with good-humored songs such as "Magic's Wand" (the first rap song accompanied by a video), "The Haunted House of Rock", " Friends", "Five Minutes of Funk", and "Freaks Come Out at Night". Live performances of the group were the first rap concerts with the participation of

breakdance Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

dancers from the group

UTFO UTFO (an abbreviation for Untouchable Force Organization) was an American old-school hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York City. The group consisted of Kangol Kid (born Shaun Shiller Fequiere; August 10, 1966 – December 18, 2021), Educated R ...

. Russell Simmons was the manager of the group in the 1980s. The group released six studio albums. Fourteen of the group’s singles hit the '' Billboard'' charts. Four of the group’s albums were

certified Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the RIAA.

Career

Early years

Whodini was among the first hip hop groups to cultivate a high-profile national following for hip hop music and made significant inroads on

urban radio Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban conte ...

. They were contemporaries of other hip hop groups such as

Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, S ...

, Afrika Bambaataa,

Run-D.M.C. Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

The Fat Boys The Fat Boys were an American hip hop trio from Brooklyn, New York, who emerged in the early 1980s. The group was briefly known originally as the Disco 3, originally composed of Mark " Prince Markie Dee" Morales, Damon "Kool Rock-Ski" Wimbley, ...

and

Warp 9 Warp 9, an American sci-fi themed electro-funk, hip hop group is best known for its ground breaking, influential singles including " Nunk," "Light Years Away," and " Beat Wave," which ranked among the most iconic groups of the electro hip hop ...

. The group signed with London-based independent record label Jive Records in 1982; they enjoyed a string of hits for several years, mostly charting on urban and R&B radio stations. The bulk of production on its releases was done by Larry Smith, a bass player who also handled much of Run-D.M.C.'s early work. In 1982, Whodini made a hip hop story with its debut single "Magic's Wand", an ode to hip hop radio pioneer Mr. Magic, which became the first hip hop song for which a music video was shhot. Synthpop and electro pioneer

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

helped produce this single. "Magic's Wand" also has the distinction of being one of Whodini's most-sampled songs. On July 8, 1983, the group released the self-titled album '' Whodini'' on vinyl and audio cassettes. The bulk of album was produced by influential German pioneer

Conny Plank Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was invol ...

at his own studio near Cologne, Germany. On CD, the album was released in the United States only in 2010. The second single, "Haunted House of Rock", was released in time for Halloween 1983. Whodini combined the goofy fun of

the Fat Boys The Fat Boys were an American hip hop trio from Brooklyn, New York, who emerged in the early 1980s. The group was briefly known originally as the Disco 3, originally composed of Mark " Prince Markie Dee" Morales, Damon "Kool Rock-Ski" Wimbley, ...

with the virtuosity of

to create what is the rap equivalent of horror movies. Heavy on the sound effects, the song is full of references to various famous monsters and boogymen - Dracula, Bloody Mary and the Invisible Man all show up.

''Escape''

In 1984, the group released the second album '' Escape''. The entire album was fully produced by Larry Smith. From the laid back groove titled "Five Minutes of Funk" to "Friends", a cynical story of betrayal sampled everywhere from Nas' "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" to

2Pac 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 ...

's "Troublesome '96", to harder edged singles "Freaks Come Out at Nite" and "Big Mouth". Many of these songs were also groundbreaking in

hip hop culture Hip hop or hip-hop is a culture and art movement that was created by African Americans, Latino Americans and Caribbean Americans in the Bronx, New York City. Hip hop culture is characterized by four key elements: rapping, DJing and turntablis ...

, as each one of the songs told a unique story from the urban perspective. The album ended up being certified for

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

-level sales by the RIAA, selling over one million albums upon its release. The instrumental version of "Five Minutes of Funk" was used as the theme music of the

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that ...

TV show ''Video Music Box'', an influential early hip hop

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

show. The album is out of print. On May 17, 2011, a deluxe version of ''Escape'' was released on CD with nine bonus tracks.

''Back in Black''

In 1986, the group released a third album ''

Back in Black ''Back in Black'' is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released on 25 July 1980 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It is the band's first album to feature lead singer Brian Johnson, following the death ...

'', fully produced by Smith. A number of songs from the album received heavy local New York airplay, such as "Funky Beat" and the controversial "I'm a Ho". "Fugitive" was guitar-driven funk and "Last Night (I Had a Long Talk With...)" was introspective. Paul Kodish, the drummer of Pendulum, was featured on the album.

Touring

From 1982 to 1986, the group was at its most productive; they toured with more successful groups such as

, LL Cool J,

, and other prominent hip hop, R&B and funk bands. The group was involved in the first Fresh Fest tour, which was the first hip hop tour to play large coliseums nationwide. In July 1986, the group appeared at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

's Spectrum Stadium in front of an audience of 18,000. They were the first hip hop act and break dance troop to tour in the UK and Europe, with

also appearing with the group as its break dance act.

''Open Sesame'' and the New School

By 1987, the group had earned its share of gold singles and albums. With the fourth album '' Open Sesame'', its final release of the 1980s, the group had turned away from their once-playful simple beats and catchy rhymes of the old school, and instead became vocally harder and more instrument-driven, with guitars and horns and bells. They even began to sample, as a snippet of Cheryl Lynn's "

Got to be Real "Got to Be Real" is a song by American singer Cheryl Lynn from her 1978 self-titled debut studio album. The song, which was Lynn's debut single, was written by Lynn, David Paich and David Foster. Recording For the recording, David Shields play ...

" is heard on the song "Now That Whodini's Inside the Joint". Smith again produced the entire album except for two tracks, "Be Yourself" and "I'm Def (Jump Back And Kiss Myself)", produced by Sinester. This new-school style had been similarly done almost a year previously, on the multi-million selling debut albums by L.L. Cool J and the Beastie Boys, as many groups had already turned to the kind of hip hop and

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

that crossed over easily, and ''Open Sesame'' failed to produce any real hits. Although the group was still obligated to Jive Records, for the next few years the band eked out its tenure by occasionally only releasing singles, including "Anyway I Gotta Swing It" for the '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child'' movie soundtrack.

The 1990s to present

In the 1990s, the band made an attempt at a comeback, and in that same year the group signed with

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

and released its fifth album '' Bag-A-Trix'' in 1991, which failed to have commercial impact, as it tried again to reinvent using the then-current sound of new jack swing. Smith produced six of the tracks on the album, two of which co-authored with the band Major Jam Productions, which separately produced the other four tracks, and Fresh Gordon made music for the other four songs. In mid-1994, the group scored a hit single with "It All Comes Down to the Money", which was co-produced 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 ...

DJ Terminator X on his album '' Super Bad''. Talks with

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

for a new deal stalled, and in 1996, the group was signed by

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

to his then- Columbia Records-distributed

So So Def Recordings So So Def Recordings is an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and owned by producer Jermaine Dupri, specializing in Southern hip hop, R&B and bass music. So So Def has managed artists such as Bow Wow, Kris Kross, T ...

imprint. As a child in the 1980s, Dupri did a brief stint as a dancer for the group. The group’s sixth album ''

Six 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...

'' produced one single, "Keep Running Back", and appeared briefly on the R&B chart. The album was fully produced by Dupri, except for three tracks, which were created by Dave Atkinson and Andy "Red Spyda" Thelusma. Since the ''Six'' album, the group has not released any new music, but its older songs have been featured in many various old school compilations and three greatest-hits collections have been released: ''The Jive Collection, Vol. 1'' in 1995, ''Rap Attack'' in 2003, and ''Funky Beat: The Best of Whodini'' in 2006, which featured the seven-minute "Whodini Mega Mix", which was a medley of some of the biggest hits. In recent years, Whodini still tours occasionally, and its old records still surface on pop and R&B radio, especially during old-school mix shows. The group's records have now become sample sources for contemporary emcees such as Nas,

Master P Percy Robert Miller Sr. (born April 29, 1967), known by his stage name Master P, is an American rapper, record executive, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the record label No Limit Records, which was relaunched as ...

Prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and ...

, and

MF Doom Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...

. In October 2007, Whodini was an honoree at the 4th Vh1

Hip Hop Honors The Hip Hop Honors is an annual event that airs on VH1. The television special honors old school and golden age hip hop rappers and contributors for their long-term influence and importance in the history of hip hop culture. It features live pe ...

. In March 2012, Whodini was featured in Season 5 Episode 3 of the TV One hour-long music documentary series, '' Unsung''. In August 2012, Whodini was presented with the Icon Award by the Underground Music Awards. In October 2012, Whodini was inducted into the 4th annual Long Island Music Hall of Fame. On August 16, 2018, the group was awarded the Hip-Hop Icon Award at the third Black Music Honors ceremony held at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. On December 23, 2020, Fletcher died at the age of 56.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Whodini'' (1983) * '' Escape'' (1984) * ''

'' (1986) * '' Open Sesame'' (1987) * '' Bag-a-Trix'' (1991) * ''

'' (1996)

Filmography

Documentary

*1990 – ''Rapmania: The Roots of Rap'' (TV Movie documentary) *2004 – ''And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip-Hop'' (October 4, 2004) *2012 – ''Unsung: The Story of Whodini'' (by TV One) (March 12, 2012)

Television

*1987 - '' It's Showtime at the Apollo'' (TV Series) ("One Love") (October 10, 1987) *1987 - ''

Video Soul ''Video Soul'' is a two–hour long American music video program that originally aired on BET (Black Entertainment Television) from June 26, 1981 to September 1996. The program was devoted to showcasing R&B and Soul recording artists and perfo ...

'' (TV Series) ("Be Yourself") *1987 - ''Invisible Thread'' (TV Movie) *1988 - '' 1988 Soul Train Music Awards'' (TV Special) (March 30, 1988) *1987 - '' Soul Train'' (TV Series) - episode "Freddie Jackson/Lace/Whodini" ("Be Yourself", "Life Is Like a Dance") (November 14, 1987) *1994 - '' In the Mix'' (TV Series) - episode "Hip Hop: Then & Now" (April 24, 1994) *2007 - '' 4th Annual VH1 Hip-Hop Honors'' (TV Special) (October 8, 2007) *2018 - ''3rd Annual Black Music Honors'' (TV Special) (September 8, 2018)

Video Collection

*1986 - ''Back in Black'' (RCA / Columbia Pictures Home Video) *1990 - ''Greatest Rap Video Hits'' (BMG Video / Zomba Video / Jive)

Samples and remixes

* The drum beat from "Friends" is sampled in Public Enemy's "Sophisticated Bitch" from the album "Yo Bum Rush the Show". * Dr. Dre used the beat of "I'm a Ho" for the Eazy-E song "Boyz-n-the-Hood (Remix)". * Bone Thugs N Harmony re-recorded "Friends" and remixed it on ''

The Art of War ''The Art of War'' () is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is com ...

''. * The Firm's song "5 Minutes to Flush" samples "Five Minutes of Funk," and quotes its chorus. *

's verse in "Welcome to Atlanta" samples the intro to "Five Minutes of Funk". *

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

's song "Potnas", about friendship, samples "Friends," and quotes its chorus at the beginning. * The bassline from "Friends" is sampled in

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 ...

's "Troublesome '96". In his unreleased song "Let's Be Friends," he also used the theme of "Friends". * "Friends" is sampled in

MF DOOM Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...

's "Deep Fried Frenz," from the album Mm.. Food. *

Pastor Troy Micah LeVar "Pastor" Troy (born November 18, 1977) is an American rapper and record producer. He is also a member of the hardcore rap group D.S.G.B. (Down South Georgia Boyz). In 2020, he made several homophobic statements against Lil Nas X tha ...

remixed "Friends" into a song entitled "Benz". * Nas used the chorus of the song "One Love" for his song of the same name. * The bassline and chorus from "Friends" is sampled in Nas' " If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)". * In the movie Next Friday, Day-Day and Roach were singing the song "Friends" while being held captive. * Ice Cube &

's song "You Know I'm a Ho" from The Players Club (soundtrack) is a remake of "I'm a Ho". * Lil' Flip's song "I Got Flow" from his independent debut album The Leprechaun contains elements of "I'm a Ho". * Beck sampled "Five Minutes of Funk" in his song "Gold Chains". * Meshell Ndegeocello covers “Friends” into her song entitled "Come to Me" on her eleventh album ''Comet''.

References

{{Authority control American hip hop groups Musical groups established in 1981 1981 establishments in New York City Jive Records artists MCA Records artists Musical groups from Brooklyn