T. Robinson, professionally know by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Top Quality is a former American rapper and a member of hip hop collective

Hit Squad The Hit Squad is an American hip hop collective of East Coast hip hop artists. Originally formed in the 1990s by Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith of the rap group EPMD, the group included rap artists such as K-Solo, Redman, Das EFX, Top ...

. Signing to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

in the early 1990s, he became the first rapper from

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

to get a major record label deal. After appearing in ''

The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...

'' magazine's ''Unsigned Hype'', a column dedicated to finding unsigned talent, Top Quality eventually caught the eye of

PMD PMD may refer to: Government and diplomacy * Pakistan Meteorological Department * Performance Management Division, of the Cabinet Office, Government of India * Possible Military Dimensions of a nuclear program (specifically that of Iran) Heal ...

, who made him a member of the rap collective

and was subsequently signed a deal with RCA Records. His debut album, ''

Magnum Opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

'' was released in May 1994 and was executively produced by Smith himself. The album, however, was a commercial failure. Unlike other Hit Squad releases at the time, ''Magnum Opus'' failed to sell many copies and peaked at only No. 95 on the ''Billboard'' Top R&B Albums chart. After being released from RCA, Top Quality appeared on PMD's '' Shadē Business'' in 1994 and 3rd Eye's ''Planets'' in 1998. Top Quality has been played on NTS shows including The NCA Show with Brassfoot, with ''Magnum Opus'' first played on November 21, 2017.

Discography

;Studio albums ;Singles *1992: "Northbound Renegade" / "Let Me Breathe" / "Who The Hell Am I" (New Image Records) *1993: "Magnum Opus" (

) *1994: "I Can't Hear You" (RCA/

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...

) *1994: "What" (PMD Records) - *

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

;Guest appearances *"Fake Homeyz" by

and 3rd Eye from '' Shadē Business'' (1994) *"No Shorts and No Sleep" by PMD, 3rd Eye and Zone 7 from ''Shadē Business'' (1994) *"Troopers Represent" by 3rd Eye,

Nine 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

Lord Finesse Robert A. Hall Jr. (born February 19, 1970), known by his stage name Lord Finesse, is an American rapper and hip-hop producer from The Bronx, New York, best known as the leader of the D.I.T.C. crew. About.com ranked him number 29 on its list of ...

and Zone 7 from ''Planets'' (1998)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Top Quality African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers Hit Squad members Living people Musicians from White Plains, New York Rappers from New York (state) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians