Maxwell Dixon (born March 4, 1964), known professionally as Grand Puba, is an American rapper and emcee, best known as one of the members of the group Brand Nubian from

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state o ...

Biography

He made his debut as Grand Puba Maxwell with the group Masters of Ceremony in 1984. Its album ''Dynamite'' (1988) was hailed by critics, but because of lack of sales the group soon disbanded and Puba became the lead emcee of Brand Nubian. After their debut album '' One for All'' (1990) — covering areas from

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

-influenced hip hop music to

new jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing wa ...

— Puba left the group after disputes and began a solo career. Around 1997 he rejoined the group, recording a few tracks for various soundtracks leading up to the full-length album '' Foundation'' in 1998. In 1999, Grand Puba and Sadat X performed on the track "Once Again" on

Handsome Boy Modeling School Handsome Boy Modeling School is an American collaborative project between hip hop producers Dan the Automator (Gorillaz, Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030) and Prince Paul ( Stetsasonic, De La Soul, Gravediggaz). The collaboration originally lasted ...

's concept album ''So... How's Your Girl?'' Following Brand Nubian's 2004 record ''Fire in the Hole'', Grand Puba appeared on tracks with

Beanie Sigel Dwight Equan Grant (born March 6, 1974), better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first became known for his association with Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records, releasing his debut ...

("Bread and Butter," also featuring groupmate

Sadat X Derek Murphy (born December 29, 1968), better known as Sadat X, is an American rapper, best known as a member of alternative hip hop group Brand Nubian. Originally known as Derek X, Sadat takes his name from former Egyptian president Anwar Sad ...

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("My Struggles," featuring his onetime collaborator Mary J. Blige), and Ugly Duckling ("Something's Going Down Tonight"). In 2009, Grand Puba released his fourth solo album, '' Retroactive'', featuring production from Q-Tip,

Large Professor William Paul Mitchell (born March 21, 1972), better known by the stage name of Large Professor (also Extra P. and Large Pro), is an American rapper and record producer. Based in New York City, he is known as a founding member of the underground ...

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as well as fellow Brand Nubians. Puba also appeared on the heavy

posse cut A posse cut is a popular form of song in hip hop music that involves successive verses by four or more rappers.Edwards, Paul, 2009, '' How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC'', Chicago Review Press, p. 221. Tracks described as posse cu ...

"Fresh" together with Cormega,

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 ...

Big Daddy Kane Antonio Hardy (born September 10, 1968), better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who began his career in 1986 as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and skilled MCs in ...

, DJ Red Alert and Parrish Smith of

EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. ...

. On the song "Old School" by

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 ...

, Grand Puba was sampled and used in the hook. The sample originates from Grand Puba's verse on the song "Dedication" by Brand Nubian.

Discography

Studio albums

Solo

* '' Reel to Reel'' (1992) * ''

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

'' (1995) * '' Understand This'' (2001) * '' Retroactive'' (2009) * '' Black from the Future'' (2016)

with Brand Nubian

* '' One for All'' (1990) * '' Foundation'' (1998) * '' Fire in the Hole'' (2004) * '' Time's Runnin' Out'' (2007)

References

External links

Information about Grand Puba
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puba, Grand 1966 births African-American male rappers American rappers of Jamaican descent Elektra Records artists Five percenters Living people Musicians from New Rochelle, New York Rappers from New York (state) 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people