Rico Smith (born August 9, 1971), better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Tash, is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

. He is most known for his work as a member of the West Coast hip hop group, Tha Alkaholiks alongside J-Ro and E-Swift. Tash has released two solo albums, '' Rap Life'' (1999) and

Control Freek ''Control Freek'' is the second solo studio album by American rapper Tash (rapper), Tash. It was released on June 30, 2009 via Amalgam Digital. Hip hop production, Production was handled by E-Swift, J Beam, Affion Crockett, Da Truth, Emmaculate, ...

(2009), and has worked on five albums with Tha Alkaholiks.

History

Early life, early career

Tash was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, in 1971, but moved to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

at age 16 with his four brothers and mother. His parents divorced the following year, but Tash decided to stay in California and pursue a career as a rapper. In California, he co-founded Tha Alkaholiks—originally known as Everyday Street Poets (ESP), later known as Tha Liks—with fellow Ohio native, DJ E-Swift and a Californian emcee named J-Ro. Tash had previously worked in a group named Disturbers of the Peace with E-Swift and even lived with him, while they each performed music locally. J-Ro had worked with Californian hip hop artists such as Suavee D and

King Tee Roger McBride (born December 14, 1968), better known by his stage name King T (formerly known as King Tee), is an American West Coast Hip hop rapper from Compton, California. Emerging as one of Compton's earliest hip hop artists, he was signed ...

, but never with Tash or E-Swift. Tash's connection with J-Ro allowed Tha Alkaholiks to appear on King Tee's 1993 album, '' Tha Triflin' Album''. Soon after their appearance, Tha Alkaholiks started touring with famed hip hop artists such as

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be p ...

, and even inked a record deal with Loud/

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. After appearing on more songs with Tha Alkaholiks in collaboration with other artists, his party-themed rhymes created much anticipation for his group's debut album, '' 21 & Over''.

Tha Alkaholiks work

The first album by Tha Alkaholiks, 1993's ''21 & Over'', lead critics to applaud Tash's "punch lines and comic timing," "killer delivery of topnotch MCs" and "more than enough talent and energy to back up ..endlessly clever boasting." The album as a whole was a great critical success, but was not too commercially successful. It did have three charting singles though and likely gained Tash and his group a "sizeable cult following." 1995 saw the release of '' Coast II Coast'' which was also a critical success, but had slightly more commercial success than its predecessor. It spawned two minor hit singles in "DAAAM!" and "The Next Level." Tha Alkaholiks changed their name to Tha Liks for their 1997 album, '' Likwidation''. It was met with a decent critical reception and about the same commercial reception as ''Coast II Coast''. It did boast a ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hit with "Hip Hop Drunkies" featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard, which is their most successful recording of all time. Tash and his group went on to release '' X.O. Experience'' in 2001 and '' Firewater'' in 2006 before disbanding as a group. The large amount of time in between releases allowed for each member of Tha Liks to work on solo projects.

Solo work

Tash released one album, '' Rap Life'', on Loud Records in 1999. It received some critical acclaim and little commercial. It only reached #148 on

The Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists ...

, even with guest appearances by famed artists such as Outkast and

Kurupt Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer who aided gangsta rap's rise via 1990s verses helping set lasting trends. He is one half of the rap duo Tha Dogg Po ...

. It did reach #1 on the

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart which tracks underground acclaim, and it had two singles that reached the

Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...

chart. Those two songs, "Rap Life" featuring

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon The Chef, or simply Raekwon (), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream succes ...

and "Bermuda Triangle," remain as Tash's best known solo tracks. According to a 2009 interview, Tha Alkalholiks are done releasing albums, and Tash was 100% finished with his next solo album,

on the

Amalgam Digital Amalgam Digital is an independent record label based in East Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 2006 by Anyextee, the privately owned label had been home to a variety of artists throughout the decade before significantly downsizing in its later ye ...

label. The album was released June 2009. It featured appearances from B-real, J-ro and King Tee and production by will.i.am, Maestro, and J. Wells. In a 2015 interview with Dubcnn, Tash revealed that he will be releasing a new album titled "Publicity Stunt". "Publicity Stunt", according to Tash is "a collaboration album where in the last 15 years, I just did so many songs with people."http://www.dubcnn.com/2015/03/01/exclusive-interview-with-tash-of-tha-alkaholiks-march-2015/ The projected release date is May 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tash Living people 1971 births African-American rappers Musicians from Toledo, Ohio 21st-century American rappers 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people Likwit Crew members