Arturo R. Molina Jr. (born May 31, 1964), better known as Frost (originally Kid Frost), is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer. He charted in the 1990s with his first four albums: ''

Hispanic Causing Panic ''Hispanic Causing Panic'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Kid Frost. It was released in 1990 via Virgin Records and is considered one of the first Latin rap albums, setting the stage for later releases by groups like Cypress Hill. T ...

'', '' East Side Story'', '' Smile Now, Die Later'' and '' When Hell.A. Freezes Over''. His most successful single is "

La Raza In Mexico, the Spanish expression ('the people'; literally: 'the race') has historically been used to refer to the mixed-race populations (primarily though not always exclusively in the Western Hemisphere), considered as an ethnic or racia ...

" which hit number 6 on the rap songs chart in August 1990. His 1990 debut album is credited as the first

Latin hip-hop Latin hip hop (also known as Latin rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that is recorded by Spanish-speaking artists in the Caribbean, North America, Central America, South America, and Spain. Latin hip hop in the United States West Coast In the ...

album. Frost's music entered 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 to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

again in 2002 with the album '' Still Up in This Shit!''. He is the father of record producer

Scoop DeVille Elijah Blue Molina (born October 15, 1987), better known by his stage name Scoop DeVille, is an American record producer, rapper and DJ. DeVille has produced singles and albums for hip hop artists including Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, N ...

Early life

Molina was born and raised by his Grandma Lola Molina in Windsor California & later moved with his mom to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and occasionally lived with his family in military bases in

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He is of Mexican descent. He began his music career in 1982 as Kid Frost as a tribute to his rival

Ice-T Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), known professionally as Ice-T (or Ice T), is an American rapper and actor. He is active in both hip hop music, hip hop and heavy metal music, heavy metal. Ice-T began his career as an underground r ...

, whom he often battled in the music industry. In an interview Frost stated that his first actual DJ was in fact

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

and

DJ Yella Antoine Carraby (born December 11, 1961), better known by his stage name DJ Yella, is an American DJ, record producer, and film director from Compton, California. DJ Yella began his career as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru along wit ...

. He soon became a

breakdancer Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consists mainly of ...

for Uncle Jamms Army.

Career

In the mid-1980s, Frost released several pre-gangsta 12" singles on Los Angeles-based labels Electrobeat and Baja. In the late 1980s, Kid Frost moved to

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

. His biggest hit, "

", from his debut album ''

'' (1990), combined East L.A. elements and became an "East L.A. anthem." ''Hispanic Causing Panic'' is credited as the first

Chicano rap Chicano rap is a subgenre of hip hop that embodies aspects of the Mexican American or Chicano culture. History Early years The first recognized Chicano rap album was the 1990 debut album '' Hispanic Causing Panic'' by Kid Frost; the album's le ...

album, and brought attention to Latin rappers on the West Coast. Frost also established a Latin rap supergroup called Latin Alliance, which released their only album, '' Latin Alliance'', in 1991. His second album, '' East Side Story'' was released in 1992. In 1995, Frost dropped the "Kid" from his nickname and signed with

Ruthless Records Ruthless Records was an American independent record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California on March 3, 1987. All of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1987. Several ...

Eazy-E Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. Eazy-E is often re ...

's label (distributed by Relativity). '' Smile Now, Die Later'' was released that year. Above The Law were featured as guest rappers, alongside A.L.T., O.G.Enius and

Kokane Jerry Buddy Long Jr. (born March 10, 1969), better known by his stage name Kokane, is an American rapper and singer best known for his distinctive vocal style and numerous guest appearances, such as on Snoop Dogg's ''Tha Last Meal''. Early life ...

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...

also appeared on Frost's version of "Mary Jane". His second album for Ruthless, '' When Hell.A.Freezes Over'', was released in 1997.

, Scoop, O.G.Enius and

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...

also appeared as guest rappers. In 1998, Frost collaborated with

South Park Mexican Carlos Coy (born October 5, 1970), known professionally as SPM (an initialism for South Park Mexican), is an American rapper and convicted sex offender. His stage name was incorporated from his Mexican heritage and the South Park neighborhood ...

in "''El Jugador"'' music video along with Low-G released by Dope House Records in the Power Moves: The Table album. Frost was also featured in the songs: Cali-Tex Connect, and West Coast, Gulf Coast, East Coast also from the Power Moves: The Table album. In 1999, Frost moved to a small

independent label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

called Celeb Entertainment Inc. His first album for Celeb Entertainment titled ''This Was Then This Is Now Vol. I'' was released in 1999.

Kurupt Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he formed Tha Dogg Pound in 1992 along with Daz Dillinger; the rap duo has releas ...

, King T,

Baby Bash Ronald Ray Bryant (born October 18, 1969), better known by his stage name Baby Bash (formerly Baby Beesh), is an American rapper. His first two albums, '' Savage Dreams'' (2001) and '' On Tha Cool'' (2002), were released by the independent Housto ...

Jay Tee James Trujillo, better known by his stage name Jay Tee, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California. He has been a part of the city's scene since the early 1990s as the lead member of N2Deep and Latino Velvet along with Baby Beesh. Even thou ...

Jayo Felony B. James Savage (born December 31, 1969), better known by his stage name Jayo Felony, is an American rapper from San Diego, California. Career In 1994, Jayo Felony signed to the label owned by Jam Master Jay from Run-DMC called Jam Master ...

Xzibit Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born September 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced "''exhibit''), is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, radio personality, and record executive. He began his musical career in 1992, ...

B-Legit Brandt Jones , better known by his stage name B-Legit, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California. Career Before he started his music career, he went to Grambling State University. He became a member of The Click, a rap group formed by his ...

and Cameo were featured on the CD. ''That Was Then This Is Now Vol. II'' was released in 2000. Frank V., Clika One, Jay Tee, Baby Bash and other guest rappers were also featured on the CD. 2002's '' Still Up In This Shit!'', released by Hit-A-Lick and

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch"), formerly known as Koch Records and Entertainment One (eOne) Music/Records, is an American independent record label and music management company based in New York City. It was formed in 1987 as a music div ...

, featured more Latin rap style and

g-funk G-funk, short for gangsta funk, (or funk rap) is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that emerged from the West Coast scene in the early 1990s. The genre is heavily influenced by the synthesizer-heavy 1970s funk sound of Parliament-Funkadelic (aka P-F ...

tracks as well as a hidden bonus

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

track titled "Cannabis".

Mellow Man Ace Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (born April 12, 1967), better known as Mellow Man Ace, is a Cuban-American rapper known for bilingual delivery and novelty rhymes. He was born in Cuba and moved to Los Angeles with his family at the age of four. Early life ...

Daz Dillinger Delmar Drew Arnaud (born May 25, 1973), known professionally as Daz Dillinger or simply Daz (formerly Dat Nigga Daz), is an American rapper and record producer. As a member of Death Row Records in the early 1990s, he is credited with the label ...

, A.L.T., Nino Brown, Don Cisco and other guest rappers appeared, and one track featured the group Tierra. In 2004 ''Welcome to Frost Angeles'' was released on

Thump Records Thump Records is a record label specialized in various genres of music. Founded by Bill Walker and Al Lopez for $10,000 in 1990. In 1997 Bill Walker became its sole C.E.O. and President. History Thump's success was ignited by the popularity of i ...

, which was produced almost entirely by Frost and his son Scoop DeVille. Only the Intro is produced by Binky Womack, and Philly Blunt co-produced one track. Guest rappers included Cameosis, Genovese and Jay Tee. Frost again signed to Low Profile Records and released his album ''Till The Wheels Fall Off'' in 2006. It had various guest appearances which included Baby Bash, Scoop DeVille and Mr. Sancho. Frost also performed music for films including "Bite the Bullet (Theme from Gunmen)" in the 1993 film ''Gunmen'' and "Tears Of A Mother" in the film ''No Mothers Crying, No Babies Dying'', which featured Ice-T. Frost is also an actor, having his feature film debut in the movie Platinum Illusions. He also provided the voice of fictional character T-Bone Mendez from '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' and contributed his song "

" to the soundtrack. He was named vice president of the Music Division of Goldmark Industries on August 30, 2006. Frost also appeared in a cameo role in

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

's " Vato" music video. In 2009 Frost collaborated with Serio on the song In L.A. from the album N.T.I.R. Part 2 The Revenge of Serio. He was also featured on the Frost and Serio Skit on the album. In 2016, Frost announced he has been diagnosed with cancer.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1990) *'' East Side Story'' (1992) *'' Smile Now, Die Later'' (1995) *'' When Hell.A. Freezes Over'' (1997) *''That Was Then, This Is Now, Vol. 1'' (1999) *''That Was Then, This Is Now, Vol. 2'' (2000) *'' Still Up in This Shit!'' (2002) *''Welcome to Frost Angeles'' (2004) *''Till the Wheels Fall Off'' (2006) *''All Oldies'' (2011) *''All Oldies II'' (2012) *''Old School Funk'' (2013) *''The Good Man'' (2013)

Collaboration albums

*'' Latin Alliance'' with Latin Alliance (1991) *'' Velvet City'' with Latino Velvet (2000)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frost 1964 births Living people 21st-century American rappers American rappers of Mexican descent Chicano rap MNRK Music Group artists G-funk artists Gangsta rappers Hispanic and Latino American rappers People from Windsor, California Rappers from Los Angeles Ruthless Records artists Virgin Records artists West Coast hip-hop musicians