Arturo Molina Jr. (born May 31, 1962), better known as Frost (originally Kid Frost), is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer from Los Angeles. He is the father of record producer Scoop DeVille.

Early life

Molina was born and raised in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

and occasionally lived with his family in military bases in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic ce ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. He is of Mexican descent. He began his music career in 1982 as Kid Frost as a tribute to his rival Ice-T, whom he often battled in the music industry. In an interview Frost stated that his first actual DJ was in fact Dr. Dre and

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

. He soon became a breakdancer 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 record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...

. Virgin released his biggest hit, "

La Raza The Spanish expression ('the people' or 'the community'; literal translation: 'the race') has historically been used to refer to the Hispanophone populations (primarily though not always exclusively in the Western Hemisphere), considered as ...

". His debut album, '' Hispanic Causing Panic'' was released in 1990. He 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, which featured appearances from

MC Eiht Aaron Tyler (born May 22, 1971), better known by his stage name MC Eiht (pronounced MC eight), is an American rapper and actor. Many of his songs are based on his life in Compton. His stage name was partly inspired by the numeral in KRS-One's nam ...

A.L.T. Alvin Lowell Trivette (born May 17, 1970), known as A.L.T., is an American rapper. known for the 1991 hit "Lowrider (On the Boulevard)" (as a member of Latin Alliance) and the 1992 hit "Tequila" (No. 48 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100). Biograph ...

and Ganxta Ridd from the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. In 1995, Frost dropped the "Kid" from his nickname and signed with

Ruthless Records Ruthless Records was an American record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California in 1986, where all of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1997. Several artists on the ...

, Eazy-E's label (distributed by Relativity). '' Smile Now, Die Later'' was released that year. Above The Law were featured as guest rappers, alongside

, O.G.Enius and

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

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, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

also appeared on Frost's version of "Mary Jane". His second album for Ruthless, '' When Hell.A.Freezes Over'', was released in 1997. Ice-T, Scoop, O.G.Enius and

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. 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 ca ...

also appeared as guest rappers. In 1998, Frost collaborated with South Park Mexican 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 represented ...

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 who aided gangsta rap's rise via 1990s verses helping set lasting trends. He is one half of the rap duo Tha Dogg ...

King T 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 ...

Baby Bash Ronald Ray Bryant (born October 18, 1969), better known by his stage name Baby Bash (formerly Baby Beesh), is an American rapper. From 1995 until 1998, as part of Dope House Records, after which he changed the last part of his stage name to "Bas ...

, Jay Tee, Jayo Felony,

Xzibit Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born September 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced "exhibit"), is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, and radio personality. Xzibit began his musical career after the release of his ...

B-Legit Brandt Jones (born January 13, 1968), better known by his stage name B-Legit, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California. Early life Brandt "B-Legit" Jones graduated from General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo Senior High School on June 17, 19 ...

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 eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had ...

, featured more Latin rap style and

g-funk G-funk, short for gangsta funk, is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that emerged from the West Coast scene in the late 1980s. The genre is heavily influenced by 1970s psychedelic funk (P-funk) sound of artists such as Parliament-Funkadelic. Characte ...

tracks as well as a hidden bonus rock 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 a ...

Daz Dillinger Delmar Drew Arnaud (born May 25, 1973), known professionally as Daz Dillinger (formerly Dat Nigga Daz and commonly Daz), is an American rapper and record producer. In the 1990s at Death Row Records, aided the catapult of West Coast rap and ga ...

, Nino Brown, Don Cisco and other guest rappers appeared, and one track featured the group Tierra. In 2005 ''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 1997 Bill Walker became its sole C.E.O. and President. History Thump's success was ignited by the popularity of its Old ...

, 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 accomplished actor appearing in several films, as well as doing voice roles for fictional characters such as T-Bone Mendez from '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' and contributing his song "

". 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), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, ...

's " Vato" music video, as well as

B-Real Louis Mario Freese (born June 2, 1970), known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper. Since 1991, he has been one of two lead rappers in the hip hop group Cypress Hill, along with Sen Dog. He has also been a part of the rap metal band ...

that same year. In 2016, Frost announced he has been diagnosed with cancer.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Hispanic Causing Panic'' (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'' (2005) *''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 1962 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