J.J. Fad is an American female rap group from

Rialto, California Rialto is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, 56 miles east of Los Angeles, near the Cajon Pass, Interstate 15, Interstate 10, State Route 210 and Metrolink routes. Its population was 104,026 as of the 2020 census, ...

. The name was an acronym of the original group members' given names (Juana, Juanita, Fatima, Anna, and Dania), but when the line-up changed the tradition developed that it stood for Just Jammin', Fresh and Def.J. J. Fad Website.
Retrieved 15 February 2015. The group was backed by DJ Train (Clarence Lars).

History

Beginnings

J.J. Fad began in 1985 as a quintet comprising Juana Burns (MC J.B.), Dania Birks (Baby-D), Anna Cash (Lady Anna), Fatima Shaheed (O.G. Rocker) and Juanita Lee (Crazy J.). It was one of the original acts signed to

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 ...

. In 1987, before officially joining Ruthless, this line-up released its only recording, the single "Anotha Ho" backed with "Supersonic" ("Anotha Ho" was the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

), produced by

Arabian Prince Kim Renard Nazel (born June 17, 1965), better known by his stage names Arabian Prince or Professor X, is an American rapper and record producer. He was a founding member of N.W.A and contributed to a few tracks from '' N.W.A. and the Posse'' (19 ...

and released by Dream Team Records.

''Supersonic''

Due to management and financial disagreements, Cash, Shaheed and Lee quit the group, leaving J.J. Fad as a duo. The remaining original members (Burns and Birks) were joined by Michelle Franklin (Sassy C.) and DJ Train, and together they re-recorded and re-released "

Supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

" in 1988, this time as the A-side. It sold 400,000 copies independently before Eazy-E and Jerry Heller secured the group a major-label recording contract with

Atco Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the com ...

. The single was followed by the album ''

'', produced by

, who made J.J. Fad accessible to pop audiences—unlike many West Coast rappers of the day—by including electro elements in their music. Due to their involvement with

, co-producer credits were added for

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 ...

. Both the single "Supersonic" and the album ''Supersonic'' were certified gold in 1988. By mid 1992 the album itself was certified double platinum in the United States. (The group believes the single sold 1 million copies in the U.S.—equivalent to platinum status—but this has not been certified.)Layli Phillips, Kerri Reddick-Morgan and Dionne Patricia Stephens, "Oppositional consciousness within an oppositional realm: The case of feminism and womanism in rap and hip hop, 1976–2004," ''Journal of African American History'', Vol. 90, No. 3 (Summer, 2005), p. 257.

''Not Just a Fad''

With Eazy and Heller enjoying success with

N.W.A N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip-hop group formed in Compton, California in 1987. Among the earliest and most significant figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, the group is widely considered one of the great ...

, it was three years before J.J. Fad returned with a follow-up album. '' Not Just a Fad'' was released in 1991, produced by Arabian Prince (who already left Ruthless in early 1989) and Yella and executively produced by Eazy, but failed to make an impact. The group disbanded shortly afterward. DJ Train died in 1994 of smoke inhalation.

Later years

After almost two decades out of the music industry raising families, the classic trio of J.J. Fad reunited. The group performs at old-school and freestyle concerts. In 2004, MF Doom sampled the beatboxing intro from the 1988 video for "Supersonic" in his song "Hoecakes" from his album '' Mm.. Food''. In 2006, Fergie used an

interpolation In the mathematics, mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one ...

of "Supersonic" in her song " Fergalicious". "Supersonic" appeared in the music video game ''

Dance Central 3 ''Dance Central 3'' is a 2012 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and Backbone Entertainment and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 Kinect. It is the sequel to ''Dance Central 2'' (2011) and the third installment in the ''Dance Centra ...

'' (2012), which J. J. Fad promoted on its Facebook page. The 2015 biopic film ''

Straight Outta Compton ''Straight Outta Compton'' is the debut studio album by American hip-hop group N.W.A, released on January 25, 1989, through Priority Records, Priority and Ruthless Records. It was Record producer, produced by N.W.A members Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, a ...

'' left out the story of J. J. Fad and how some in the media felt the group was responsible for "forging a path for the breakout success of

". The second trailer for the 2020 movie ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...

'' features the song "Supersonic".

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

Featured singles

Guest appearances

References

External links

*
J. J. Fad's Facebook page
*
J. J. Fad at Discogs
* {{Authority control African-American musical trios African-American women rappers American dance girl groups Atco Records artists West Coast hip-hop groups Women hip-hop groups Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Musical groups reestablished in 2021 People from Rialto, California Ruthless Records artists Hip-hop groups from California 1985 establishments in California