Robert A. Hall Jr. (born February 19, 1970), known by his stage name Lord Finesse, is an American rapper and

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

producer from

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York, best known as the leader of the D.I.T.C. crew.

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...

ranked him number 29 on its list of the Top-50 Hip-Hop Producers.

Early life and education

Finesse was born Robert A. Hall, Jr. on February 19, 1970 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, New York, USA. He was raised in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

during the 1970s His grandmother raised Finesse when he was younger living in Forest Projects, a

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

project in neighborhood of Morrisania in the Bronx. He met future D.I.T.C. rapper/producer Diamond D at St. Augustine Catholic School. He attended Morris High School. While spending time at his school, Finesse would visit one of his friends high school (

DeWitt Clinton High School DeWitt Clinton High School is a public high school located since 1929 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Opened in 1897 in Lower Manhattan as an all-boys school, it maintained that status for 86 years before becoming co-ed in 1983. From i ...

) who he grew with up, where he would do freestyle battles sessions with other students. At that time, he met A.G. (Andre Barnes) who was a student at

, another future D.I.T.C. member who was an aspiring rapper. He first started rapping at the age of 12.

Career

In 1989, Finesse and his former partner DJ Mike Smooth signed with Wild Pitch Records, home of other popular hip hop artists such as

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo, consisting of Houston-born record producer DJ Premier and Boston-based rapper Guru (rapper), Guru. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2003, and is considered a widely influential MC-and-pr ...

, Main Source, Chill Rob G, Percee P and O.C. In 1990, the duo released their debut album '' Funky Technician''. The album featured production from future star beat-makers DJ Premier, Diamond D and Showbiz. Soon after, Finesse formed the popular New York underground crew D.I.T.C., an acronym for "Diggin In The Crates", together with Showbiz and A.G. and Diamond D. Future members included

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

, O.C., Buckwild, and Big L. Finesse returned as a solo artist in early 1992 with his second effort, '' Return of the Funky Man''. The album featured guest appearances from Percee P and AG. The album's title track peaked at number 13 on the Hot Rap Singles chart. ''Return of the Funky Man'' also included a couple of songs that were produced by Finesse himself, and this would be the start of a career as a much respected hip-hop producer. In 1994 Finesse made a production appearance on The Notorious B.I.G.'s classic debut ''

Ready to Die ''Ready to Die'' is the debut studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released on September 13, 1994, by Bad Boy Records and distributed by Arista Records. The album features productions by Bad Boy founder Sean Combs, Sean "Puffy ...

'', on the track " Suicidal Thoughts". In 1995, he produced a big portion of Big L's debut album '' Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous'', including the single "M.V.P." and made an appearance on one of the album's highlight songs "Da Graveyard". He returned as an artist in 1996 with the now rare 12" single "Check The Method" and then the acclaimed album '' The Awakening''. Finesse produced the entire album himself, and enlisted a large number of guests, including

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 the Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the ...

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a ...

, Akinyele, Diamond D, Showbiz & A.G., O.C. and Kid Capri. The underground single "Actual Facts" featuring Sadat X, Large Professor and Grand Puba, was included as a hidden track on the album. Finesse hasn't released a studio album since this effort, but has continued his production work. In 1997, he produced the title track to O.C.'s acclaimed effort '' Jewelz'' and the track "Channel 10" off of

Capone-N-Noreaga Capone-N-Noreaga (also known as C-N-N) is an American hip hop duo formed in 1995 from Queens, New York. The duo features East Coast rappers Capone and N.O.R.E. History In October 1995, Capone-N-Noreaga appeared in '' The Source'' magazine's ...

's debut '' The War Report''. Finesse released a mixtape called ''Diggin' On Blue'' in 1999. Later in the year, he produced the track "The Message" on

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 ...

's seminal ''

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

'' album. Finesse is currently working on a ''Funky Technician'' remix project, as well as a new D.I.T.C. album. Along with these projects, he and DJ Premier are working on a posthumous Big L album. In 1998, Finesse provided the vocal sample on the hook to "

The Rockafeller Skank "The Rockafeller Skank" is a song by English big beat musician and DJ Fatboy Slim. It was released as the lead single from his second studio album, '' You've Come a Long Way, Baby'' (1998), on 8 June 1998. The single peaked at number six on the ...

", a hit single by British musician

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...

from his album '' You've Come a Long Way, Baby''. The song features Finesse's repeated line "Right about now, the funk soul brother. Check it out now, the funk soul brother". This line was lifted from the song "Vinyl Dogs Vibe" by the Vinyl Dogs with the spoken word intro provided by Finesse, edited from the full line, "Check it out right about now. It's no other than the funk soul brother, the Lord Finesse. And you're welcome to the world of the Vinyl Dogs right about now. So if you're diggin', peep how we do it like this" Lord Finesse returned to the mic on Handsome Boy Modeling School's album ''

White People White is a Race (human categorization), racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry. It is also a Human skin color, skin color specifier, although the definition can var ...

'' in 2004. He was featured on the song entitled "Rock 'N' Roll (Could Never Hip-Hop Like This) pt. 2", collaborating with famous old-school DJ's Grand Wizard Theodore and Jazzy Jay.

Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...

and

Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda ( ; born February 11, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's co-lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, ...

from

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...

make appearances, as well as

Rahzel Rozell Manely Brown (born October 6, 1964) is an American beatboxer and rapper, formerly a member of the Roots. Rahzel is known for an ability to sing or rap while simultaneously beatboxing, as evidenced in his performances of "Iron Man" and h ...

, then of

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

. In June 2012, Finesse filed a $10 million lawsuit against Rostrum Records and DatPiff for the use of a sample of Finesse's song "Hip 2 Da Game" used in

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known by the stage name Mac Miller, was an American rapper. He began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop music, hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of 15. In 2010, he signed ...

's 2010 song "Kool-Aid and Frozen Pizza." In January 2013 the lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount. In 2014, Lord Finesse produced a remix for Swedish rap group Looptroop Rockers single "Another Love Song". In July 2020, he released a new remix album, ''Motown State Of Mind''.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Guest appearances

* 992~~ 'Set It Off Troop'-- Class Act (soundtrack) * 992~~ 'Represent'-- Runaway Slave, Showbiz and A.G. * 992~~ 'You Know What I'm About'-- Trespass (soundtrack) * 993~~ "You Can't Front'-- Single. Diamond D * 993~~ "On da M.I.C."-- The Untold Truth, Illegal * 994~~ "Dig on That"-- One, Two, Ground Floor * 994~~ "The Rhythm"-- The Mouth That Roared...?, Bas Blasta *

995 Year 995 (Roman numerals, CMXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 17 May - Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies. * 3 June: Fujiwara no Michikane gains power and becomes Rege ...

~~ 'Da Graveyard'-- Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, Big L *

~~ 'Add On'-- Goodfellas, Showbiz and A.G. * 997~~ 'Collaboration of Mics'--

That's Them ''That's Them'' is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Artifacts (group), Artifacts. It was released on April 15, 1997, via Big Beat Records (American record label), Big Beat/Atlantic Records. The recording sessions took place at Plat ...

, Artifacts * 997~~ 'Day One'-- Single, D.I.T.C. * 997~~ '5 Fingers of Death'-- Hatred, Passions and Infidelity, Diamond D * 997~~ 'Run the Line (Remix)'-- Single, Peanut Butter Wolf * 998~~ 'All Love'-- Single, D.I.T.C. * 998~~ 'Dignified Soldiers / DS (Remix)'--

Full Scale In electronics and signal processing, full scale represents the maximum amplitude a system can represent. In digital systems, a signal is said to be at digital full scale when its magnitude has reached the maximum representable value. Once a si ...

, Showbiz and A.G. *

000 Triple zero, Zero Zero Zero, 0-0-0 or variants may refer to: * 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number * 000, the size of several small List of screw drives, screw drives * 0-0-0, a Droid (Star Wars)#0-0-0, dro ...

~~ 'Foundation'; 'Stand Strong'; 'Tribute'-- D.I.T.C. * ~~~ 'The Club'-- The Piece Maker, Tony Touch * ~~~ 'Know the Legend'-- By Design, Grand Agent * 004~~ 'Rock and Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) Pt. 2'--

, Handsome Boy Modeling School * 020~~ 'Do the Math'-- Single, The Xav

Selected Productions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finesse, Lord 1970 births Living people African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers American hip-hop record producers Diggin' in the Crates Crew members Five percenters Giant Records (Warner) artists Rappers from the Bronx East Coast hip-hop musicians Underground rappers Wild Pitch Records artists 20th-century American rappers 21st-century American rappers Record producers from New York (state) People from Morrisania, Bronx