Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. (born June 22, 1962), better known by the stage name Schoolly D, is an American rapper from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Biography

Schoolly D was born Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. in West Philadelphia and raised in Philadelphia as well as Georgia. In the mid-1980s, Schoolly D teamed up with DJ Code Money with lyrics reflecting urban realism, violence, and sexual bravado. He was interviewed in the 1986 documentary '' Big Fun in the Big Town''. He later embraced an Afrocentric style, bringing Afrocentric culture to hip hop along with

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 ...

. Schoolly D contributed songs and music to many Abel Ferrara films, including " P.S.K." and "Saturday Night" (from '' Saturday Night! – The Album'') as well as " King of New York" to Ferrara's film of the same name and the title track from '' Am I Black Enough For You?'' that was played during the climactic shoot-out in that film, the title track from '' How a Black Man Feels'', and "Signifying Rapper" (from '' Smoke Some Kill''), which was used in Ferrara's film '' Bad Lieutenant''. Because

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

successfully sued due to an uncleared

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 their song "

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

" in "Signifying Rapper", the song was omitted from the soundtrack of the film and from subsequent releases of the film. Composer Joe Delia tapped Schoolly to co-write and record "The Player" for Ferrara's film ''The Blackout'', which Delia scored. Schoolly also wrote the score to Ferrara's ''

'R Xmas ''R Xmas'' is a 2001 American crime film directed by Abel Ferrara. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. Its U.S. release was delayed by StudioCanal's difficulty in finding a domestic distributor an ...

''. In 2006, Schoolly D co-wrote the indie film soundtrack of the historical science fiction thriller ''Order of the Quest'' with Chuck Treece. The project series is produced by Benjamin Barnett, and Jay D Clark of Media Bureau. His last album, '' Funk 'N Pussy'', on Jeff "Met" Thies' Chord Recordings features guest appearances by

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a me ...

, Chuck Chillout, Lady B and a

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

remix of the classic Schoolly D track "Mr. Big Dick" (remixed by UK

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

crew The Sneaker Pimps). Schoolly also performed the music and occasional narration for the

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

Aqua Teen Hunger Force ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also branded with different #Alternative titles, alternative titles for seasons 8–11), is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night progra ...

'' on the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

programming block. He was a guest on a first-season episode of ''

Space Ghost Coast to Coast ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American live-action/ adult animated hybrid television series created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and first broadcast in 1994. It takes the form of a surreal parody of talk shows, hosted by a reimagi ...

''. He also created the song "Sharkian Nights" for the Adult Swim series '' 12 oz. Mouse''. The character Jesse B. Weaver from '' The Rudy and Gogo World Famous Cartoon Show'' was also named after him. In November 2006 Schoolly D and Cartoon Network were sued over the ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' theme music. A drummer by the name of Terence Yerves claimed he had also written the theme music alongside Schoolly D in 1999 while working at the Meat Locker Studio. Yerves was aware the song would be used for a television series but did not approve of it being used for ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', however, did not file the copyright to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

until May 2006, after the series' fourth season had already started airing. In the lawsuit Yerves demanded he receive $150,000 for every time the series was aired after the lawsuit was filed, he also demanded that all existing copies of the series' DVDs be impounded and for ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' to cease broadcast. On December 30, 2022 he released his newest album, ''Cause Schoolly D Is Crazy''.

Legacy

Rapper

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 ...

, who is often given credit for the creation of

gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture, values, and experiences of urban gangs and street hustlers, frequently discussing unpleasant realities of the world in general th ...

, discussed Schoolly D's influence on him in his autobiography:

Discography

Studio albums

* 1985: '' Schoolly D'' * 1986: '' Saturday Night! – The Album'' * 1988: '' Smoke Some Kill'' * 1989: '' Am I Black Enough for You?'' * 1991: '' How a Black Man Feels'' * 1994: '' Welcome to America'' * 1995: '' Reservoir Dog'' * 2000: '' Funk 'N Pussy'' * 2008: ''Schoolly D's Out Cold'' * 2010: ''International Supersport'' * 2019: ''The Real Hardcore'' * 2022: ''Cause Schoolly D Is Crazy''

Compilations

* 1987: ''The Adventures of Schoolly D'' * 1995: ''The Jive Collection, Vol. 3'' * 1996: ''A Gangster's Story: 1984–1996'' * 2000: ''Best on Wax (5 Years of Schoolly D)'' * 2003: ''The Best of Schoolly D

References

External links

* * *
Article about his graphic career as an album cover designer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoolly D African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers American male voice actors Living people Rappers from Philadelphia 1962 births Jive Records artists Capitol Records artists Rhythm King artists East Coast hip-hop musicians Gangsta rappers 20th-century American rappers 21st-century American rappers American album-cover and concert-poster artists 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians