Smif-N-Wessun, also known as Cocoa Brovaz and Tek-N-Steele, is an American

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. Hip- ...

duo from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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 ...

. It is composed of rappers Tekomin "Tek" Williams (born June 3, 1973) from Bedford–Stuyvesant and Darrell "Steele" Yates (born December 18, 1972) from Brownsville. The duo comprise one quarter of supergroup Boot Camp Clik, together with

Buckshot A shotgun cartridge, shotshell, or shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) ammunition used specifically in shotguns. It is typically loaded with numerous small, spherical sub-projectiles called shot. Shotguns typically use a ...

Heltah Skeltah Heltah Skeltah was an American Hip hop music, hip hop duo which consisted of rappers Jahmal "Rock" Bush and Sean Price, Sean "Ruck" Price. The two were also members of New York Supergroup (music), supergroup Boot Camp Clik, along with Buckshot ...

and

Originoo Gunn Clappaz O.G.C. (an Acronym, initialism for Originoo Gunn Clappaz) is an American Hip hop music, hip hop trio composed of members Starang Wondah, Louieville Sluggah and Top Dog. The group is mostly known through their membership in the Boot Camp Clik, al ...

. Both members are known for their

Jamaican Patois Jamaican Patois (; locally rendered Patwah and called Jamaican Creole by linguists) is an English-based creole language with influences from West African, Arawak, Spanish and other languages, spoken primarily in Jamaica and among the Jamaican ...

during their raps, which was more evident during the earlier stages of their career.

History

The duo debuted on Black Moon's 1993 album '' Enta da Stage'' on the tracks "Blac Smif-N-Wessun" and "U Da Man". They released their first single " Bucktown" b/w "Let's Git It On" in early 1994, which became an underground hit. Released in January 1995, their album '' Dah Shinin''' peaked at number 59 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 5 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart, and went on to sell over 300,000 copies in the United States. Along with "Bucktown", the album featured the singles "Wrekonize" b/w "Sound Bwoy Bureill" and "Wontime" b/w "Stand Strong". ''Dah Shinin'' became an influential album in the hardcore hip hop scene of the mid-1990s. Soon after the release of their debut, Smif-N-Wessun received a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the oth ...

order over their group name by the

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American Firearms manufacturer, firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith (inventor), Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the ...

firearms company. To avoid the lawsuit, they changed their name to Cocoa Brovaz in 1996. In 1997, Cocoa Brovaz joined up with the

and

for Boot Camp Clik debut collaborative effort '' For the People''. In early 1998, the duo dropped their second album '' The Rude Awakening''. The release was met with mixed reviews and moderate sales. The album's lead single, the

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon ( ), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of the ...

-assisted "Black Trump", was not able to reach any ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' charts. In 1999, the Clik was dropped from

Priority Records Priority Records is an American distribution company and record label known for artists including N.W.A, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, Master P, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Silkk the Shocker, Jay-Z, Paris, Mack 10, 504 Boyz, Brotha Lynch Hung, ...

, leaving the duo temporarily unsigned. Soon after, the Cocoa Brovaz released an underground single "Super Brooklyn", which sampled the ''Super Mario Bros.'' theme. Because of the illegal use of the sample, the duo was not able to officially release the track, but the single landed them a deal with underground label Rawkus Records. They appeared on a number of compilation albums over the next few years, including '' Soundbombing II'', '' Lyricist Lounge 2'', Domingo's ''Game Over'', '' Soundbombing III'', and Frankie Cutlass's '' Politics & Bullshit''. They were never able to release the album they recorded for Rawkus Records in 2002, though it has circulated as a bootleg. They rejoined

Duck Down Music Duck Down Music Inc is a New York City based record label, talent management, music-marketing, and consulting company founded by Drew "Dru-Ha" Friedman and Kenyatta "Buckshot" Blake in 1995. In Duck Down's 20-year existence, the company has rel ...

for the release of the Boot Camp Clik's second group album '' The Chosen Few'' in the same year. In September 2005, they returned as Smif-N-Wessun for the album '' Smif 'n' Wessun: Reloaded''. The album received good reviews, and sold around 35,000-40,000 copies in the United States. In 2006, the Boot Camp Clik released their third group album, '' The Last Stand'', to strong reviews and Smif-N-Wessun appeared on a special edition of '' Ich'', the second album of the German rapper Sido. Smif-N-Wessun's fourth album, '' Smif-n-Wessun: The Album'', was released on October 23, 2007. The album is produced by Ken Ring, Tommy Tee and more, and features appearances from Rock of

, Joell Ortiz and Norwegian supergroup the Loudmouf Choir. In 2008, they participated as guests in one track on PIO Squad's album ''Interview''. There were plans for a new Smif-n-Wessun album to be released in 2009. The duo has confirmed that legendary producer

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned along ...

would be producing a majority, if not all of the album. The album is entitled ''Monumental'' and was released on June 28, 2011. The album's guests include

, Bun B, Styles P,

, Top Dogg,

from Boot Camp Clik, Memphis Bleek,

Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

, Black Rob and Hurricane G. In September 2013, the duo announced the release of a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

-inspired

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

entitled '' Born and Raised'' entirely produced by Beatnick & K-Salaam. The EP was released on December 3, 2013, and includes guest appearances from Junior Reid, Junior Kelly, Jahdan Blakkamoore and DJ Full Factor. The EP's release was supported by one single – "Solid Ground" featuring Junior Reid. In September 2018, they performed on NPR's

Tiny Desk Concerts ''Tiny Desk Concerts'' is a video series of live concerts hosted by NPR Music at the desk of former ''All Songs Considered'' host Bob Boilen in Washington, D.C. The first ''Tiny Desk Concert'' came about in 2008 after Boilen and NPR Music edit ...

. In 2019, the group has released their sixth studio album '' The All'', entirely produced by the Soul Council production team ( 9th Wonder,

Khrysis Christopher Frederick Tyson (born September 7, 1981), better known as Khrysis, is an American hip hop producer and occasional rapper. He is best known as a former member of the Justus League collective, being one half of the duo The Away Team ...

, Eric Gabouer, Eric Jones, Nottz), followed-up by extended play ''Seasons'' with Belgian hip hop producer dFonk. They also participated in Black Moon's fourth studio album '' Rise of da Moon''.

Discography

Studio albums

*1995: '' Dah Shinin''' *1998: '' The Rude Awakening'' *2005: '' Smif 'n' Wessun: Reloaded'' *2007: '' Smif-n-Wessun: The Album'' *2011: '' Monumental'' (with

) *2019: '' The All'' *2025: ''Infinity''

EPs

*2013: '' Born and Raised'' *2019: ''Seasons (EP)'' (with dFonK)

Charted singles

References

External links

Duckdown RecordsBucktown USA
Official production company of Steele from Smif n Wessun.
ArtOfRhyme.com Interview with Smif n WessunSmif-n-Wessun Interview at dropmagazine.comSmif-n-Wessun Interview at MVRemixTEK of Smif-N-Wessun Interview Part 1 at WeLiveThis.comTEK of Smif-N-Wessun Interview Part 2 at WeLiveThis.com2009 Steele interview
{{Authority control American hip-hop duos African-American musical duos Boot Camp Clik members American rappers of Jamaican descent Musical duos from New York (state) East Coast hip-hop groups Hardcore hip-hop groups Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups from Brooklyn 1993 establishments in New York City Underground hip-hop groups