Courtenay Henderson, best known under the alias of Soup and also known as Zaakir Muhammad and Fullee Love, is an American rapper and founding member of the group,

Jurassic 5 Jurassic 5 (stylized JuraSsic 5) is an American alternative hip hop group formed by rappers Charles Stewart (Chali 2na), Dante Givens (Akil), Courtenay Henderson (Soup (Jurassic 5), Soup, Zaakir), and Marc Stuart (Marc 7); and disc jockeys Mar ...

Personal life

Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, Soup was deeply influenced by his music-loving father. At a young age, he was introduced to the genre of funk, through artists such as the

Ohio Players Ohio Players are an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire" and " Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of the women were models f ...

and the

Fatback Band The Fatback Band (later, simply Fatback) is an American funk and disco band that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The Fatback Band is most known for their R&B hits: "(Do the) Spanish Hustle", "I Like Girls", "Gotta Get My Hands on Some (Mone ...

, as well as soul and the blues, through icons like

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

, and

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

. Soup's early musical experiences also included learning to sing songs by

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

and

Fats Domino Antoine Caliste Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orl ...

. Over time, Soup broadened his musical scope to include hip hop, discovering groups like

The Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group formed in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1979. Their hit " Rapper's Delight", released the same year they were formed, was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, rea ...

. Soup attended

Manual Arts High School Manual Arts High School is a secondary public school in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Manual Arts High School was founded in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third high sc ...

in Los Angeles. While in high school, his uncle, a member of a gang task-force, informed him of a "Rap for Peace" contest, where Soup performed his first ever recorded song, "Stop Gang Violence." This performance is noted as a pivotal moment in the launch of Soup's music career.

Music career

The Rebels of Rhythm

In high school, Soup joined forces with Akil (later of Jurassic 5) and Shawny Mac, aka "Afrika," to form The Rebels of Rhythm. Initially interested in singing, Soup shifted his focus to rapping after Akil encouraged him to explore freestyling.

Jurassic 5

Soup achieved fame with the hip hop group, Jurassic 5. An influential figure in the music industry, he played a key role in securing record deals for other artists, including

Mobb Deep Mobb Deep was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo formed in Queens, New York (state), New York in 1990. Consisting of rappers/songwriters/record producers Prodigy (rapper), Prodigy and Havoc (musician), Havoc, they are considered to be among the pr ...

, at labels such as

Immortal Records Immortal Records was an American independent record label/imprint label based in Los Angeles, California. The company helped launch the careers of such influential acts as Korn, Thirty Seconds To Mars, and Incubus over the years. The label had a ...

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

and

Loud Records Loud Records, LLC. (a backronym for Listeners of Urban Dialect) is a record label founded by Steve Rifkind and Rich Isaacson in 1991. Rifkind served as the chief executive officer while Isaacson served as the president of the label. The label si ...

. He contributed to the production of acclaimed albums such as

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

's "''

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)'' is the debut studio album by the American hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, released on November 9, 1993, by Loud Records and RCA Records. The recording sessions took place during late 1992 to early 1993 at Fire ...

''," and Mobb Deep's "''

The Infamous ''The Infamous'' (stylized as ''The Infamous...'') is the second studio album by the American hip hop duo Mobb Deep, released on April 25, 1995, by BMG, RCA Records and Loud Records. The album features guest appearances by Nas, Raekwon, Gho ...

''," for which he received gold records. Soup was also instrumental in obtaining Jurassic 5’s initial demo deal with

Relativity Records Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his vinyl record shop, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metropolitan New York City. The IRD distribution name was later known as RED Distribution and ag ...

. Jurassic 5 gained a reputation for their dynamic live performances, particularly during the 2000 and 2001

Warped Tours Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a D ...

. At one event in 2000, Soup directly addressed the audience after an incident where an object was thrown on stage, exemplifying his direct and engaging stage presence. The group is celebrated for their distinctive blend of rapping and harmonizing, with melodies and hooks that influenced other hip hop groups, such as the

Cold Crush Brothers The Cold Crush Brothers are an American hip hop group that formed in 1978 in the Bronx, New York City., ''Vibe Magazine'', December 1994 - January 1995, Vol. 2, No. 10, p.68 They were especially known for their memorable routines which included ...

. In a 2022 interview on

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He first earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's music ...

's People's Party podcast,

DJ Nu-Mark Mark Potsic, better known by his stage name DJ Nu-Mark (born June 10, 1971), is an American hip hop producer and DJ. He is a member of Jurassic 5, as well as the owner of Hot Plate Records. He has collaborated with and produced for a variety of a ...

praised Soup's role in defining Jurassic 5's harmonization and infectious hooks.

Portable Payback

In 2008, Soup, along with Marc 7, established a new group, Portable Payback. They released their debut single, "Relax," followed by an EP of the same name on October 27, 2009.

Fullee Love

Soup embarked on a solo career under the pseudonym Fullee Love, releasing his debut EP, ''Still In Fullee Love'', in February of 2017. The EP, produced by Nicholas "Nick Green" Eaholtz and released on the Nalja Music label, incorporates R&B and soul influences reminiscent of the music Soup encountered during his childhood. According to OC Weekly: The majority of the tracks on ''Still In Fullee Love'' were conceived when Jurassic 5 reconvened after a seven-year hiatus to perform at

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

in 2013. He also performed in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in late 2013.

Guest appearances

Soup has made several notable guest appearances. On April 19, 2005, he was featured in

DJ Z-Trip Zach Sciacca (born July 22, 1971), better known as DJ Z-Trip, is an American DJ and producer. He is a pioneer of the mashup movement. He was the 2009 recipient of the "America's Best DJ Award". As a producer he has worked with artists across ...

's single, "Listen to the DJ." In the same year, Soup appeared on "Family Rap" by

Breakestra Breakestra is a ten-piece funk "orchestra" from Los Angeles, California, formed by Miles Tackett in 1996. Tackett, also known as "Musicman", records, composes, plays bass, upright cello, guitar, keyboards and drums. He also sings along with th ...

from their album, ''Hit the Floor''. More recently, in 2015, he contributed to "Right About Now" on Marc 7's solo album, ''Food, Clothing, and Shelter''.

Film

Soup's voice and on-screen roles extend to various media. He performed voiceover work and appeared in the music video for Jurassic 5’s "The Influence." His television credits include appearances on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

's ''All That'', the film ''Blast,'' starring

Eddie Griffin Edward Rubin Griffin (born July 15, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman in the sitcom '' Malcolm & Eddie'', the title character in the 2002 comedy film '' Undercover Brother'', and Tib ...

, and the FOX series ''Fastlane,'' with

Bill Bellamy William Bellamy (born April 7, 1965) is an American actor and stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. Bellamy first gained national notoriety on HBO's Russell Simmons' ''Def Comedy Jam'', where he is credited for creating or coining the phrase "bo ...

References

{{Jurassic 5 Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American hip-hop musicians Jurassic 5 members Place of birth missing (living people)