Tuff Crew is a hip hop group from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, dubbed "Philly's first Rap Supergroup". Members include Ice Dog, L. A. Kid, Tone Love, Monty G, and DJ Too Tuff.

Career

They released four albums. Their joint debut LP with

The Krown Rulers The Krown Rulers are an American Hip Hop group once well known in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware ...

from

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

included production by the

Ultramagnetic MCs The Ultramagnetic MCs is an American hip hop group based in The Bronx, New York City. Founded by Kool Keith, the group also includes Ced Gee, TR Love, and Moe Love. Tim Dog became an unofficial member in 1989. In 1990, DJ Jaycee was added ...

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and Ced Gee, with a style that was bass-heavy with the

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patte ...

drum machine and

E-mu SP-12 E-mu SP-12 12 also known as the “sampling drum computer” was designed in 1985 and widely released in 1986 by E-mu Systems. Although the SP-12 was quickly superseded by the more powerful SP-1200, the SP-12 is often regarded as the first commerc ...

sampler, raw "street" lyrics and aggressive scratch DJing. They performed with Public Enemy,

Run–D.M.C. Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history ...

Biz Markie Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. Markie was best known for his 1989 single " Just a Friend", which became a Top 40 hit ...

, Big Daddy Kane,

Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock were an American hip hop duo from Harlem, New York City. Rob Base is the stage name of Robert Ginyard (b. 1967) and DJ E-Z Rock was Rodney "Skip" Bryce (1967–2014). They are best known for the 1988 hit " It Takes Two", ...

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

, and many others. They toured the US as the support act for 2Live Crew, and were fan favorites on the groundbreaking Street Beat radio program on Power 99, hosted by

Lady B Wendy Clark (born c. 1962), better known by her stage name Lady B, is an American female rapper and radio DJ from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is one of the earliest female rappers in hip hop, and one of the first hip hop artists to record a ...

. They were racially mixed and ethnically diverse, and were regular performers at the After Midnight club in North Philly, once the largest Hip-Hop club in America. Their contemporaries included

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, DJ Cash Money and Marvelous,

Cool C Christopher Douglass Roney (born December 15, 1969), known by the stage name Cool C, is an American former rapper active in the late 1980s. He is also known for his involvement in the murder of Philadelphia Police officer Lauretha Vaird during ...

Schoolly D Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. (born June 22, 1962), better known by the stage name Schoolly D (sometimes spelled Schooly D), is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Career Schoolly D teamed up with DJ Code Money in the mid-1980s. His ...

, MC Breeze, and

Three Times Dope Three Times Dope was an American hip hop/rap group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania consisting of EST ( Robert Waller), Chuck Nice (Walter Griggs) and Woody Wood (Duerwood Beale). 3xD, as they were called for short, were a part of the Hilltop Hu ...

. During the recording of their fourth album "Still Dangerous", the group was joined by Smooth K and DJ Cutzology. Members Tone Love & DJ Too Tuff were absent during this 1991 recording working on outside project Danger Zone Mobb Sqwad. LA Kidd is married to Bunny D from

L'Trimm L'Trimm was a Miami bass hip-hop duo composed of Bunny D and Lady Tigra. Originally from Coconut Grove, Florida (origin neighborhood of the City of Miami), they recorded three albums for Atlantic Records: '' Grab It!'' in 1988 (which is certi ...

Charts

* "My Parta Town" peaked at #23 on the

Billboard Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...

charts (1989). * "Back to Wreck Shop" reached #74 on the

Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

charts (1989).

Discography

*''Get Smart'' 12" (1985, So Def) *''Philly Style'' 12" (1986, So Def) *''Phanjam'' EP (1987, So Def) *''Danger Zone'' LP (1988, Warlock) *''Back To Wreck Shop'' LP (1989, Warlock) *''Still Dangerous'' LP (1991, Warlock) *''DJ Too Tuff's Lost Archives'' CD (2008, Traffic Entertainment) *''Remember?'' EP (2011, Solid Ground) *''The Best of DJ Too Tuff'' CD (2013, DangerZone Music Group) *''The Early Sessions 1985-1986'' EP (2016, Chopped Herring Records) *''DJ Too Tuff's Lost Archives EP (2020, Chopped Herring Records)

Appears on

*One Voice Pride - LP/CD RuffHouse Records - Hittin' Hard Balls *2004 Warlock Records Throwback Attack *Scratch Masters (2x12") Deuce Ace Housin' Strictly Bizness *Scratch Masters 2 (2xLP) Soul Food Strictly Bizness *Warlock's Freaky Beats And Crazy Grooves (LP) She Rides The Pony *Bellaphon Germany The Rhythm Story So Far.... (CD3") My Part Of Town (Remix) *Rhythm Records Best Of Hip Hop (4xCD) *Low Price Music Cream Live Two (3xCD) Soul Food Deconstruction It Will *My Part Of Town BBE It Will Take A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (2xLP) *My Part Of Town BBE Mixmag Live Rae & Christian Blazing The Crop (3xLP) *My Part Of Town DMC Publishing Rae & Christian - Blazing The Crop (CD) *My Part Of Town DMC Publishing Blazing The Crop (CD) *My Part Of Town Mixer Fusion Beats (CD) *Soul Food Cutting Edge Classic Material - Philadelphia (CD) Let It Rip, My Parta *Town Waste Management Music Toxic (3xLP) *My Part Of Town (Remix) *DJ Too Tuff- The Lost Archives (CD/EP) *Aroe & The Soundmakers- The Wreck Shop - Philly Golden Era Vol.1 Mixtape (feat. DJ Too Tuff & LA Kidd) (CD)

References

{{Authority control Hip hop groups from Philadelphia Musical groups established in 1985 1985 establishments in Pennsylvania Rappers from Philadelphia