The Beatnuts

Hip-hop production group The Beatnuts was founded in New York City in 1989 by DJs and producers JuJu (real name: Jerry Tineo) and Psycho Les (Lester Fernandez) who were soon joined by rapper Kool Fashion (Berntony Smalls). Their production career began in 1990 when they worked with British artists Stereo MCs and Monie Love. Their reputation brought them to the attention of other artists, and they produced tracks by Pete Nice & DJ Richie Rich, Common, Chi-Ali, Fat Joe, Da Youngsta’s, and others. The Beatnuts weas also popular as a remix team, working on songs by Naughty by Nature, MC Lyte, Da Lench Mob, and more. Signing to Combat Records, The Beatnuts were set to release their debut EP in 1992, but it was postponed due to Kool Fashion’s six-month incarceration for drug convictions. They signed with a new label - Relativity Records (which was later distributed by Sony) – and finally released Intoxicated Demons: The EP, in 1993. They followed the EP with the album The Beatnuts: Street Level (1994) before Kool Fashion left the group. JuJu and Psycho Les continued as The Beatnuts and released the hit album Stone Crazy (1997), which rose to Number 4 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart and hit the Top 40 on the Hip-Hop/R&B Albums chart. After the release of Remix EP: The Spot (1998), they issued the hit album A Musical Massacre (1999), which featured the singles “Watch Out Now” and “Se Acabo.” Later that year, they released the compilation album World Famous Classics. In 2001, they released their final major label album, Take It or Bounce It (2001) followed by the indie releases The Originators (2002), and Milk Me (2004). The group continued to produce but kept a lower profile, releasing a mixtape in 2007 and a collection of unreleased tracks in 2008.