Brand Nubian
Brand Nubian is a hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York.
Grand Puba, Sadat X, DJ Alamo and Lord Jamar formed the group in 1989 and soon signed to Elektra Records for the release of All for One in 1990. Generally acclaimed, the album drew fire for militant rhetoric on tracks like "Drop the Bomb"; the controversy helped sales, though the album was still not a great commercial success. The video for one of the album's singles, "Wake Up," was banned from MTV, due to its portrayal of white people as devils. Soon after its release, Grand Puba, the crew's leader, left and took DJ Alamo with him, while Jamar and Sadat added DJ Sincere for
In God We Trust (1993), which sold moderately well and was also controversial for its alleged homophobic content. Its single "Punks Jump Up To Get The Beat Down" was generally acclaimed by hip hop fans. The group's controversy grew with the release of
Everything Is Everything (1994), which contained even more examples of what a growing number of critics labelled "hate speech". They soon broke up and launched solo careers in music and television. The original members reunited in 1998 and released
Foundation to glowing reviews. The group members continued their individual pursuits, but reunited in 2004 to release Fire In The Hole.
Self-tributed song
Brand Nubian had a self-tribute song called "Brand Nubian". This song interpolated a small fragment of Flashlight by
George Clinton (both lyrically and beatwise) and sampled Cameo's song Rigor Mortis.
This song was played in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
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