DARK SKINNED ASSASSIN - SWIFT & CHANGEABLE SHAOLIN KNIGHT [2020]
A TYCOBB BLENDS COMPILATION
Back in 1995 a Staten Island based emcee known as Dark Skinned Assassin dropped his first
12-Inch record "Lock Shit Down" on 4 Doe Loe Records, a record label
managed by himself and Steve Dunn.
The 12" was produced by RNS, DJ ILL and Vic Flowers and
was composed of three tracks "Lock Shit Down / The Horror / Gotta Get The
Creme".
DSA : "I was born in Harlem, things got crazy for my
mom and us so we moved to S.E. Wash.,DC, afterwards, to N.C. , but I moved back
to NYC, to live with my dad, on Staten Island, until we had a few altercations
with one another. I started hustling and carrying, making street moves, soon
after a couple close comrades brought me to Stapleton Houses where I met RNS
and RZA.
My
mentality back in the days was seek out, destroy, conquer. So one night somebody was having a house
party on Staten Island and a few of the favored, neighborhood well known Emcees
were there, then out of no where one of
my comrades informed me that some dude was baiting me to get the
microphone after Brown Hornet, (guess they wanted to compare my skills to the
rest), so I spit over a break beat, "shut shit down", dropped the mic
and started to walk away, all of a sudden the whole party went silent for a
couple of seconds, then started trippin’!! Screams, cheers and whistles
followed, (somebody even let go a few shots), shit was epic. I returned to
Stapleton few days after, RNS expressed an interest in recording with me. I was
charged ! Heard about RNS as a producer, so the energy was mutual. As we were
recording, that same day RZA and a couple dudes walked in the lab, (at the time
RNS studio was setup at the apartment in the Pees), RZA listened, then
commented, replying, "sound dope, the god got his own style". GP and
Wu-Tang was definitely inspirational, and genuine when we interacted. Living
the lifestyle, gangsta rap was easy, but there was much more going on in my
mind, so I traveled through out NYC to unleash the inner tension. DJ ILL had a
studio in Queens at the time, I was living in Brooklyn. I was going from BK, to
SI, to Queens to Manhattan to record, then to the Bronx to hustle and part time
job back in Manhattan. DJ ILL was putting in crazy hours. He had a group of his
on called X-tra Pleza, plus the yg’s (ENY) Pressure and L Murda, (Uncle Murda
to most), Mic Handz, Zodiac and Zig Zag, a few others and myself. We all would
collab with each other, then we’d record individual songs. The studio in Queens
was a family vibe. I walked in and heard the track to "Lock Shit
Down" and instantly wanted to spit to it ! ILL said "let me hear what you wrote"... Kicked the verse then we
recorded the whole song that day. Soon after met Victor Flowers, (he produced
"The Horror" and "Gotta Get the Creme"), and we naturally
clicked artistically."
In 1996, he featured on the song "G.P Connection"
released by Pop The Brown Hornet. The track is on the B-side of the classic
12" "Black on Black Crime" released by the GP Wu member on Smoke
Records.
He dropped at the end of the same year his new 12"
single "Unholy / Uncontrollable" produced by RNS and released on
Black Dog Entertainment. This Record Label was comprised of Steve Dunn, his
brother Walter and DSA.
"Unholy" is the main single of the record. A video
of the song exists but was never released and the song wasn't as successful as
"Lock Shit Down" but it was played many times by Stretch &
Bobbito that year.
In 1997, he featured on the song "Blow Up" released by GP Wu. The track is on the LP "Don't Go Against The Grain released on MCA Records.
Then he disappeared due to law problems without dropping an
album...
DSA: "I was blessed to be alive and given a chance to release
some music, do minimal promoting, meet and network with a few people, while
being on trial for a couple of felonies, 1 charge was dropped based on a
technicality, the other was dismissed in trial, after my attorneys filed a
Clayton motion, but the Manhattan D.A. was not pleased so filed a motion of
appeal and I was convicted in appellate court. Leaving behind 5 potential major
deals on the table, family and friends, my freedom, my lady and 1year old son,
whom I loved very much. Thus, no album after EP... I was angry at myself and
the world because I felt I let down everyone who was riding with me. I fucked
up. Re-entering society after my prison bid, I decided, primarily, the music
industry wasn’t as important as being there for the child that never got to
know his dad, secondly the shift in quality and politics had began to pollute
the rawness of the artform so I stayed out of the grind and moved my new family
out of state, (still and all, once and artist always an artist). A year or two
later, found myself traveling 700 miles just to record in New York when
requested to do so."
A strange EP was released circa '96 with three unreleased
tracks produced by RNS : "Life of a Shorty" feat No Smiles aka Tommy
Whispers, "Untitled Raw Shit" and "Smoke In Ya Face", but
this is an unofficial release...
DSA : "I don’t know who released the 'Down Low Wreckege
E.P.', I was incarcerated at that time..."
Dark Skinned Villain