Of all rappers who got their start in a group, who has the best solo discography?

[Awesome Wells]

Original Flavor. Video Music Box was the only show I saw playing their video. I personally didnt acknowledge Jay like that in this song until he blew up and later became Jay Z and then when this song was brought up later after the fact I was like "Oh snap, Jay was in that group all that time?"

Same thing I said when looking back at the "Show And Prove" video by Big Daddy Kane.

Thing is, he wasn't a member of the group.

That was just a feature because Dame was managing the group, and then started managing Jay at the time.

The group was just Ski and Suave, at first. But then Suave left, and then Tone took his place.

 

[Plankton]

Thing is, he wasn't a member of the group.

That was just a feature because Dame was managing the group, and then started managing Jay at the time.

The group was just Ski and Suave, at first. But then Suave left, and then Tone took his place.

Lets be honest, were you really paying attention to them when that song and video dropped? Or is that info something you discovered later down the years all after the fact? I'd put all my money on it that you didnt have that info till after the fact. Because I damn sure wasn't separating Jay from them like that back then. No one in that group stood out aside from having a catchy hook. As far as I was concerned they were all a group. Even when I discovered it was Jay all along I still looked at it like he was in a group.

 

[Awesome Wells]

Lets be honest, were you really paying attention to them when that song and video dropped? Or is that info something you discovered later down the years all after the fact? I'd put all my money on it that you didnt have that info till after the fact. Because I damn sure wasn't separating Jay from them like that back then. No one in that group stood out aside from having a catchy hook. As far as I was concerned they were all a group. Even when I discovered it was Jay all along I still looked at it like he was in a group.

These are my OG's, so I was around before the second album, lol.

Ski is family. So before Original Flavor was even a thing, I saw him building his career and putting together his own solo stuff. When the group first started and they had "Here We Go" out, I was the kid who was just in the cut watching all the music being made. Trying to learn. That song was being blasted everywhere Uptown summer '92.

When Suave left the group, they redid the song with Tone dissing Suave and clowning him on how he pronounced certain words on the OG. Then they did the second album. I'm actually in the "All That" video. HAHA! Quiet as kept. I never heard of Jay-Z until the Jaz videos before that because Ralph was playing those nonstop on VMB. But I knew he was cool with Clark, and Ski and Clark were mad cool back then too. So we just knew they brought him in to feature because of that and the Dame connection.

 

[Plankton]

These are my OG's, so I was around before the second album, lol.

Ski is family. So before Original Flavor was even a thing, I saw him building his career and putting together his own solo stuff. When the group first started and they had "Here We Go" out, I was the kid who was just in the cut watching all the music being made. Trying to learn. That song was being blasted everywhere Uptown summer '92.

When Suave left the group, they redid the song with Tone dissing Suave and clowning him on how he pronounced certain words on the OG. Then they did the second album. I'm actually in the "All That" video. HAHA! Quiet as kept. I never heard of Jay-Z until the Jaz videos before that because Ralph was playing those nonstop on VMB. But I knew he was cool with Clark, and Ski and Clark were mad cool back then too. So we just knew they brought him in to feature because of that and the Dame connection.

That's cool

But from an outsider they were all one and the same. They were underground underground. It wasn't like they were popular on the level of a Lordz Of The Underground to where they were talked about by everyone. If I had to measure it, I'd say Rottin Razkals with the song "Oh Yeah" was bigger then them. LOL. So with the little exposure they did get it wasn't like an outsider was going "Naa, see that lightskin dude right there, he's just a feature on that "Can I Get Open" song he aint really a part of the group." They didn't even have an interest for it to get that deep. So when that video came on, they were all a group, w3asn't no separating who is who. Now if you wanna get technical and say he wasn't a part of the group cool, but that's not how it looked to someone who tuned into Video Music Box and caught the video unless that person was seriously into them like that like you. Plus I posted the original 12 inch and it didn't mention anything about Jay being a feature so that's how it was perceived.

 

[Bigblackted4]

top 3
Pac
Scarface
Cube

 

[Awesome Wells]

That's cool

But from an outsider they were all one and the same. They were underground underground. It wasn't like they were popular on the level of a Lordz Of The Underground to where they were talked about by everyone. If I had to measure it, I'd say Rottin Razkals with the song "Oh Yeah" was bigger then them. LOL. So with the little exposure they did get it wasn't like an outsider was going "Naa, see that lightskin dude right there, he's just a feature on that "Can I Get Open" song he aint really a part of the group." They didn't even have an interest for it to get that deep. So when that video came on, they were all a group, w3asn't no separating who is who. Now if you wanna get technical and say he wasn't a part of the group cool, but that's not how it looked to someone who tuned into Video Music Box and caught the video unless that person was seriously into them like that like you. Plus I posted the original 12 inch and it didn't mention anything about Jay being a feature so that's how it was perceived.

Probably because people didn't really f*ck with the group. Or didn't know who they were.

They had already been out for a couple years and had some little joints that people liked. But Jay only popped up on the one song. This was like the second single, so people had a chance to see them on the first album and the first single on the second album without Jay. Video and everything. So I never thought people thought Jay was actually in the group.

 

[Crumple]

It's between scarface and ghost for me

Cube fell off some serious but ill grant him an honorable mention

I want to see how many likes this gets to prove my point for people who know.

Kool Keith is the answer!

 

[BigMan]

Busta
Ghost
Pusha T
Big Boi
Future
Jeezy
Ice Cube

 

[MJ Truth]

Wayne

 

[mbewane]

Back then there was no "Featuring Jay Z" That's something used on Youtube to lure. You put Jay Z's name in the title because the group wasn't that popular.


Now when you look at the original pressings, there is no "featuring Jay Z" because Jay Z was nobody back then.

Looking a little online nowhere is it mentionned that Jay-Z was part of this group, and no pages I checked about Original Flavor list him as a member either.

Matter of fact, on Beyond Flavor he only appears on two songs, and he's nowhere to be found on their first album.

 

[Plankton]

Looking a little online nowhere is it mentionned that Jay-Z was part of this group, and no pages I checked about Original Flavor list him as a member either.

Matter of fact, on Beyond Flavor he only appears on two songs, and he's nowhere to be found on their first album.

Dude, you're like a day late. This topic has been thoroughly discussed already.

 

[African Peasant]

2Pac (if we consider him a member of DU)
Ghost (if the Wu is group and not a crew)
Scarface (if we consider he did not have a solo career before GB)

It's one of them

Honorable mention: Busta and Cube

 

[R=G]

Ice Cube was the first name I thought of...
Tupac was not a member of DU like that....

 

[mbewane]

Dude, you're like a day late. This topic has been thoroughly discussed already.

Lol there's like 10 posts about the subject, that's not really "thoroughly".

Up until now the only "proof" Jay was in a group is a couple youtube videos. That's literally it. Been on this forum and listening to Jay for decades and NEVER was it ever brought up that he was in that group. His Wiki doesn't even mention it lol. As I stated he doesn't even appear on their first album, and only on two songs on the second. So how does this make him a member of the group?

 

[mundL]

Its 1. Ghostface 2. Cube imo