Biography The duo debuted on Black Moon’s 1993 album Enta Da Stage, appearing on the tracks “Black Smif-N-Wessun” and “U Da Man”. They released their first single “Bucktown” b/w “Let’s Git It On” in early 1994. “Bucktown” became an underground smash, and gave the group considerable hype for their debut album, Dah Shinin’, released in January 1995. The album debuted in the Top 5 on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Charts, and went on to sell over 300,000 copies in the United States. Along with “Bucktown”, the album featured the singles “Wrekonize” b/w “Sound Bwoy Bureill” and “Wontime” b/w “Stand Strong”. Dah Shinin became an influential album in the hardcore New York hip hop scene of the mid-90’s, and is considered a rap classic. Soon after the release of their debut, Smif-N-Wessun were sued with a cease and desist order over their group name by the Smith & Wesson firearms company. To avoid the lawsuit, they decided to change their name to the Cocoa Brovaz in 1996. In 1997, the Cocoa B’z joined up with the entire Boot Camp Clik for their first group album For the People. The album was seen as a disappointment, and led to the eventual decline of the Camp’s popularity. In early 1998, they dropped their sophomore album The Rude Awakening. The release was met with mixed reviews and moderate sales. The album’s lead single, the Raekwon-assisted “Black Trump”, was not able to reach any Billboard charts. In 1999, the Clik was dropped from Priority Records, leaving the duo temporarily unsigned. Soon after, the Cocoa Brovaz released an underground single, “Super Brooklyn”, which featured a sample from Super Mario Bros. Because of the illegal use of the sample, the duo was not able to officially release the track, but the single landed them a deal with leading underground rap label Rawkus Records. They appeared on a number of compilation albums over the next few years, including Soundbombing 2, Lyricist Lounge 2, Game Over and Soundbombing III. They were never able to release an album they recorded for Rawkus in 2002, though they did rejoin Duck Down Records for the release of the Boot Camp Clik’s second group album The Chosen Few in the same year. In September 2005, they returned as Smif-N-Wessun for the album Smif ‘N’ Wessun: Reloaded. The album received good reviews, and sold around 35,000-40,000 copies in the United States. In 2006, the Boot Camp Clik released their third group album, The Last Stand, to strong reviews. Discography Album coverAlbum information Dah Shinin’|Released: January 10, 1995|Billboard 200 chart position: #59|R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #5|Singles: “Bucktown”/”Let’s Git It On”, “Wrekonize”/”Sound Bwoy Bureill”, “Wontime”/”Stand Strong” The Rude Awakening (as Cocoa Brovaz)|Released: March 31, 1998|Billboard 200 chart position: #21|R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #3|Singles: “Won on Won”, “Black Trump”/”The Cash”, “Spanish Harlem”, “Bucktown USA” Smif ‘N’ Wessun: Reloaded|Released: September 13, 2005|Billboard 200 chart position: -|R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #69|Singles: “My Timbz Do Work”/”Gunn Rap”/”Reloaded”/”Get Back”, “Toolz of the Trade”, “We Came Up (Crystal Stair)” Album chart positions YearAlbumChart positions|Billboard 200Top R&B/Hip Hop AlbumsTop Independent Albums|1995Dah Shinin’#59#5-|1998The Rude Awakening#21#3-|2005Smif ‘N’ Wessun: Reloaded-#69 ? Singles chart positions YearSongChart positionsAlbum|Billboard Hot 100Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & TracksHot Rap Singles|1994“Bucktown”#93#61#14Dah Shinin’|1994“Let’s Git It On”--#14Dah Shinin’|1995“Wrekonize”-#95#29Dah Shinin’|1995“Sound Bwoy Bureill”--#29Dah Shinin’|1995“Wontime”--#48Dah Shinin’|1997“Won On Won”-#94-Soul In The Hole OST/|The Rude Awakening|1998“Bucktown USA”--#47The Rude Awakening|2001“Get Up”-#90#9Lyricist Lounge 2| |
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