Filed under: Black Music Month
Whodini can be credited with a few hip-hop firsts. The Brooklyn trio (made up of rappers 'Jalil' Hutchins and John 'Ecstasy' Fletcher and Drew 'DJ Grandmaster Dee' Carter) was the earliest rap group to have a video accompanying one of their songs, 'Magic's Wand,' which was a promo song for pioneering New York radio DJ Mr. Magic. They were also the first to incorporate dancers (Dr. Ice and Kangol from UTFO, and even a young Jermaine Dupri) in their elaborate live shows.
But more importantly, Whodini ushered in a more adult, quasi-R&B sound that was based on original instrumentation rather than samples of other records. Though the group's first self-titled album failed to make much of an impression when it was released in 1983, it was their sophomore effort, 'Escape,' which came out the following year, that catapulted them to superstar status.
Of the album's eight tracks, four were major hits: 'Five Minutes of Funk,' 'Friends, 'Freaks Come Out at Night' and 'Big Mouth.' That album's runaway success had much to do with the business savvy of their manager Russell Simmons and the musical genius of Larry Smith, a bass player friend of Simmons who produced several of Run-DMC's early records like "Sucker MCs."
Smith's beats had an epic quality to them, resonating like rich, stadium-filling productions but without managing to sound overwrought or complicated. Many of the songs on 'Escape' are just as captivating as instrumentals as they are with Jalil and Ecstasy's relatable storytelling. In fact, 'Five Minutes of Funk' was used as the theme song for 'Video Music Box,' the influential music video show on WNYC television in New York.
In an interview with 'XXL' magazine, Jalil described how the idea for 'Freaks Come Out at Night' was hatched. "That was inspired by Rick James, Scorpio from the Furious Five and a Richard Pryor joke he had about being home early. When I first had the concept in my head, it was called 'We Live a Dangerous Life.' I don't know how it turned to 'Freaks,' but it did. I was a year too young to go to a party I had seen outside my window. All night I'd look at this crazy scene, and then I'd wake up in the morning and everything would be back to normal."
After 'Escape,' Whodini had another platinum album with 1986's 'Back in Black,' which featured the killer hit singles, "Funky Beat" and "One Love." Three more albums followed including a comeback disc, titled 'Six,' in 1996, which was produced by Dupri.
More recently, the group was recognized at the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors in 2007.
Influenced...UTFO, the entire New Jack Swing movement of the mid-90s, Dr. Dre, Nas, Will Smith, Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Jermaine Dupri.
'Freaks Come Out at Night'