Young Black Teenagers

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**Young Black Teenagers** (**YBT**) was an American hip hop group from Long Island, New York formed by producer Hank Shocklee, composed of four white persons, and one who was half Puerto Rican. YBT achieved its biggest success with its 1993 single "Tap the Bottle", off its second album, *Dead Enz Kidz Doin' Lifetime Bidz*. The group consisted of frontman Kamron, ATA, First Born, Tommy Never, and DJ Skribble. The name Young Black Teenagers was given to them by Public Enemy, upon mediation by the Bomb Squad production team.

Young Black Teenagers was controversial due to its name and lyrical content; some Afrocentric rappers viewed the group as an example of cultural appropriation. Young Black Teenagers never identified as being an African-American group; its members described the name as being symbolic, while others suggested the name was a joke and DJ Skribble later stated Shocklee intended to provoke controversy with the name. Ultimately, YBT split after recording three albums, only two of which have been released.

## History

### Formation

Frontman Kamron (an acronym which stood for King Aries Mack Ruler Of Nuckleheads) grew up in racially mixed Freeport, New York on Long Island, where he encountered a then-unknown Hank Shocklee and Chuck D and listened to Public Enemy and Bill Stephney hosting on a college hip hop radio station and attended early performances by Public Enemy in the early 1980s. Kamron broke into hip hop through breakdancing, began to deejay and later started rapping. Toward the end of his high school years, Kamron began working with Public Enemy, which eventually led to him being asked by their producer, Hank Shocklee, to join a group he was putting together.

Shocklee had formed the S.O.U.L. record label with Stephney as an imprint of MCA. Shocklee sought to form a white hip hop group, and reached out to Kamron, ATA, First Born, Tommy Never, DJ Skribble, who joined the new group. This group wanted to name themselves "Leaders of the New School", a name sought by another hip hop group (consisting of Busta Rhymes, Charlie Brown, and Dinco D). According to Busta Rhymes, Chuck D sent the two groups home to make a track called “Fuck the Old School”, and the group that the Bomb Squad "felt the most" would get to use the name. After the "Leaders" name was given to the other group, the white hip hop group were given the name "Young Black Teenagers" by Public Enemy, who explained that YBT was using the name to pay respect to black culture. According to Allmusic, the group's name was "blatantly sarcastic". *XXL* saw the group's name as YBT using self-deprecating humor to address the fact that they are white rappers. According to Skribble, Shocklee gave the group its name "to spark some controversy".

### 1991 debut album and controversies

YBT's self-titled debut album was released in 1991 through S.O.U.L. Records. MCA did not put its name on the album, as the distributing label feared a negative response to the group's name due to the fact that Young Black Teenagers were predominately white, except for ATA, who was half Puerto Rican. While the album's reviewers praised the rapping skills of YBT and the Bomb Squad's sample-driven hip hop production, the group's name and the revelation that Young Black Teenagers were largely white, as well as the lyrical content of songs like "Proud to Be Black" and "Daddy Kalled Me Niga 'Cause I Likeded to Rhyme", provoked media scrutiny of the group.

Kamron explained the group's name in an interview, saying, "the way we talk, dress, and walk. That's the way society sees it. What we're doin' is blastin' these stereotypes and throwin' it back in their face, sayin': 'All right, the Young Black Teenagers, then, are the youth of today--regardless of skin shade--growin' up with the hip-hop mentality.' We're tryin' to unite the youth under one." Stephney, along with journalist Harry Allen, disagreed with this perception of the group, with Allen saying, "I think there's a certain amount of truth to it [but] in general, I wouldn't agree with it. [...] I can understand that blackness is a lifestyle or state of mind. But Young Black Teenagers can choose to be white at any moment. For those people who've been defined as black under white supremacy, they don't have that option."

Kamron reiterated that the group was not trying to present itself as being African-American, emphasizing, "the places we grew up in were black, and that's the culture we were into. You take that back home to your family and they perceive it as trying to be black-that's something we've all been called. It's just a reflection of the stuff we go through from our families." Stephney viewed Young Black Teenagers, along with Vanilla Ice, and other white rappers, as being representative of a new generation of hip hop fans, noting that sales of MC Hammer's music were high among white consumers, and stated, "These kids are classic examples of a new generation of urban white kids--white b-boys--who haven't been segregated from Afro-American culture. They didn't grow up on Jethro Tull or Pink Floyd. They grew up listening to black rap and dance music."

The group's name sparked criticism from some Afrocentric rappers, who viewed the name as potential cultural appropriation, though S.O.U.L. label founders Shocklee and Stephney, and hip hop magazine *The Source* were among those who defended the group from these charges. Stephney said in an interview, "I think it's great that these white kids are so into black culture. But here's my problem. I have to convince black radio programmers that these kids aren't some kind of minstrel thing. And I have to convince white programmers that these kids have a true white teen audience. So we're definitely walking a marketing tightrope." Young Black Teenagers' debut was also marked by unfortunate timing, as white rapper Vanilla Ice was facing the height of his media criticism; while the Beastie Boys were a white rap group that received critical acclaim, they were viewed as more of a rock group than a hip hop group.

The criticisms of YBT upset leader Kamron, who said, “I’d been doing hip hop since I was a little kid, pre-teen years. Every kid that’s into that culture and the music wants to get on and get records [...] I got into it for the love. I wanted to make hot records. All [the media] wanted to talk about was, ‘How can you call yourself black if you’re not black?’” Young Black Teenagers was also booed off the stage at their first performance in England; however they were better received when they performed in Germany. Another controversy arose as the result of MTV refusing to air YBT's music video "Nobody Knows Kelli". According to MTV, its programmers didn't like the song, while Stephney claimed that the network's Standards & Practices branded the video as "obscene", and suggested the network may have been afraid of promoting a white rap group called Young Black Teenagers.

However, these controversies led to Kamron being cast in his acting debut in *House Party 2*, playing Jamal, Kid’s white roommate "who loved big booties, bean pies, and bone rolling" and performed a freestyle rap at Kid's party which was subject to positive notice from *Complex* magazine. *Entertainment Weekly* described Kamron's character as a "white homeboy who is more black than [Kid] is". Vincent Canby, reviewing the film for *The New York Times*, called Kamron's comedic performance "very funny".

### 1993 second album and break up

In 1993, Young Black Teenagers released their second album, *Dead Enz Kidz Doin' Lifetime Bidz*, which shifted the group's lyrical content away from the controversial "black" iconography of the group's debut. The Bomb Squad returned for production work on the album, which also featured production by Grandmaster Flash. The album was better received than their debut, featuring YBT's biggest hit, “Tap the Bottle,” which peaked at No. 6 on Billboard’s U.S. Hot Rap Singles chart. The group was also being received better at concerts.

However, the group broke up after recording a third album that was shelved following a falling out with Public Enemy. DJ Skribble achieved greater fame as a MTV personality, while Kamron later joined the management team W.A.R. Media, where he manages, among other artists, Pharoahe Monch. As of 2015, Kamron toured as a solo rapper, and was considering releasing the group's unreleased third album.

## Lyrics and music

The Phoenix *New Times* argued that YBT's name, concept and lyrics made the group "the most revolutionary white rappers since the Beasties' Three Stooges routine." Young Black Teenagers' lyrics were derived from hardcore hip hop, in rejection of pop-rap styles; the group's rappers was noted by Allmusic for their impressive rapping skills. The group's lyrics explored topics such as racism, on "Daddy Kalled Me Niga Cause I Likeded To Rhyme", where Kamron raps, "Daddy kalled me niga 'cause o' the clothes that I wear / 'cause I walk with a limp / 'cause I got dreads in my hair". Bill Stephney, cofounder of the S.O.U.L. music label, said regarding the use of the word "niga" in the song lyrics, "These kids are trying to destroy it. This song talks about how negative and destructive the word is." Journalist Harry Allen felt the group's lyrics could have a positive impact, saying, "One of the things I encourage nonwhite people to ask white people is, 'What do white people teach their children about racism?' I think we need to know things like that. I definitely think white people know more things about white supremacy than they're telling."

The group's music was driven by the sample-based production of the Bomb Squad, which won appraisal from *Entertainment Weekly*, which wrote, "The fast and furious musical backing delivers a flurry of percussion, with guitar and horn samples popping up everywhere." the Phoenix *New Times* described the group's sound as being a "more danceable version of Public Enemy, partyable sample-funk with a slice of industrial taken off the top. The group's vocals put it somewhere between the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers."

## Discography

### Studio albums

 1993

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Interview: DJ Kamron of the All-White Young Black Teenagers Talks Being Rap's Rachel Dolezal via Complex (magazine)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Young Black Teenagers Neither Black Nor Teenage, But Their Viewpoint Is, And It Has Embroiled Them In Controversy via Chicago Tribune.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 TAKING THE RAPARE WHITE HIP-HOPPERS STEALING BLACK THUNDER?
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 The Kids are All White via *Mother Jones*
5. ↑ Gunshots in My Cook-Up: Bits and Bites from a Hip-Hop Caribbean Life by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (page 45)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 POP MUSIC SPECIAL : Black Teenagers: Color MCA Nervous via LA Times
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Biography at Allmusic
8. ↑ Stuff White Rappers Like Via XXLmag.com
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Where Ya Been 90s Hip Hop Edition at MTV
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 *Young Black Teenagers* review at Allmusic
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 *Young Black Teenagers* review via Entertainment Weekly
12. ↑ A history of white people rapping in movies via *Complex*
13. ↑ *House Party 2* review via *Entertainment Weekly*
14. ↑ Review/Film; Hip-Hop, Hooray, the Pajama Party Wakes Up as the 'Jammie Jam Jam'. Vincent Canby via the New York Times
15. ↑ *Dead Enz Kidz Doin' Lifetime Bidz* at Allmusic
16. ↑ [[[:Template:Allmusic]] Billboard Singles]. Allmusic.com.
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