Live from the Styleetron
Live from the Styleetron is the debut studio album by Oakland-based hip hop group Raw Fusion. The group was fronted by Ron Brooks, known as Money-B, an active member of Digital Underground who produced this album as a side project with fellow group member David Elliot known as DJ FUZE. Among many featured artists was a young unknown performer named Tupac Shakur who would later become a legendary figure in the world of hip hop. Album review. The Raw Fusion album was vastly different from the Digital Underground style that relied upon samples from  the 1970s P-Funk sound. Critic Alex Henderson noted that Raw Fusion's first album had more in common with the jazzy sounds of groups like A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. Typical of Digital Underground members, the composition of lyrics employed a great deal of humor including making light of armed robbery and, in at least three tracks, the Jheri curl hairstyle popular in the 1980s. One of the few serious tracks on this album is "Wild Francis," a political statement made through the tale of a woman who is killed by police after becoming a Marxist  revolutionary figure. Featured artists included eight members of Digital Underground as well as guests Another Ninja, Cooley Ranks, Daddy Courtney, Jessica Jones, Mac-Mone, Margie Marie Rubio, Ronville, Sean, Styleetron, and Pam Taylor. The album peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Heatseekers charts which highlights new and developing musical acts. The single "Throw Your Hands In The Air" became a minor radio hit in the San Francisco metro area with a music video that was the first major production for notable Hollywood producers the Hughes Brothers. Humpty Hump and Digital Underground. Gregory Jacobs, known by his stage name Humpty  Hump among others, was the lead vocalist for Digital Underground who also appeared as a guest artist on "Live from the Styleetron". This particular stage persona of Jacobs was the fuel behind "The Humpty Dance" that peaked at number 11 on the Billboard charts in 1990 and first brought widespread fame to the group. Money-B, new to Digital Underground, provided vocals in The Humpty Dance and three other tracks on the album "Sex Packets" and co-wrote "Freaks of the Industry" with Jacobs while DJ FUZE participated in two tracks. Jacobs, in turn, appeared in "Funkintoyoear" on Raw Fusion 's album appearing as both Shock G and Humpty Hump. 2Pac. Tupac Shakur, a roadie and backup dancer for Digital Underground, appeared as a guest artist on the album, the unknown rapper later becoming a hip hop legend. Shakur's debut as an emcee had come only nine months prior to this Raw Fusion release, the 19-year-old appearing in the Digital Underground track "Same Song" with Dan Aykroyd released on the motion picture soundtrack Nothing but Trouble in February 1991. In October 1991, one month prior to Raw Fusion's debut, Shakur again appeared with Digital Underground featured  in a single track on the album "Sons of the P". The track "#1 with a Bullet" on "Live from the Styleetron" was only Shakur's third appearance as a rapper. Raw Fusion frontman Money-B stated in an interview that Shakur, at that time, was not a great rapper but was always able to grab the attention of everyone in the room, noting his tremendous work ethic, passion, and drive. Shakur released his first solo album "2Pacalypse Now" with Interscope Records on November 12, 1991, the same Tuesday that "Live from the Styleetron" was released. Steve Counter served as  sound engineer on both "2Pacalypse Now" and "Live from the Styleetron" as well as nine En Vogue albums during his career. Another credited sound engineer Darrin Harris worked with many acts including Ghostface Killah, Tony! Toni! Toné!, and the Bee Gees. Perhaps the most notable sound engineer was Matt Kelly who has worked with the likes of Johnny Cash, Joe Satriani, and Little Jimmy Dickens throughout a career that began in 1958. Within two years of Raw Fusion's debut, Shakur would be a well known recording artist and in less than five years he would be tragically murdered in  Las Vegas. Shakur and Money-B both appeared in an alleged sex tape filmed at a 1991 house party discovered by the media in early October 2011.