Behind the Beats: Da Beatminerz
In 1993, Brooklyn rap trio Black Moon made their debut and stood right alongside New York rap titans like Nas, Method Man and the Notorious B.I.G. With boom-bap singles like "Who Got Da Props?" and "I Got Cha Opin (Remix)," Buckshot, 5ft. and DJ Evil Dee were torchbearers for East Coast hip-hop. After a six-year hiatus, the group would go on to release their second album, 1999's War Zone, and their third LP, Total Eclipse, in 2003.
Now that the group has once again joined together for the 2011 Rock the Bells tour, many fans are wondering if there will be another reunion album in the works. The answer is yes, but things may take a while.
"There's only one thing holding up the album: me," admitted Evil Dee, who pulls double duty as the group's DJ and producer. "I'm trying to make the perfect beat, but we finally got some joints. Other than that, Buck and 5, they're constantly like, 'E, wassup? E, wassup?' you know? And I'm a man and I'mma admit that, but I'll say it like this — in two weeks we start recording."
DJ Evil Dee along with Mr. Walt make up Da Beatminerz, and together they cooked up all of the music for Black Moon's first two albums. For the next reunion album, titled Dark Side of the Moon, Da Beatminerz plan to handle production again. "We wouldn't do a Black Moon album without that," Buckshot told Mixtape Daily before their Rock the Bells set in New York City.
"[It will be] me and Mr. Walt, and I might have to introduce some new Beatminerz to the scene," Dee confirmed of his participation on the production end. "But it's gonna be a Beatminerz-produced album, fully produced by Beatminerz."
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