RBL Posse

RBL Posse (short for Ruthless By Law) was a rap group from the Hunters Point district of San Francisco, California. A Bay Area rap duo formed at the beginning of the 1990s by its original members, Black C (Christopher Matthews) and Mr. Cee (Hubert Church). The pair began producing tracks at Black C's studio and emerged in 1991 with the underground hit "Don't Give Me No Bammer". Thanks solely to their own independent distribution through In-A-Minute Records, RBL sold almost half a million copies of their first two albums, "A Lesson to Be Learned" (1992) and "Ruthless By Law" (1994). Their music was a smash success throughout the Bay Area, and many tracks including "Don't Give Me No Bammer" and "Bounce To This" were widely played on the San Francisco radio station KMEL. Each RBL beat was laced with a deep bass line and catchy flute melody, specific to mobb style music and g-funk era rap of the early 1990's. Following the underground success of their first two albums on In-A-Minute Records, the duo was ready to hit the big time with a major label contract through Atlantic. Tragedy struck, however, when Mr. Cee was shot nine times and murdered in a drive by shooting on January 1, 1996. Ricky Herd, a.k.a. The Hitman was the third member of the original rap duo. He released a side project produced by RBL Posse in 1995 titled "Solo Creep". After Mr. Cee's murder, Black C soldiered on, recruiting producers Mike Mosely, Rick Rock, and Barr 9 plus MC Eiht and along with with The Hitman released "An Eye For An Eye" in 1997, which only sold 125,000 copies. The Hitman later released a solo album in 1999 called "H20 vol.1". "Bootlegs and Bay Shit: The Resume" was the double album released in 2000, and the "Hostile Takeover" came out in 2001. He was shot in the head and killed while driving in early February 2003. He was 24. Black C released "Last Man Standing" in 2003. RBL Posse has unofficially disbanded after Hitman's murder.