In mid-eighties is formed the hip-hop group Masters of Ceremony from New Rochelle, New York, composed by Clarence "DJ Shabazz" Stanley, Don Baron, Maxwell "Grand Puba" Dixon and his cousin Todd "Dr. Who" Dixon.
In 1985 Masters of Ceremony debuts with "Crime", single published for Bronx hip-hop label M-Low Records and produced by the group's manager Brickle and Teddy Riley. After his electro cut, the group releases the dancehall/reggae single "Sexy" and "Cracked Out" in 1986 with DJ Jazzy Jay label Strong City Records, tied with Brickle. Around 1988, the group sign with 4th & Broadway and drop their unique disk.
The album features simple and without inventive skeletal boom bap beats (self-produced by Grand Puba and DJ Shabazz), scattered scratches that you don't understand why they were made, minimal and frenetic drum machine and a pretty flowing and clear delivery by Grand Puba that doesn't put the focus on the lyrics here: the rapper is strong on the first track, not surprisingly it's also the title track, the other cuts don't have the same energy and verve as the previous one, which is why it ends up being an average, decent album.
Hailed by specialized critics, the record fails to carve out his own market share and leads to the group's dissolution, leaving it almost completely in oblivion. Grand Puba doesn't give up and founds Brand Nubian, a group with which he will find his consecration as one of the best talents expressed by hip-hop in the nineties.
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