Fresh Kid Ice (rapper)

Early life

Fresh Kid Ice was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. His family is of Trinidadian and Chinese descent. At the age of 12 he moved from Trinidad & Tobago to Brooklyn, New York. In 1982 he graduated from Samuel J. Tilden high school, and that summer he joined the U.S. Air Force for a four-year stint. While stationed at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California, in 1984, he met fellow musicians Amazing Vee and Mr. Mixx to form the rap group 2 Live Crew.

The 2 Live Crew: 1986–15

The 2 Live Crew released its first single, "Revelation", on their own label "Fresh Beat Records" in 1984. "Revelation" was popular in Florida, so 2 Live Crew, without Amazing Vee who wanted to perform a new style of rap, relocated to Miami.

In 1985, for their next single "What I Like" Fresh Kid Ice was the only MC featured on the track released on Fresh Beat Records. In 1986 2 Live Crew recorded Throw the D with Ghetto Bass on the B-side, they went into a joint venture with Luther Campbell to start Luke Skyyywalker Records for the group, again he was the only rapper on the record. Fresh Kid Ice was the only rapper in the group until Brother Marquis and Luke Skyywalker joined 2 Live Crew. In April of that year Brother Marquis joined the group, and the following summer trio moved to Miami Fl. Luke Skyywalker (Luther Campbell) gave The 2 Live Crew a record deal and officially joined the group. They exploded on the local scene with their Gold debut album "2 Live Crew is what we are".

A year later after their second album "Move Somethin'" also went gold. This made Fresh Kid Ice and his band mates some of the most recognizable faces in Hip Hop.

In 1989, the group released their album, "As Nasty As They Wanna" Be, which also became the group's most successful album. A large part of its success was due to the single "Me So Horny", which was popular locally with heavy radio rotation on Miami's WPOW-Power 96 FM. The album went Double Platinum. The American Family Association (AFA) did not think the presence of a "Parental Advisory" sticker was enough to adequately warn listeners of what was inside the case. Jack Thompson, a lawyer affiliated with the AFA, met with Florida Governor Bob Martinez and convinced him to look into the album to see if it met the legal classification of obscenity.

In 1990 action was taken at the local level and Nick Navarro, Broward County sheriff, received a ruling from County Circuit Court and warned record store owners that selling the album might be prosecutable. As a result of the controversy, "As Nasty As They Wanna" Be remained brisk,selling over two million copies. It peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 and number 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

"Banned in the U.S.A." is the fourth album by the 2 Live Crew. It was originally credited as Luke's solo album. The certified Platinum album included. It was also the very first release to bear the RIAA-standard Parental Advisory warning sticker.

The original lineup of the made two other album together "Live in Concert" in 1990 and "Sports Weekend: As Nasty as They Wanna Be, Pt. 2" who also went Platinum in 1991.

In 1994 he reunited with Luther Campbell and Verb (a new recruit) to form The New 2 Live Crew and released the album Back at Your Ass for the Nine-4. The album peaked at #52 on the Billboard 200 and #9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, as well as producing two charting singles, "Hell, Yeah" and "You Go Girl". It is the last album to feature Luther Campbell and the only album to feature Verb as a group member.

In 1996, he reunited with Mr. Mixx and Brother Marquis to make "Shake a Lil' Somethin'". The album went to #145 on the Billboard 200 and #33 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and two singles "Shake a Lil' Somethin'", which made it to #11 on the Hot Rap Singles chart and "Do the Damn Thing", which made it to #24 on the same chart. It is the last album to feature Mr. Mixx.

"The Real One" in 1998 is the final 2 Live Crew album of the 1990s. With the absence of Mr. Mixx, was produced by various producers. The album peaked at #59 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Brother Marquis left after this album. The album includes featuring's with Ice-T, Luniz, Rufftown Mob, KC of KC & the Sunshine Band and Freak Nasty. Verb also comes back as a guest star on the track "Raise the Roof.

Shortly after the break up, Fresh Kid Ice hired a new recruit named First Degree Aka Tiki and started to tour under the banner 2 Live Crew until 2004.

Later, Fresh Kid Ice, under the old banner of the 2 Live Crew, performed at the 2007 Gathering of The Juggalos. Around 2008, Fresh Kid Ice and Brother Marquis reunited as a duo; classic songs from the 2 Live Crew were posted on their Myspace page.

In May 2010, it was announced that the duo's album, "Just Wanna Be Heard", would feature production from Mannie Fresh and was to be released on Nu Focuz Entertainment/Lil' Joe Records with guest verses from Too Short, E-40, and Insane Clown Posse. It was set to be released in August 2010, but remains unreleased. The release of the album was delayed since Fresh Kid Ice had a heart attack during the production of the album.

In June 2014, the 2 Live Crew released a new single Take It Off, the video clip features cameos by Mannie Fresh, Flavor Flav, Trina, Flo Rida, and Trick Daddy. The single is available on iTunes. I was also announced that their album would be called "Turn me on" instead of "Just wanna be heard".

The Chinaman

The Chinaman was the first solo album by Fresh Kid Ice. It was released in 1992 by Effect Records, a division of Luke Records. Singles that were released to promote the album were Dick 'Em Down, I'll be there, and Freak 'Em Down (the clean version of Dick 'Em Down which wasn't featured in the album). Freak 'Em Down was turned into a video clip. The album is noted for being the first Hip Hop album embracing having an Asian Heritage. With songs like "Long Dick Chinese", he inverted stereotypes into prideful declarations of self-identity, he showed there was a way for Asians to exist in hip-hop.

Chinaman Records

Founded by Fresh Kid Ice in 1998, Chinaman Records, LLC is multi-media entertainment company, with a broad service of DJs, artists, producers, promoters , videographers; music publishing; merchandising.

Still Nasty

Still Nasty was released in 2000 under his own label Chinaman Records. The main single for this album was a song named "I Wanna Dance Yall'". The song was made into a video clip, and due to its explicit content it could only be played exclusively on "BET Uncut". It became one of the shows favorite and was noted for being one of the video that helped launched the show.

Stop Playin

Stop Playin was released in 2004 under his own label Chinaman Records.

Freaky Chinese

Freaky Chinese, featured several tracks by the then unknown artist, Flo Rida, who toured with Fresh Kid Ice as his hype man and back-up rapper. Other songs feature Insane Clown Posse, and Groundhoggz. It was released on Chinaman Records 2004.

My Rise 2 Fame Biography

In 2015 Fresh Kid Ice released his autobiography, My Rise 2 Fame. The memoirs is co-written by Jacob Katel. The books features his stories of his sex, lies, the music business, making gold and multi-platinum albums, a legendary lawsuit from Florida’s governor who tried to ban the group and take away their first amendment right to free speech, his early life, and his currently life with his family. It’s a historic ride through one of the world’s favorite cult genres: “Miami Bass”.

Health of Fresh Kid Ice

Shortly before the release of Move Somethin' in 1988 Fresh Kid Ice was in a near fatal car accident. His injuries included injuries to his Bracial Plexus, which is the network of nerves that sends signals from your spine to your shoulder, arm and hand. This caused a loss of mobility in his left arm.

He also suffered his first stroke on Thanksgiving 2009, followed by a second stroke early 2010. He had to retrain himself to walk and correct his speech.