Brownside

(Redirected from Brown side)

Brownside
Background information
Origin	South Los Angeles, California
Genres	Hip hop, Gangsta rap, Chicano rap
Years active	1993–present
Labels	East Town Records (current) Ruthless Records, Relativity Records, Fellon Records, Triple X Records, PR Records (former)
Members	Wicked Klever Trouble
Past members	Danger (deceased) Toker (deceased) Fello (deceased)
Website	brownside13.com

See also: Eazy-E, Ruthless Records, and Chicano rap

Brownside is a Mexican American Hip-Hop group from South Central Los Angeles founded by American rapper Eazy-E. The original members of the group consisted of Toker, Fello, Wicked and Danger with Trouble and Klever joining the group later on. Klever is the also the baby brother of Toker. Originally, Eazy-E had signed Brownside to Ruthless Records in hope to create a Chicano rap version of his former group N.W.A.

Toker described the group as Gangsters trying to be rappers rather then Rappers trying to be Gangsters.

Three of the members have passed away from the group which included Fello, Toker and Danger.

History

Beginnings of the group

Toker was introduced to the music attorney Bob Liebermen, Bob had heard a demo cassette of theirs that had contained a couple of tracks with one of them being Gang Related. The cassette was made by Toker who was messing around with his Friends in a Recording studio. After hearing these tracks Bob knew who he was going to contact and show this group off to, Eazy-E. Toker and Eazy-E meet each other through Bob and began bonding which made a close friendship between them. Eazy-E recruited the group to the label; those people he recruited were Toker and Wicked from South Los Angeles who were described as Chicano rappers. They were signed to Ruthless Records and officially apart of their roster in 1994. Eazy-E's vision on the group was to make the group a Chicano version of N.W.A that was equivalent to highlight Mexican American street life, rivalries, and resilience without weakening its rawness. At the time of them being signed, the tensions between African Americans and Mexican Americans were pretty high for usual reasons, due to business of gang organizations. Eazy-E seen a chance to bridge the gap between African American and Latino gang organizations. This decision began leveraging the group's connections to the Los Angeles environment to make unity and create a bigger influence in Hip-Hop on Ruthless Records which at the time was a core demographic. Eazy-E had also hoped to rise into Mexican American rap in California.

During their time on Ruthless Records they released their Debut Single Gang Related which was the only release on Ruthless Records Before Eazy-E had passed. They also had an early recording with Eazy-E in 1994 entitled Eastside Drama which was not released at the time.

After Eazy-E's Death

The passing of Eazy-E left the group to face Instability at Ruthless Records which made the group depart from the label during the ongoing management disputes. These disputes began in April 1995 where artists weren't getting paid at all, and lawsuits began coming towards Ruthless Records. Jerry heller at the time began fighting Eazy-E's widow Tomica Wright and kept fighting each other for Ruthless. This shifted their focus on their careers and they began joining labels such as Rumble Records for projects they were doing. Brownsides debut album began emerging amidst the Ruthless Records efforts in Chicano Street culture with Ruthless promoting acts related with Chicano Street culture released. The albums recordings began at G-Spot Studios with Tony G being one of the main producers contributing to the album. It was released on July the 29th, 1997 and was their first release after their departure from Ruthless Records and Eazy-Es passing. The album included some G-Funk characteristics along with their Chicano rap theme/style. Brownside at the time was positioned as a N.W.A inspired group. The album made the groups Toker and Wicked's voices stand out with their authenticity, which balanced Eazy-E's prior production on tracks. Many tracks on the album are contributing to passed away members of the group including Eazy-E.

The album's release boosted the group from its street sound in the Chicano rap subgenre, helped by Ruthless's distribution and Brownside's prior singles like the "Gang Related," single which built fans to anticipate despite the groups limited output in the nation. Sales and visibility were pushed by one and other in Los Angeles and helped former Ruthless employees, setting Brownside as a staple for natural depictions of Trece gang life. Though, commercial success remained quiet compared to other acts.

Payback and further events

Brownside released their 2nd album Payback during 1999. Payback continued their Chicano rap theme. The album only got little distribution because of limited label backing. Payback sustained visibility through appearances on compilations and mixtapes, helping to keep their audience.

During the early 2000s Brownside began facing problems with promotion, forcing them to promote themselves in Southern California and Mexican American communities. Their promotion depended on themselves to do; it also included them doing features and scattering singles through the communities. Ruthless Records at the time was facing reduced marketing and distribution, the group was persistent to a basic appearance.

The Take Over and Other events

After the 1990s, Brownside released their 3rd album The Take Over which released in the year 2000. The group began losing their output which in a result had become less constant and frequent, this was caused by members also pursuing independent careers. Toker and Wicked at the time were focusing on collaborations and independent singles with Toker appearing on the track G-Spot Da Clique in 1998 and Everybody Knows on the Good Fellas soundtrack, while Wicked released his Debut studio album Mr. Bald & Brown in 1999 and his 2nd in 2002, and his 3rd studio album in 2006 which also featured an appearance from Toker. They began working hard on their solo careers with them doing self-produced work outside bigger labels, this was influenced by their departure in 1995 from Ruthless Records and Eazy-E's passing including Dangers. The group ended up releasing a 4th album in 2008 titled Trece Razones (13 Reasons). While Toker was in jali he meet Trouble and invited him to join Brownside.

Brownside began working on their 5th album which was a double-disc called Bangin Story'z that released on May the 27th, 2016. Another member was added to the group during the making of Bagin' Story'z which was Klever who is the younger brother of Toker.

Official output started losing momentum during the 2010s because of rising personal and outer pressures, including gang-related crimes and legal entanglements. Toker was faced with incarceration after being linked to illegal activities caused by a video depicting gun violence which led to his arrest in 2015 by the LAPD. Wicked kept a lower visibility, with doing selected features and sustained group commitments. This led straight to Industry shifts away from gangsta rap's commercial peak.

The group's effective disbandment was made clear after Toker's murder on October 10, 2018, in Rosarito, Baja California, where he was shot 30 times by people posing as police, reportedly over debts tied to cartel connections. This tragedy, following a pattern of violence that claimed Danger earlier, left Brownside's future not exactly known, with Wicked's subsequent solo output signaling no immediate reformation.

Members of the group

Gilbert "Toker" Izquierdo was the first member of the group, he was born on October 20, 1966, and passed away in October the 10th, 2018 due to gunshot wounds inside of Rosarito, Mexico. He helped the group get signed to Ruthless Records and made a close connection to Eazy-E personally. Toker helped the group get its recognition and was one of the main voices behind the tracks, Toker also produced their first single Gang Related.

"Fello" was the brother of Toker who was initially going to be in the group and was a key associate in their pre-recording phase. Fello passed away in 1992 inside of San Bernardino.

Pierre "Wicked" Lamas was born in South Central Los Angeles, California. He was alongside Toker and Danger when Brownside was being created, acting as the Co-Founder. Wicked contributed to the group by writing lyrics and providing lyrical assistance for Demos including their debut album Eastside Drama. Wicked began on his solo career during the late 1990s with his debut album Mr. Bald & Brown that released in 1999.

Carlos "Danger" Martinez is one of the founders of the group, he was born on October the 4th, 1971 and passed away due to a Drive-by on January the 1st, 1996. He supported the group and contributed to their early recordings.

Jose Philip "Trouble" Aguirre held a short-term role in Brownsides lineup.

Discography

• Brownside (1993)
• Eastside Drama (1997)
• Payback (1999)
• The Take Over (2006)
• Trece Razones (13 Reasons) (2008)
• Bangin Story'z (2016)