Black Moon: Right Now

The blossoming of what would become underground rap began on both coasts at roughly the same time. Though, each coast had distinctive styles, the east coast included groups that favored jazzy beats and more flowery lyrical tendencies. But there were New Yorkers that eschewed those positive and seemingly ethereal dreams for descriptions of daily grindin’.

Black Moon (Brothers who Lyrically Act and Combine Kickin’ Music Out On Nations) shared as much common ground with A Tribe Called Quest as it did with Biggie and the Wu Tang Clan. And while they were able to effortlessly move through rap bills paired with a variety of acts, Black Moon possessed as much focus and tenacity as both the Wu as well as their jazzy counterparts.

The folks that made up Black Moon are probably familiar to rap fanatics due to their other associations, not this group’s scant recordings. Buckshot, 5ft and DJ Evil Dee all have put in time with other acts. Most notably, though, Evil Dee is a part of the production crew the Beatminerz while Buckshot went on to help form the Boot Camp Click. But even with these later successes, the 1993 release of Enta Da Stage readily caps off any discussion of their careers.

Before classic full lengths were issued from the Wu, Biggie or Nas, Black Moon had already created an indispensible pillar in the catalog of East Coast rap. They wouldn’t reach the ubiquity if any of those other performers, but this one record – remixed as Diggin' in dah Vaults during 1996 – featured a number of tracks that would impact the charts. The title track did some brisk business thanks to Yo! MTV Raps, but “Who Got the Props” with its electric keyboard sample wavering over a rugged drum program became a memorable addition to the early ‘90s rap explosion.

This one disc, though, for all intents and purposes would really be the only notable release from the group. Not to diminish War Zone or Total Eclipse, but those discs just don’t include the same kind of energy found throughout Enta da Stage. And because of this erratic recording schedule, Buckshot sought to have an outlet to manage the release of other rap discs - Duck Down Records.

While that label’s been around for well over a decade at this point, it seems to be entering a period of renaissance. Dru Ha, an integral member of the Duck Down crew, has aided Buckshot in inking deals with B Real (Cypress Hill), whose Smoke ‘N Mirrors disc is slated to come out sometime this month, and relative new comers Kidz in the Hall.

Working with such a grouping of talent always poses the question, where’re the new Black Moon tracks? Between duties stemming from the label as well as volunteering for worthy non-profit organizations like the P'Tones Records Youth Program, Buckshot’s a busy dude and we might not see one for a while. Hopefully, though, keeping his hands in the rap game, Buckshot’ll grace listeners with his flow at some point in the future.