Camp Lo

Camp Lo
File:Camplopic.jpg
Background information
Origin	The Bronx, New York City, New York
Years active	1995 – Present
Members	Sonny Cheeba Geechi Suede

Camp Lo is an American hip-hop duo, formed in 1995, which hails from The Bronx, New York. They are most notable for their flair towards blaxploitation in their style of dress and in their lyrics. The duo, consisting of Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede, made their first appearance in 1996 on The Great White Hype soundtrack, with their single "Coolie High". The smooth party song was a minor hit, peaking at #25 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart. Their first major exposure came with the release of their second single, the upbeat, horn driven "Luchini AKA This Is It". The song became a major hit in 1997, breaking into the Top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the Top 5 on the Hot Rap Singles chart. The duo dropped their debut album Uptown Saturday Night in January 1997. The album was widely acclaimed, praised for their light accessible content and their smooth, Funk and Jazz inspired production. All Music Guide's Leo Stanley stated in AMG's album review:

Camp Lo's debut album is a refreshing fusion of hip-hop, soul and jazz that manages to avoid most jazz-rap cliches while retaining street credibility.”

—Leo Stanley

The majority of the album was produced by Ski, famous for his work with Jay-Z. Guest appearances included De La Soul's Trugoy and Digable Planets' Butterfly. The album's 70's-style content was influential on a number of artists within the next few years after its release, like Will Smith, who enlisted Camp Lo for an appearance on his top-selling Big Willie Style album. Also in 1997, they appeared on Oran "Juice" Jones' single "Poppin' That Fly". They collaborated with Hip Hop legends De La Soul in 2000, on the song "So Good" from the Hip Hop 101 compilation. They finally returned with another album in 2002, titled Let's Do It Again. This effort was not nearly as revered as their debut, and was met with mediocre reviews and sales. The duo has recently been in negotiations with Blacksmith Records, a label headed by rapper Talib Kweli. Kweli has expressed interest in signing Camp Lo to his stable. In 2006, Camp Lo recorded the song "I Wanna Be" for Midway's NBA Ballers: Phenom Soundtrack.

Lyrical confusion

Camp Lo uses slang heavily in their songs, often to the point of near incomprehensibility. A typical example of their lyrical style is:

"Casanova brown, levitating jeeky in dashiki's / In la hotta Car 54 chasin' diamond runners / Headin' ice-bound, where every chilla dime can get / Your Harlem buck strut freezin' world heist Hollywood."

Their heavy use of slang is reminiscent to artists like Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, who popularized extreme slang usage on the album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.

Visit the official site http://www.camp-lo.com

Discography

Album cover	Album information
	Uptown Saturday Night Released: January 28, 1997 Billboard 200 chart position: #27 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #5 Singles: "Coolie High"/"Killin' Em Softly", "Luchini AKA This is It"/"Swing", "Black Nostaljack AKA Come On"
	Let's Do It Again Released: May 21, 2002 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #64 Singles: "Glow"/"Gorilla Pimp", "Gotcha"

External links

• "Camp Lo" myspace page
• "Coolie High" music video
• "Luchini AKA This Is It" music video
• "Black Nostaljack" music video
• "Glo" music video