Kokane
Kokane |
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Jerry Long, Jr. (born in the South Bronx around 1969) better known by his stage name Kokane, is a rapper from Pomona, California best known for his work with Above The Law. A cousin of Above The Law's main member Cold 187um (aka Big Hutch), Kokane signed with Ruthless Records in 1991 and made a cameo on NWA's Efil4zaggin album. He followed this up with his debut album Addictive Hip Hop Muzick. Produced by Cold 187 and Laylaw, the album enjoyed critical and commercial success.
Biography
By 1994 he had become a more prominent member of Above The Law's extended family, featured heavily on their album Uncle Sam's Curse. The same year he released his second album Funk Upon A Rhyme, produced solely by Cold 187um and enjoyed critical acclaim for the albums diverse and fresh sound, although once again failing to make a commercial impact, a trend that would continue throughout his career. The album is now out of print, and very rare, costing over a 100 dollars on amazon.
By 1996 Kokane was a free agent, having left Ruthless the previous year after label head Eazy-E's untimely death. He released the single '4 Ryders Only', and teamed up with DJ Yella to record an Eazy tribute 4 Tha E.
By 1999 he was no longer associated with Above The Law, and living out of a trailer in California. Kokane has even gone on record with hip-hop magazine The Source as having done many films with Bangbros and Onion Booty along with other production companies in the west coast adult industry during this downtime as he sought to make ends meet. Kokane went on to find great success in the Porn industry. He started his own productions company known to the public as "Crippin' Rippin' Productions". He went on to produce his most famous and successful adult website known as "The Funk Bus".
In early 2000, still involved with his Adult Industry Productions company, Kokane hit more luck when Snoop Dogg, remembering Kane's early contribution to Ruthless Records along with fame in the Adult Film Industry, and appreciating his contribution to West-Coast G-Funk more than most, approached him to become in-house singer for his newly-formed Dogghouse Records. Kokane featured extensively on Snoop's comeback album Tha Last Meal to great effect, appearing on no less than 7 tracks, of which "Go Away", "Pump Your Brakes" and "Stacey Adams" were perhaps the most-noteworthy.
Kokane's high-pitched, p-funk induced singing style seemed tailor-made for Snoop's funk-heavy beats and drawled delivery. Indeed such was the chemistry between rapper and singer, the combination harked back to Nate Dogg's tremendous success partnering Warren G just 5 years earlier. Kane garnered several further guest spots from his new-found notorierty and seemed briefly set to challenge Nate's reign within hip-hop as so-called "king of the hook" (chorus).
Following his sojourn with Snoop Dogg, with whom he is thought to have stopped working in 2003, Kokane signed to Koch Records forming a new group The Hood Mob. It is led by him joined by Cricet and Contraband. They released an album on July 3, 2006.
He is the son of Motown composer Jerry Long, Sr., who is listed in the credits for the Marvin Gaye album Trouble Man.
He is currently working on an album with Pomona's Suga Free entitled Suspended Animation: Suga Kane. A George Clinton collaboration is also in the works entitled Smell My Finger. Production is likely to be done by the Soundscannerz (Josef Leimberg and Quaze), who handled the production on Pain Killer'z.
He is also working on a group album with Oceanside, CA based duo Raine n' Lane. The album entitled, "Raine n' Lane n' Kokane The Album" was released Sept. 08'. Production will be handled by Fastlane, with the exception of 2 tracks.
Albums
| Album information |
|---|
| Addictive Hip Hop Muzick |
| Funk Upon a Rhyme |
They Call Me Mr. Kane
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Don't Bite The Funk Vol. 1
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Mr. Kane, Pt. 2
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The Hood Mob
|
Back 2 tha Clap
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Pain Killer'z
|
Filmography
References
- ^ Kokane charts. Billboard. Accessed November 28 2007.
- Birchmeier, Jason. "Kokane Biography". Yahoo Music.