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Members
3 Male
Origin
Brooklyn, New York City, USA
Genre
Hip-Hop
Style
Electronic
Mood
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Born
3 MaleOrigin
Brooklyn, New York City, USAGenre
Hip-HopStyle
ElectronicMood
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Born
1981
Active
1981 to Present...
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Most Loved Tracks4 users
Whodini - Freaks Come Out at Night4 users
Whodini - Friends3 users
Whodini - Magic's Wand3 users
Whodini - Five Minutes of Funk3 users
Whodini - One Love
Music Video LinksArtist Biography
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Whodini is a hip hop group that was formed in 1981. The Brooklyn, New York-based trio consisted of vocalist and main lyricist Jalil Hutchins; co-vocalist John Fletcher, aka Ecstasy (who wore a Zorro-style hat as his trademark); and turntable artist DJ Drew Carter, aka Grandmaster Dee.
Whodini was among the first hip hop groups to cultivate a high-profile national following for hip hop music and made significant inroads on urban radio. As they were contemporaries of other hip hop groups such as the Fat Boys, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and Afrika Bambaataa, the group was managed by Russell Simmons, brother of Joseph “Run” Simmons of Run-D.M.C. The group signed with London-based independent record label Jive Records in 1982; they enjoyed a string of hits for several years, mostly charting on urban and R&B radio stations. The bulk of production on their releases was done by Larry Smith, a bass player who also handled much of Run-D.M.C.’s early work.
In 1983, the group recorded the self titled album Whodini, and its first single "Haunted House of Rock" was a Halloween-themed number that even today is still played in some clubs. Synthpop pioneer Thomas Dolby helped produce another of its singles, "Magic’s Wand", which was originally conceived as an advertisement for prominent radio jock Mr. Magic, who worked for New York’s WBLS radio. "Magic's Wand" also has the distinction of being one of Whodini's most-sampled songs.
In 1984, the group released Escape, which included "Five Minutes of Funk", "The Freaks Come Out at Night", the instrumental "Featuring Grand Master Dee", "Big Mouth", and the relationship-driven "Friends". Many of these songs were also groundbreaking in hip hop culture, as each one of the songs told a unique story from the urban perspective. The album ended up being certified for platinum-level sales by the R.I.A.A., selling over one million albums upon its release.
The instrumental version of "Five Minutes of Funk" was used as the theme music for WNYC TV show Video Music Box, an influential early hip hop music video show.
The vinyl album is long out of print and the CD (only released twice, once in 1992 and again in 2002) is also out of print and any copies of either of them are extremely valuable to collectors.
On May 17, 2011, Escape was released on CD with nine bonus tracks.
In 1986, the group released Back in Black and a number of songs from the album received heavy local New York airplay, such as "Funky Beat" and the controversial “I’m a Ho”. “Fugitive” was guitar-driven funk and "Last Night (I Had a Long Talk With...)" was introspective.
From 1982 to 1986, the group was at its most productive; they toured with the more successful bands such as Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J, the Fat Boys, and other prominent hip hop, R&B and funk bands. The group was involved in the first Fresh Fest tour, which was the first hip hop tour to play large coliseums nationwide. In July 1986 they appeared at Philadelphia's Spectrum Stadium in front of an audience of 18,000. They were the first Rap Act and Break Dance troop to Tour in the UK and Europe, with U.T.F.O also appearing with themas there break dance act. Played all over Europe to full venues as no one had seen this kind of music before. Andy Franks
By 1987, the group had earned its share of gold singles and albums. With Open Sesame, its final release of the 1980s, the group had turned away from their once-playful simple beats and catchy rhymes of the old school and instead became vocally more harder and more instrument-driven, with guitars and horns and bells. They even began to sample, as a snippet of Cheryl Lynn's "Got to be Real" is heard on the song "Now That Whodini's Inside the Joint".
This new school style had been similarly done almost a year previously on the multi-million selling debut albums by L.L. Cool J and the Beastie Boys, as many groups had already turned to the kind of rap and rock music that crossed over easily, and Open Sesame failed to produce any real hits.
Although the group was still obligated to Jive Records, for the next few years the band eked out its tenure by occasionally only releasing singles, including “Anyway I Gotta Swing It” for the A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child movie soundtrack.
By 1987, the group had earned its share of gold singles and albums. With Open Sesame, its final release of the 1980s, the group had turned away from their once-playful simple beats and catchy rhymes of the old school and instead became vocally more harder and more instrument-driven, with guitars and horns and bells. They even began to sample, as a snippet of Cheryl Lynn's "Got to be Real" is heard on the song "Now That Whodini's Inside the Joint".
This new school style had been similarly done almost a year previously on the multi-million selling debut albums by L.L. Cool J and the Beastie Boys, as many groups had already turned to the kind of rap and rock music that crossed over easily, and Open Sesame failed to produce any real hits.
Although the group was still obligated to Jive Records, for the next few years the band eked out its tenure by occasionally only releasing singles, including “Anyway I Gotta Swing It” for the A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child movie soundtrack.
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