Game-changers: How Stetsasonic pioneered the “hip-hop band”
Stetsasonic was a staple of the 1980s and is widely considered to be the group that first experimented with jazz music in hip-hop. Many of their tracks, such as ‘Talkin’ All That Jazz’ and ‘Uda Man’, took inspiration from slower, more soulful music. However, this all occurred while the rest of New York was hooked on electro and the beats of Roland drum machines.
Many would argue that Stetsasonic paved the way for the likes of A Tribe Called Quest and The Roots, and although they dabbled in electro music during their early days, the music they ended up making set a blueprint for other East Coast producers and MCs moving forward.
During a recent appearance on the Shade45 radio show Sway In The Morning, hosted by Sway Calloway, Stetsasonic spoke about how they pioneered the idea of recording and performing hip-hop with a live band.
Akin to The Roots, who would arise out of Philadelphia much later, Stetsasonic combined beat-boxing, sampling machines, and live band performance with session instrumentalists. As in 1985 they coined the phrase “hip-hop band” which was the first time anybody had really heard the phrase or considered it a legitimate form of rap.
During the group’s conversation with Calloway, one of Stesasonic’s members, Bobby Simmons explained where they got the influence from, “We were actually inspired by the Fatback Band but just because the Fatback Band [once] had a rapper on their record didn’t make them a hip-hop band. The Fatback Band are a funk fusion jazz band.”
Many credit Sugar Hill Records for starting the movement of live performance hip-hop as they were home to the Sugar Hill band, who provided the backing tracks for all their rap music releases. However, Simmons set the record straight during the interview, asserting, “Let me make this clear since Stetsasonic’s first deal was with Sugar Hill Records for $100. We didn’t sign that was the offer.”
Simmons continued, “But the Sugar Hill Gang was a put-together three-emcee act! The Sugar Hill Band was musicians that Sylvia and Bobby hired to play on the records, so there was no hip-hop band. And one more thing for me to clear up! Nobody pinned the name hip-hop band in ‘83 or ‘84, but it was pinned by [MC] Delite in ‘85!”
Comprised of MC Delite, Bobby Simmons, Wise, Daddy-O and the legendary producer and DJ Prince Paul( Stesasonic’s most renowned member), Stesasonic did a lot for the culture and evolution of hip-hop music in New York.
Although Stetsasonic only released three full-length studio albums, On Fire, In Full Gear and Blood, Sweat & No Tears the impact that they had in five years was immense and following them the torch was passed on to the likes of De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and even later Common and J Dilla.