Ugly Duckling (hip hop group)

Ugly Duckling is a hip-hop group that formed in 1993 in Long Beach, California. Ugly Duckling's members are Dizzy Dustin, Young Einstein and Andy Cooper. The group's style is alternative hip hop, influenced especially by old-school performers such as the Native Tongues. Most of their songs follow the creed that hip hop is about having fun and often mock the clichéd gangsta emcees who dominate the mainstream. An example of this can be heard in the song "A Little Samba" and in "Smack," in which they rhyme about the enormous wealth about which mainstream emcees brag, and the ridiculous nature of their possessions, such as gold name plates on their cars, pet sharks, and jetting off to Bermuda on private planes.

Being heavily influenced by old school hip hop, it conforms to the original basics of hip hop music: turntablism and MCing. The group's DJ, Young Einstein, forms the backbone of the group: he is renowned for performing very complex scratches both on the record and live, unlike in most modern hip hop where the DJ has been pushed to the back in order to emphasize the emcee. He is also the owner of a famous dookie gold chain that is the subject of the group's song "Eye on the Gold Chain," and is donned by Einstein during most live performances of the track. The group is renowned for its live shows in which they perform various antics on stage and interact with the crowd, getting it very hyped and affording them the reputation as brilliant live performers.

Their song "Smack" was featured on Tony Hawk's "Project 8" game and also on skater Paul Rodriguez Jr.'s "Footage" soundtrack.

As reported on the group's official myspace page, Ugly Duckling is preparing their 4th studio album, tentatively titled "Audacity."

Discography

Albums

* "Journey to Anywhere" (1500 Records, 2001)
* "Taste the Secret" (Emperor Norton/Rykodisc Records, 2003)
* "Combo Meal: Taste The Secret/The Leftovers EP" (Emperor Norton/Rykodisc, 2004)
* "Bang for the Buck" (Fat Beats, 11 April 2006)
* "Eye On The Remix LP" (Emperor Norton/Rykodisc Records, 2006)
* "The Best Of" (Handcuts, 2006)

EPs

* "Fresh Mode" (originally released on Bad Magic Records, 20 April 1999, Cat. No: MAGICCD1. Re-released on 1500/A&M/Interscope/Universal Records)
* "The Leftovers" (Earshot, 2003)

ingles

*"Everybody, C'mon" (Bad Magic/1500 Records, 1999)
*"Now Who's Laughin"' (Bad Magic Records, 1999)
*"I Did it Like This" (XL Recordings, 2000)
*"A Little Samba" (XL Recordings, 2001)
*"A Little Samba (Remixes)" (XL Recordings, 2001)
*"Eye on the Gold Chain" (XL Recordings, 2001)
*"Eye on the Gold Chain (Remixes)" (XL Recordings, 2001)
*"Dumb it Down" (Emperor Norton/Rykodisc Records, 2003)
*"Pass it On" (Emperor Norton/Rykodisc Records, 2003)
*"Rio de Janeiro" (Emperor Norton/Rykodisc Records, 2003)
*"Turn it Up" (Emperor Norton/Rykodisc Records, 2003)
*"Get Ready" (2004)
*"Yudee!" (Fat Beats, 2005)
*"Smack" (Fat Beats, 2006)
*"Left Behind" (Fat Beats, 2006)
*"Left Behind (Wichita Mix)" (Fat Beats, 2006)

External links

* [http://www.uglyduckling.us/ Official Ugly Duckling Web Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/uglyduckling Ugly Duckling MySpace page]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Ugly+Duckling Discography on Discogs]