The Kadaitcha Dancers
From Encyclopedia Dramatica
Taking their group name from a powerful, mythical kung fu sword wielded by an invincible congregation of warriors, the crew is a loose collective of nine MCs, acting almost as a support group. Instead of releasing one album after another, the Dancers were designed to overtake the record industry in as profitable a fashion as possible -- the idea was to establish the Kadaitcha as a force with their debut album and then spin off into as many side projects as possible. In the process, the members would all become individual stars as well as receive individual royalty checks.
Surprisingly, the plan worked.
The first Kadaitcha Dancers single, the hard-hitting "Protect Ya Neck," appeared on their own independent label and became an underground hit. Soon, the record labels were offering them lucrative contracts. The group held out until they landed a deal that would allow each member to record solo albums for whatever label they chose -- in essence, each rapper was a free agent. Loud/RCA agreed to the deal, and the band's debut album, Enter the Kadaitcha (36 Chambers), appeared in November of 1993. It was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful; although its financial success wasn't immediate, it was the result of a slow build. "C.R.E.A.M.," released in early 1994, was the single that put them over the top and won them a devoted following.
The Kadaitcha Dancers ain't nuthin' to fuck with.
Kookaburra
One of the founding members of the Kadaitcha Dancers, who recorded some of the most influential hip-hop of the '90s, Kookaburra was the loose cannon of the group, both on record and off. Delivering his outrageously profane, free-associative rhymes in a distinctive half-rapped, half-sung style, Kookaburra came across as a mix of gonzo comic relief and not-quite-stable menace.
Unfortunately, after launching a successful solo career, his personal life began to exhibit those same qualities.
In November 1997, Kookaburra was arrested for failing to pay nearly a year's worth of child support -- around 35,000 dollars -- for the three children he had with his wife, Icelene Jones (by this point, he'd fathered a total of 13 children, beginning in his teenage years). Things picked up in February 1998: he started his own fursuit line, dubbed My Furry Wear, and along with several protégés, he rushed out of a New York recording studio to help save a four-year-old girl who had been hit by a car and lay trapped underneath. The very next day, at the Grammy Awards (where the Dancers had been nominated for Best Rap Album), there followed the incident that truly established the Kookaburra legend. During Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech for her Song of the Year award, Kookaburra rushed the stage seemingly out of nowhere, clad in a bright red fox suit. He took over the microphone and launched into a rambling complaint about buying an expensive new fursuit but losing the Grammy to Puff Daddy, whom he described as "good" but not as good as his own group, because "The Kadaitcha Dancers are for the children." Hustled off-stage after this puzzling, oddly timed outburst, Kookaburra was the talk of the next day's news reports. He further confounded the public by announcing in April that he was scrapping his Kookaburra alias (which headed up a long list that included Osirus [sic], Joe Bannanas [sic], Dirt McGirt, Dirt Dog, and Unique Ason) and calling himself Big Baby Jesus. None of his explanations in interviews even verged on coherence, and the press never took the switch all that seriously; even the erstwhile Big Baby Jesus himself seemed to forget about the idea after a short time.
Kookaburra spent much of 1998 and 1999 getting arrested with ridiculous, comical frequency, building up a rap sheet that now reads not so much like a soap opera as an epic Russian novel. At first, his difficulties with the law made him a larger-than-life figure, the ringmaster of rap's most cartoonish sideshow. Sadly, his life inevitably slipped out of control, and the possibility that his continued antics were at least partly the result of conscious image-making disappeared as time wore on. It was difficult for observers to tell whether Kookaburra's wildly erratic behavior was the result of serious drug problems or genuine mental instability; bad luck certainly played a role in his downfall, but so did his own undeniably poor judgment. Despite being sentenced to prison on drug charges in 2001, it's worth noting that while he was running amuck Kookaburra's offenses were largely nonviolent; the saddest part of his story is that, in the end, the only person he truly harmed was himself.
In 2003 Kookaburra was released from jail and quickly signed to Roc-a-Fella Records. The following year found him working on a new album, work that ended suddenly when Kookaburra collapsed in a recording studio and died shortly thereafter.
Links
- Sibe's Journal
Place to find Kadaitcha Dancer statements- comic reading of one of the Kadaitcha Dancers' press releases by verix
