Hip-Hop History Month #16

I didn’t talk about many ladies this month, but that changes now. This post was actually suppose to go before the last one, but the last one was needed for context. Ya don’t understand? Trust me; it’ll make sense in a minute. Hip-hop History month sweet 16, it’s all about the first ladies of the west…JJ Fad. Let’s go!

J.J. Fad began in 1985 as a "5 piece" consisting of Juana Burns (MC J.B.), Dania Birks (Baby-D), Anna Cash (Lady Anna), Fatima Shaheed (O.G. Rocker) and Juanita Lee (Crazy J.). It was one of the original acts signed to Ruthless Records by Eazy-E. In 1987, this line-up released its only recording, the single "Anotha Ho" backed with "Supersonic" ("Anotha Ho" was the A-side), produced by Arabian Prince.

Due to management and financial disagreements, Cash, Shaheed and Lee quit the group, leaving J.J. Fad as a duo. The remaining original members (Burns and Birks) were joined by Michelle Franklin (Sassy C.) and DJ Train, and together they re-recorded and re-released "Supersonic" in 1988, this time as the A-side. It sold 400,000 copies independently before

Eazy-E and Jerry Heller secured the group a major-label recording contract with Atco Records.
The single was followed by the album Supersonic, produced by Arabian Prince, who made J.J. Fad accessible to pop audiences—unlike many West Coast rappers of the day—by including electro elements in their music. Due to their involvement with Ruthless Records, co-producer credits were added for Dr. Dre and DJ Yella.

Eazy-E was smart — he instinctively knew they had to soften the blow with a more digestible artist before Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and the rest of the crew could decimate the scene with “Fuck Tha Police” and other pioneering street anthems of that era. But despite J.J. Fad’s contribution to Hip Hop, they’ve noticed the BET Network consistently leaves them out of the conversation when it comes to women in rap.

It bothered them as a group. “You look at us and see there are Black women who rap, but our song crossed over so we were considered ‘pop artists.’ So when BET does all these award shows with women in rap, we always get left out. When you go to VH1 or MTV who does the pop stuff, we get included. And that hurt".

“It’s like wait a minute, we’re three Black girls and we can’t get on BET because our song went pop? That hurts our feelings so bad because it’s like we aren’t accepted by our own people.”

Both the single "Supersonic" and the album Supersonic were certified gold.(The group believes the single sold 1 million copies in the U.S.—equivalent to platinum status—but this has not been certified).

A little unknown fact, and I know it because I was there, they originally asked Tony A to be their DJ, but at his young age and strict household, he wasn't able to do the traveling it would've required. That's when DJ Train got the call. History would have been a lot different if it didn't turn out that way.

J.J. Fad made history in 1989 when they became the first female Hip Hop group to be nominated for a Grammy Award. Even as many of their peers such as Public Enemy and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince boycotted the ceremony after learning the Best Rap Performance wouldn’t be televised, J.J. Fad knew not going wasn’t an option. After all, they figured they might never get the opportunity again — and they were right. It’s a decision they’ll never regret.

When they first bubbled, Eazy and Jerry Heller enjoyed success with N.W.A, it was three years before J.J. Fad returned with a follow-up album. Not Just a Fad was released in 1991, produced by Arabian Prince, Yella and overseen by Eazy, but failed to make an impact. The group disbanded shortly afterward.

After almost two decades out of the music industry raising families, the classic trio of J.J. Fad reunited. The group performs at old-school and freestyle concerts.

In 2004, MF Doom sampled the beatboxing intro from the 1988 video for "Supersonic" in his song "Hoecakes" from his album Mm.. Food.
In 2006, Fergie used an interpolation of "Supersonic" in her song "Fergalicious".

"Supersonic" appeared in the music video game Dance Central 3 (2012), which J. J. Fad promoted on its Facebook page.

The 2015 biopic film Straight Outta Compton left out the story of J. J. Fad and how some in the media felt the group was responsible for "forging a path for the breakout success of N.W.A".

The second trailer for the 2020 movie Sonic the Hedgehog features the song "Supersonic".