Draft:The Hard Corps (band)

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  • Comment: Remove Spotify and YouTube as citations, they are not WP:RS. Either ways, this doesn't appear to pass WP:NBAND. Vanderwaalforces (talk) 09:13, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

The Hard Corps (THC) is an American rock band, founded in January 1990 in Nashville, Tennnessee, that plays rap rock and rap metal.[1]

Their debut single “Hard Corps” made MTV history as the first video added to both the Yo! MTV Raps and Headbangers Ball[2] playlists. Their debut album Def Before Dishonor was produced by Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay and Grammy award-winner Phil Nicolo.

During its original run, the bi-racial band paired rappers and a DJ with metal musicians and gained comparisons to Run-DMC and Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" collaboration and Public Enemy and Anthrax’s version of “Bring The Noise," among other early rap rock collaborations.[3]

The lineup teams rappers Ronzo "The Beast" Cartwright and Bob “Deputy Dirty Bob” Samuels and DJ Terry “Major Kutt” Hayes with rock musicians Kelly “Machine Gun Kelly” Butler (bass), Kenny “Maestro K.O.” Owens (drums), and Kevin “Rev-Kev” Reinen (guitar).

Band Formation[edit]

Butler came from Mr. Zero, a Nashville rap punk band.[4] Cartwright and Samuels were in rap group, The Vice, while Hayes was a local DJ. They became friends while working together at the same audio company.[5] Cartwright told The Scene (Nashville) that the group initially struggled to find common ground between rap and metal but found it in "beats with more pocket... a fat, tight, chunky beat”.[6]

The Tennesseean’s Robert K. Oermann interpreted The Hard Corps military stage gear as representing “the battlefield against prejudice and misunderstanding” which placed them on “the frontline of a new musical style." "We're about doing the right thing and we have something to say," Butler told Oermann. “We address certain issues and we cross certain barriers, including race, but that's not our main focus. Just by being who we are and doing what we do is a message in itself."[7]

Within a year of forming, the band caught industry attention at the Nashville Music Association's Extravaganza, and a deal with Interscope Records followed. In the December 1991 issue of Music Row, Brian Mansfield speculated that it was "the biggest pop deal ever for a Nashville band (a reported $2 million plus for two albums)."[8]

Def Before Dishonor[edit]

The album was released on Oct. 15, 1991. Songs included covers of AC/DC’s "Back in Black" and War’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends” as well as party jam “Let’s Go” (which samples drums from James Brown"s "Funky Drummer"[9]) and message songs “Crime Don’t Pay” and “Three Blind Mice.” Billboard praised the band's ability to "rap and scratch out a fearsome metal hip-hop fusion."[10]

In 2023, producer Shawn Franklin remastered the tracks on Def Before Dishonor. THC has announced a full reissue slated for 2024.[11]

The band toured with Primus, Fishbone[12], 24-7 Spyz, and Ice T & Body Count. Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot praised the Hard Corps as "fun to watch" in a November 9, 1991 review of an opening gig for Primus and Fishbone.[13]

However, by the spring of 1992, THC split with their management, label, and booking agency and returned to Nashville to regroup.

That summer, four of the six THC members – Cartwright, Hayes, Butler, and Owens – enlisted Ludichrist and Scatterbrain guitarist Glen Cummings to play a handful of outstanding live dates.[14] The provisional line-up immediately geled, and they renamed themselves Stone Deep.[15] Stone Deep reformed in 2022.[16]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Sanders, Daryl (June 2012). "110 Reasons Nashville is Music City" (PDF). The Nashville Musician. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  2. ^ "MTV Headbangers Ball - 10/12/91 Riki Rachtman hosts w/Lita Ford". Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  3. ^ Mansfield, Brian (December 1991). "Coast to Coast: Secret Agent Band". Request Music Magazine. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Summit Local Hero: Kelly Butler". Summit. January 1992.
  5. ^ Oermann, Robert (December 7, 1991). "The Hard Corps- Serious Fun: Rockin', rappin' & rhymin'". The Tennessean. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  6. ^ Parsons, Clark (October 3, 1991). "He Ain't Heavy Metal... The Hard Corps Plays Nashville & Releases Debut Album". The Scene (Nashville). Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  7. ^ Oermann, Robert (September 6, 1991). "Hard Corps Forecasts Rap-Metal Thunderstorm". The Tennessean. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  8. ^ Mansfield, Brian (December 8, 1991). "The Hard Corps- Def Before Dishonor" (PDF). Music Row. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Def Before Dishonor- The Hard Corps". Who Sampled. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Interscope Records, "Video makes MTV History by being added to BOTH Headbanger's Ball and Yo! MTV Raps" press release". November 28, 1991. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Instagram/ Stone Deep". Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  12. ^ Stroud, Stephanie (October 31, 1991). "The Hard Corps to tour with Primus and Fishbone". The Nicholls Worth. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  13. ^ Kot, Greg (November 9, 1991). "REACHING FOR RAFTERS, FISHBONE PROVES TOO EXPLOSIVE TO RESTRAIN". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  14. ^ Darwen, Wayne (June 2, 1996). "Cummings Attraction: New Yorker brings it on home after his band hits big in Nashville". New York Daily News. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  15. ^ Rodman, Peter. "PRGO 351: A VERY SPECIAL VISIT FROM MEMBERS OF NASHVILLE'S ROCK/RAP LEGENDS: STONE DEEP! THEY'RE BACK IN THE REMIX, AFTER 25 YEARS! RONZO AND DJ KUTT SHOW UP TO DELIVER THE GOODS, FEBRUARY 27, 2023". WXNA FM. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  16. ^ Sanders, Daryl (July 12, 2023). "Critic's Pick: Rap-Rock Redux: Stone Deep". the Nashville Scene. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
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