Doug E. Fresh
| Real name | Born |
| Douglas Davis | September 17, 1966 - Barbados, West Indies |
Doug E. Fresh was raised in Brooklyn, the Bronx as well as Manhattan. At the age of 12
Doug began to rap, and would make sounds to entertain his friends. He would also make
sounds to entertain crowds while the DJ would change their records. Soon Doug was putting
on his own shows with his manager, Van Silk. He used the money he made to make his own 12
inch single, which he then sold to an independent label about 1984.
Doug then had two records on two different labels, the first rapper to do so. One song was "The Original Human Beat Box," which was released by Vintertainment. The other song was "Just Having Fun," which was released on the Enjoy Records label.
Next Fresh landed a deal with Jerry Bloodrock and David Luchesi at Reality Records and Fantasy Inc. He invited a rapper that he met in the Bronx, MC Ricky D (who later changed his name to Slick Rick), to record with him. The pair made two songs that are now classics, "The Show" and "La-Di-Da-Di," which was remade by Snoop Doggy Dogg on Doggystyle. The songs also featured the Get Fresh Crew, which was made up of two DJ's, Chill Will and Barry Bee. Both songs were released on the same record in July of '85 by February of '86 it had gone gold, the same year that his full length album Oh My God! was released. In 1988 Doug E.'s next album was released called The World's Greatest Entertainer.
In 1989 Fresh had problems with his record label and was looking for a way to get out of his contract. Between 1989 and 1992 Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew took song to various labels in order to get them to by out his contract at Enjoy Records.
While looking for a new label Fresh still kept busy. He worked with the Stop the Violence Movement on a song called "Self-Destruction." After the murder of Yusef Hawkins in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, helped organize the "Stop the Racism" rally in Harlem. Fresh worked on the soundtrack to Ghostbusters II, with the Rock Group Living Colour, and with Joyce "Fenderella" Irby. In 1990 Doug traveled to Jamaica. He worked with reggae artists, such as Cocoa T and Papa San, and performed at the Reggae Sunsplash in 1991. He also appeared in directors Carl Clay's film Let's Get Busy.
In 1992 Doug's contract was bought out by MC Hammer's label, Bust-It Records. They then released the single "Bustin' Out," as well as the album Doin' What I Got to Do. In 1993 Doug was now on the Gee Street Records label where he made the single "I-Ight." In 1994 he made the song "Freaks" with reggae artist Vicious. In 1995 he and Slick Rick teamed up again for the single "Sittin' In My Car. Once again Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick teamed up, this time for Slick Rick's album The Art of Storytelling. They performed one new song, as well as live versions of "La-Di-Da-Di" and "The Show".
Pictures
This is the same image as above, except larger (16 KB)
Real Audio
The Show - Stream -or- Download
La-Di-Da-Di - Stream -or- Download