Young Black Teenagers (YBT) was an early 1990s American rap group consisting of Kamron, First Born, Anthony DelCioppo, Tommy Never, and DJ Skribble. Despite their name, none of the group was black. They intended their name as a tribute to the black culture they were influenced by, but some thought their name offensive or ridiculous.
YBT had the support of the prominent rap group Public Enemy and their producer Hank Shocklee signed them as the first act of his label Sound of Urban Listeners (SOUL). They released their second album with MCA Records.
Their debut album Young Black Teenagers (1991) featured the singles "Nobody Knows Kelli" (about the character Kelly Bundy from the sitcom Married With Children), "Proud to Be Black", and "To My Donna" (an attack on Madonna for taking the rhythm track of the Public Enemy song "Security of the First World" for her single "Justify My Love"). After the first album, Tommy Never inexplicably left the group, and YBT became a foursome, with A.T.A. contributing more vocally. Their second album, Dead Enz Kids Doin' Lifetime Bidz (1993), featured the song "Tap the Bottle", their biggest single. The band did gain some publicity (albeit not necessarily positive) for the song "Time To Make The Dough Nutz", as it contained a sample of Rush's 1981 hit "Tom Sawyer", angering many devoted Rush fans, even though YBT insisted it had been meant as a tribute.
YBT were listed among VH1's "Least Hiphop Moments", where they were overtly ridiculed for their overall name and premise.
After "Tap The Bottle" became their only worldwide hit, YBT called it a day in 1994.
DJ Skribble worked for MTV for several years as an in-house DJ. He currently owns a car customization shop called 'Skribble's Auto Spa' located in Queens, New York. Kamron (Ron Winge) along with ATA (Rodney) previously ran a music studio in Roosevelt, New York and produced hip hop tracks.
DJ Kamron (Ron Winge) is now co-founder of the Marksmen in Manhattan, producing tracks for Public Enemy, Ice Cube, Jerry Wonder, Jill Scott, 50 Cent, and TV commercials, films, video games and other prominent musicians. He also works at Geejam Studios as a senior audio engineer. He played the role of Jamal in House Party 2, Kamron is included in the credits from the Juice (film) producing all DJ Q's turntable scratching.
A.T.A. (Rodney) is a manager and a clothing entrepreneur. First Born owns and operates a tattoo shop in Brooklyn, New York called Ringleaderz Ink. Tommy Never worked with Clivillés + Cole in The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. after leaving YBT. He now runs a wealth management firm in New York.
Read more about Young Black Teenagers: Discography, Singles
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