Kool Moe Dee

Kool Moe Dee (born August 8, 1962) is an American hip hop MC prominent in the late 1970s through the early 1990s. He was one of the first rappers to earn a Grammy Award and was the first rapper to perform at the Grammys.

Early life

Kool Moe Dee was born as Mohandas Dewese on August 8, 1962, in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. He holds a B.A. degree in communications from the State University of New York College at Old Westbury (graduated in 1985).

Career

Early years

In the late 1970s, Kool Moe Dee met Special K, DJ Easy Lee, and LA Sunshine to form the influential hip hop group the Treacherous Three, which was signed to Enjoy Records. In 1981, Kool Moe Dee performed an onstage roast of party rapper Busy Bee Starski.

In 1981, The Treacherous Three moved to Sugar Hill Records along with another Enjoy Records act, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The Treacherous Three became well known for their singles "Feel the Heart Beat" and "Action", and their song "The New Rap Language" (with Spoonie Gee) earned Kool Moe Dee the distinction of inventing the "double time flow", which involved rapid sixteenth-note rhythms, with a lot of internal rhyme. The Treacherous Three were featured in Stan Lathan's 1984 movie Beat Street, performing the song "Santa's Rap" with Doug E. Fresh.

Solo career

In 1985, the Treacherous Three disbanded. After leaving the group, Kool Moe Dee attended the State University of New York at Old Westbury, where he received a degree in communications. In 1986, he went solo, releasing a self-titled album that ranked 83 on Billboard. He co-operated with the young producer Teddy Riley which contributed greatly to the new jack swing movement that would gain popularity in the years to follow.

Kool Moe Dee released his second album, How Ya Like Me Now, which was his most successful album commercially, achieving platinum status. He then went on to release his third album Knowledge Is King in 1989, which went gold.

In 1990, he performed on Quincy Jones' album Back on the Block along with fellow rappers Melle Mel, Big Daddy Kane, and Ice-T. The album gained considerable critical and financial success and winning the 1991 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

In 1991, the release of his album Funke, Funke Wisdom signaled Kool Moe Dee's decline. Moe Dee himself has stated that this was his worst album. He induced his release from Jive Records in 1992. After a two-year layoff, he released his greatest hits album which regained some of his former success and acclaim. In 1994, his album Interlude was released and failed to gain Moe Dee much of his former success of the mid-'80s.

In 1993, he reunited with his fellow ex-members of the Treacherous Three to release the album Old School Flava on Ichiban Records. His last commercial release was the single "Love Love/What You Wanna Do" which was released on Spoiled Brat Entertainment Inc.

Moe Dee also appeared in the MTV box office bomb Crossroads as a bartender.

Feud with LL Cool J

Kool Moe Dee conducted a long-running rivalry with fellow New York rapper LL Cool J.. Along with other rappers such as MC Shan, Kool Moe Dee claimed that LL had stolen their rap styles. He also felt that LL was disrespecting rap pioneers such as Melle Mel and Grandmaster Caz by proclaiming that he was "rap's new grandmaster" without paying due respect to those who came before him. He challenged LL on his platinum-selling album How Ya Like Me Now on the single of the same name. He also took a shot at LL by appearing on the album cover with a jeep in the background with the wheel crushing one of LL's trademark red Kangol hats. 

The feud persisted, with both MCs proclaiming themselves the victor.

During the battle, Kool Moe Dee and LL Cool J produced the following dis tracks:

• Kool Moe Dee: How Ya Like Me Now (1987)
• LL Cool J: Jack The Ripper (1989)
• Kool Moe Dee: Let's Go (1989)
• LL Cool J: To Da Break of Dawn (1990) & Mama Said Knock You Out (1990)
• Kool Moe Dee: Death Blow (1991)

Other appearances

Kool Moe Dee appeared on Will Smith's #1 pop hit "Wild Wild West" from Smith's 1999 motion picture, Wild Wild West, on which he re-performs the chorus to his 1988 single also named "Wild Wild West".

In 2003, he authored a book called There's a God on the Mic: The True 50 Greatest MCs(ISBN 1-56025-533-1), which breaks down his 50 favorite MCs in terms of originality, concepts, versatility, vocabulary, substance, flow, flavor, freestyle, vocal presence, live performance, poetic value, body of work, industry impact, social impact, longevity, lyrics and battle skills, where he ranked himself as number #5, ahead of MCs such as GZA, and Tupac Shakur. He placed LL Cool J at #7, despite their past disputes and rivalry, even referring to LL as an "unbreakable master". The book has a foreword by rapper Chuck D and the photographer is Ernie Paniccioli.

In 2007, Kool Moe Dee appeared on the remix of Nas' "Where are They Now", with fellow old school rap artists. He released some new tracks and a video on his MySpace page to accompany one of the songs. He also appeared on the Ice-T track "Fight Club" and re-recorded several of his more popular songs.

In 2008, he began hosting SpitFire with Kool Mo Dee, an internet hip-hop talk show. The show features discussions on issues relating to both hip-hop culture and general issues that affect the world. Each show has a different panel of guests, including Xzibit, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, DMC (Darryl McDaniels), and many others.

Acting career

Kool Moe Dee had a brief cameo appearance in Charlie Ahearn's 1982 movie Wild Style, starring 'Lee' George Quinones and Lady Pink. Two years later, in 1984, he appeared in Stan Lathan's film Beat Street with the Treacherous Three and Doug E. Fresh. Other stars in the film are Rae Dawn Chong, Saundra Santiago, and Guy Davis

Since then, he has appeared in a total of 17 movies and TV shows as an actor and 21 as himself. He portrayed a drug dealer named Lionel Hudd in Jim Kouf-directed Gang Related(which is notable for being Tupac Shakur's last film performance). In 2002, he played a bar owner in Tamra Davis's 2002 romance comedy Crossroads, starring Britney Spears, Anson Mount, and Zoe Saldana.

He has also appeared on the TV show My Wife and Kids.

Behind The Rhyme talk show

In 2017, Moe Dee launched Behind The Rhyme—a weekly hip-hop based digital talk show series. The premiere episode featured hip-hop legend Chuck D, frontman of Public Enemy, and Prophets of Rage. The show is executive produced by industry veterans Ann Carli and Devin DeHaven, who also directs the series.

• Kool Moe Dee (1986)
• How Ya Like Me Now (1987)
• Knowledge Is King (1989)
• The Greatest Hits (1990)
• Funke, Funke Wisdom (1991)
• Interlude (1994)
• Brand New Heat (2015)
• Notis (2016)
• Are You Beautiful feat. Steve Arrington (2017)
• Body Em feat. Earth, Wind & Fire (2018)

(The Greatest Hits is a studio album rather than a compilation album, and is not to be confused with Kool Moe Dee's 1993 compilation album Greatest Hits.)

Grammy Awards

• The Isley Brothers "Come Together" on the album Spend the Night (Warner Bros – 1988)
• Quincy Jones w/ Melle Mel & Big Daddy Kane & Ice-T "Back On the Block" from the album Back on the Block (Qwest Records – 1989)
• Quincy Jones w/ Ice T, Big Daddy Kane "Jazz Corner of the World" from the album Back on the Block (Qwest Records – 1989)
• Stop the Violence Movement "Self Destruction" (Jive/ RCA Records – 1989)
• HEAL w/ various artists Civilization Vs. Technology (Elektra – 1991)
• Zebrahead "Good Time" from the album Zebrahead Soundtrack (Ruffhouse – 1992)
• CB4 w/ Daddy-O & Hi-C "Rapper's Delight" CB4 Soundtrack (MCA – 1993)
• Regina Belle "Tango In Paris" from the album Passion (Columbia – 1993)
• Babydol "I Want You Back" (Miracle – 1993)
• Animaniacs Hip-Opera Christmas (Rhino – 1997)
• The Spinners "I'll Be Around" from the album At Their Best (Intersound – 1999)
• "I Go To Work" from the album Bad Boy Bill's Vocal Mix" (Jive – 1999)
• Will Smith w/ Dru Hill "Wild Wild West" from the album Willenium (Columbia – 1999)
• Pablo "Next Level" (Howlin – 2003)
• Nas w/ various artists "Where Are They Now (80's Remix)" (Ill Will Records – 2007)
• Ice-T "Darc Fight Club" EP also features "Revolution" 2009
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis "Downtown" with Eric Nally, Melle Mel, and Grandmaster Caz – 2015