About Me
The year is 2005. President George Bush wins yet another controversial re-election and like his father Bush Sr., has decided to play war games and God overseas, Hip-Hop publications and artists go to war against each other, a devastating tsunami claims over a hundred thousand lives, and Above The Law (ATL) has come under the watchful eye of U.S. Federal agents.
The name "Above The Law" is very significant to Big Hutch a.k.a. Cold 187um (Gregory Hutchinson), KM.G (Kevin Gulley), and DJ Total K-OSS (Anthony Stewart). Not only were they able to stay above the law, or on their hustle in the streets of Pomona, California and South Central Los Angeles, but anything a person of color is able to do to beat the odds, correctly defines them in this society as staying "above the law." Also, in the music business there is an un-written law that says rap groups shouldn’t have a long and successful career, after 12 years of success, these legends of Hip-Hop music have managed to persevere and flourish.
Big Hutch was known for his battling skills and his high octane rhymes and servin’ the weak on and off the mic hence the name "Cold187um". He is also an internationally known producer. KM.G (an acronym for Knowledge Most Greatly) is the type of laid back brother who graces the mic and blesses the listener with information as it relates to the common man on the streets and he is also a newly up and coming producer. And last, but never least DJ Total K-OSS is the silent member of the group that brings the DJ element to the group and co-produces many of the group’s tracks and is known to wreak havoc on the streets and on the 1200’s.
In 1989, Above The Law released "Living Like Hustlers." Controversy accompanied the group and their debut album when the conservatives from MTV decided to ban the group’s first video single "Murder Rap." At that point and time in the game, the video was too direct. "We was talkin’ about Murder Raps, about brothers with cash beatin’ cases. We was sayin’ if you a Blackman with cash, you untouchable" explains Hutch. In order to fulfill and get out of a bad deal, Above The Law recorded the "Vocally Pimpin" EP in 1991. The EP gave a small but important glimpse of the type of sound that would soon define the West Coast. In 1992, ATL recorded "Black Mafia Life" which focused on Black enterprises. Around the time Cold 187um established the group’s production company "Black Owned Entertainment." This groundbreaking album featured not only the hit "V.S.O.P.", but the very first "G-Funk" (gangsta funk) record entitled "Call It What You Want" featuring Money B and the late 2Pac from Digital Underground was recorded and released. With this album, Above The Law had created the often imitated and duplicated G-Funk name and sound, but the media decided to overlook that and pen the creation to another famous west-coast producer. Says K-OSS "We the originators of G-Funk, first off, before your Snoop Doggs or Warren G’s…although we don’t try to stay on one type of sound we might go with a slow-type of groove or an up-tempo one. It’s not always that sample of Roger or Parliament." Hutch’s production talents are a jazz and 70’s funk smorgasbord of family influences (His father Richard Hutchinson was a songwriter for Motown and his Uncle, Willie Hutch created and scored the successful "The Mack" soundtrack). Hutch has produced blazing tracks from Kam, MC Ren, Kokane, Mac Mall, Kid Frost, Eve, Crooked I, and the late Eazy-E and Tupac Shakur.
In 1994, the group released another bomb, "Uncle Sam’s Curse." This album marked the cultivation of the entire group’s prior socio-political content and sound. The album was dark in its sound but gave light in its lyrical content and delivery. The album gave birth to a song that to this day has become the anthem for the oppressed worldwide and those trying to stay above the law from a criminal/hustler aspect and that song was "Black Superman."
In 1995, the Hip-Hop world was devastated by the death of Eric "Eazy-E" Wright. His passing affected his fans, friends, and his family and during this traumatic time unforeseen changes were occurring at Ruthless Records. ATL felt that the label’s new regime weren’t looking out nor did they have the same enthusiasm for them as Eazy-E had, so they signed with the legendary Hip-Hop and Dance label, Tommy Boy Records. ATL released two albums under the Tommy Boy banner, "Time Will Reveal" and "Legends." As usual both albums were one of the group’s most slept-on albums in their career. At this time the group felt they were just another group on a major label. With this in mind and feeling that Tommy Boy wasn’t pushing the album and were trying to make them more of a commercial west-coast gangsta oddity, the group asked for and was granted a release from the label.
In their first venture independently, Hutch revamped Black Owned Entertainment and renamed it "WestWorld Records". Hutch secured a distribution deal with K-Tel and released his solo effort "Executive Decisions." During the initial release of ATL’s seventh album "Forever-Rich Thugs" the group’s deal with K-Tel/Street Solid went bankrupt and the album was left in limbo. During this time Hutch received a phone call from the group’s former manager Marion "Suge" Knight who was still incarcerated at the time. Suge wanted Hutch to take over production and sign ATL to Death Row which was newly christened "Tha Row Records." Staying out of the limelight, Hutch oversaw and produced Snoop Dogg’s "Dead Man Walking", Tha Dogg Pound’s "2002" and the Death Row compilation project "Too Gangsta For Radio." Although not commercial successes, all albums combined have sold over 500,000 units, according to Soundscan, with no video, promotion, or marketing what so ever. Hutch also oversaw the multi-platinum 2Pac release "Until The End Of Time."
Above The Law released two songs as artists on Death Row/Tha Row Records, "Everywhere We Go" and "Message To My First Born" featuring 2Pac. The first week of August 2001, Suge Knight was released and for the next two-three months Above The Law were getting a lot of mainstream press, which was great for the group since they haven’t released an album in over two years. During this time Suge Knight was letting everybody know that if it wasn’t for ATL and the group’s musical genius, Death Row wouldn’t of been as famous as they were, since the groups’ production was the blueprint which Dr. Dre used during his time at the infamous label. In between overseeing Tha Row’s premier solo artist, Crooked I, and beginning pre-production on their album, several contractual obligations were not being met by Death Row/Tha Row Records. "It took a long time to get a contract that both parties could agree too, but then Tha Row dropped the ball and we couldn’t see eye to eye on things and since the label wouldn’t compromise, we asked to be released from the label", says the group’s leader, Hutch.
It’s 2003 and Above The Law has decided to go totally independent, knocking out the middleman and giving the industry and their fans perhaps one of their best albums to date. Production has been wrapped up for their eighth album "Sex, Money, and Music." Hutch notes about the new album, "It’s definitely controversial. We have a lot of deep and thought provoking tracks as usual. We have a lot of raw hard-core records, and we have some nasty one’s as well."
According to Above The Law and those who know them, they have never been the type of group to just sit and wait around for the next opportunity to come knocking. "With Forever (Rich Thugs), we sold over 30,000 units with no single, no video, not one radio spin, not a flier or a poster, it was just word of mouth" KM.G notes. "We are really going to work with this album and put in the leg-work that we did with Uncle Sam’s Curse. That’s why that album did well over-all, because we were really grinding and did what it took to make that album successful" Hutch adds.
Above The Law has a lot at stake, but with "Sex, Money, Music" they believe they have an edge over the competition with a well rounded album that will appeal to everyone regardless of demographics, class, or color. "This (album) is the 2002/3 model of Above The Law. It’s like the new Cadillac Escalade or the new Landrover. We are built with new enhancements to provide more the excitement and pleasure for riding," says an excited and proud KM.G. Unfortunately, ATL has now decided to shelve the album until they could find a distribution deal that suited the group and WestWorld Records. The album may be released in the future or incorporated into other future projects.
In 2004, Above The Law had suffered yet another blow, Federal authorities have indicted Big Hutch for conspiracy to traffic one thousand pounds of marijuana in a case pursued by agents the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Hutchinson begins serving his sentence on July 28...
Hutchinson says, "I was driving, and federal marshals pulled me over, and picked me up. They told me I had been indicted for drug trafficking." Hutch, who is a member of the rap group Above The Law, recently released his second solo album, Live From The Ghetto. He first came into prominence when his group was signed by the late Eazy-E to his Ruthless Records label.
Hutchinson has just issued a statement, saying, "My advice to my friends and associates is that if you are with one or more individuals, and you ever suspect that something unusual is going on, just jump up and say, ‘I don’t know what is going on here, but I have an important appointment,’ and leave immediately. Otherwise, if your suspicion is correct and the deal goes down bad, one of those individuals will make a plea bargain with the government and say that you were present, and knew all about the deal and the drugs. That person’s statement as to what you said or did may be hearsay, but it will be admissible under the co-conspirator hearsay rule in a federal prosecution." His attorney, Peter Kelley, said, "It has been a pleasure representing Hutch in this matter, and it’s really unfortunate he found himself in this position."
Uncle Sam's curse has claimed two-thirds of the group, but KM.G is still holding down the fort until he and his brothers-in-arms are once again reunited in late 2005. Is this a possible sign that Above The Law's time in the music business has come and gone or are they in a stage of being re-born? Well, the group has faced tougher obstacles in the past and overcame them and this situation is no different. Hutch, KM.G, and DJ K-OSS, no matter the situation, will always be Above The Law and it will take more than America's corrupt and questionable judicial system to completely silence them.
