Dem Hoodstarz

Dem Hoodstarz comprises the rappers Band-Aide and Scoot Dogg, who rose as a leading act in the hyphy movement across the California Bay Area. The pair had been acquainted since elementary school while also participating in street hustles together in their native East Palo Alto, California. After Band-Aide completed a five-year term at San Quentin State Prison around 2002—following Scoot Dogg’s earlier eighteen-month stay in a juvenile facility—they pursued improved prospects by dedicating themselves exclusively to music. Their early single “Can’t Leave Rap Alone” from 2004, which featured Oakland veteran Keak da Sneak, generated initial traction and positioned the duo as local standouts. They issued their debut full-length release, Hood Reality, in 2006 via the independent Lawless Records label they controlled. Strong reception, paired with the hyphy wave’s expansion across the country and onto Billboard charts, secured a distribution arrangement with Warner, which put out their next album, Band-Aide and Scoot, still in 2006. After taking Rookie of the Year at the first Bay Area Rap Scene Awards, the duo supplied Bay Area radio with continuous hits and remixes over the subsequent years, among them “Grown Man On,” “Waken Them Up,” and “That’s What’s Up.” Traxamillion and Droop-E, established producers in the hyphy style, handled beats for many of those recordings.