Rampage

Growing up together in Brooklyn, Rampage maintained a close bond with Busta Rhymes from childhood. Their connection resurfaced when Rampage joined the Flipmode Squad, the loose collective featuring Spliff Star, Lord Have Mercy, Rah Digga, and Serious, all centered on Busta Rhymes, for the 1996 solo debut The Coming. The album’s success brought Rampage his own recording contract the next year. The pair had first made music while absorbing performances by Rampage’s musician-father. Even after Busta moved to Long Island and formed Leaders of the New School, the friendship endured. Rowdy Records signed Rampage in 1994, yielding his debut Ramp Sack, which he left behind over the label’s shortfall in hip-hop expertise. That same year the two appeared on the landmark remix of Craig Mack’s “Flava in Ya Ear,” the track that launched the Notorious B.I.G. and revived LL Cool J, plus four cuts from The Coming. Elektra/Asylum then signed him, and Scouts Honor...By Way of Blood arrived in July 1997, carrying several Flipmode Squad appearances.