The Frost

Originally performing under the name Kid Frost, Frost helped establish Latin hip-hop by issuing some of its earliest recordings and increasing visibility for other bilingual MCs. Born Arturo Molina Jr. on May 31, 1964, he lived temporarily with his family at military installations in Guam and Germany before growing up chiefly in East L.A. He began rapping in 1982 and also developed into a skilled breakdancer, becoming part of the elite Uncle Jamm's Army crew. He chose the name Kid Frost to honor Ice-T, an artist he frequently faced in battles at parties and clubs while the West Coast hip-hop scene was forming. In that period he put out multiple 12" singles such as "Rough Cut," made with N.W.A's DJ Yella, and "Terminator." After stepping away from rap for a stretch, he reentered the scene in the late '80s through his association with producer/DJ Tony G, born Gonzales. Their 1990 single "La Raza" introduced Kid Frost to a broader public and turned into a widely embraced anthem among Chicano hip-hop listeners. Driven by his smooth, laid-back flow, the upbeat debut album Hispanic Causing Panic appeared on Virgin that year and ranked among the first full-length projects in Latin hip-hop history, alongside Mellow Man Ace's Escape From Havana from the year before.

Following "La Raza," Kid Frost formed a collective of bilingual rappers called Latin Alliance that also included A.L.T., Lyrical Engineer, and Markski; the group issued its only album in 1991. The next year Kid Frost delivered his second album, East Side Story, a loosely conceptual release that yielded the singles "No Sunshine" and "Thin Line." Virgin then released him from the roster, after which he shortened his name to the more mature Frost and signed with Eazy-E's Ruthless label shortly before the rapper's death from AIDS. The 1995 album Smile Now, Die Later recast Frost as a hardcore urban rapper delivering verses over Latin-inflected G-funk beats. It became his first album to enter the Top 40 of the R&B charts, while the single "East Side Rendezvous" achieved modest success. Frost followed with When HELL.A. Freezes Over in 1997 before parting from Ruthless. He reappeared on the smaller independent label Celeb and issued two albums, That Was Then, This Is Now, Vols. 1 & 2, across 1999-2000. More than a decade after his debut, Frost released the fittingly titled Still Up in This S#*+! on the indie label Hit-a-Lick in 2002; Koch later handled its distribution. That same year he curated a compilation of Latino rappers for 40 Ounce Records titled Raza Radio. Since then he has issued two albums under his name: Welcome to Frost Angeles in 2005 and Till the Wheels Fall Off in 2006.