Audio Two
American hip hop duo
Audio Two was the Brooklyn, New York hip hop duo of emcee Kirk "Milk Dee" Robinson and DJ Nat "Gizmo" Robinson, best known for their first hit "Top Billin'".
01History
The duo's debut single, "Make it Funky", was released in 1987, but it was the B-side, "Top Billin'", that became the chart hit. The beat, made by Milk Dee and produced by Daddy-O of Stetsasonic, and Milk Dee's lyrics would be sampled and referenced time and time again, even by the group itself: both the group's full-length debut, 1988's What More Can I Say? and its 1990 follow-up, I Don't Care: The Album, were titled after lines from the song. However, the duo would never recapture its initial success. The singles of its second album, "I Get the Papers" and "On the Road Again," were only moderate hits. It was a time of rapid change in the hip hop market; gangsta rap was rising in popularity, and Audio Two found itself unsuccessfully struggling to maintain recording contracts and a fanbase.
Audio Two did, however, pave the way for the duo's labelmate MC Lyte, who launched her career with the hit single I Cram to Understand U (Sam). Lyte's 1998 album Seven & Seven featured a remake of "Top Billin'", with the original instrumental, this time a duet between her and Milk. It has been a widely circulated rumor that both members of Audio Two were brothers of MC Lyte; however, this is untrue. In 1994, Milk released a solo EP titled Never Dated on Rick Rubin's American Recordings. While the EP was notable for its single "Spam," a duet with the Beastie Boys' Ad-Rock with drum programming by Mike D, aside from the devoted Beastie Boys fanbase the album generated little interest. Milk eventually rediscovered success by producing the singer Eamon, who recorded the 2004 hit "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)."
In 2007, Milk Dee recorded a verse for a remix of "I Get Money" by 50 Cent, thanking all the music artists that sampled "Top Billin'," which earned him royalties.
In recent years, Audio Two member Gizmo became a recording engineer under the name "You Can Ask" Giz. His audio work has appeared on albums by Donell Jones, Calvin Richardson, Jaheim and Tyrese, among others.
02Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US |
US R&B /HH | ||
| What More Can I Say? |
|
185 | 45 |
| I Don't Care: The Album |
|
, | 74 |
| ", " denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
Unreleased albums
- The First Dead Indian (1992)
EPs
| Title | Details | Track listings |
|---|---|---|
| Flip-Flop Mini-Album (with The Alliance) |
|
Track listing
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Rap | |||
| "A Christmas Rhyme" | 1985 | , | Non-album single |
| "Make it Funky" | 1987 | , | What More Can I Say? |
| "Top Billin'" | , | ||
| "Hickeys Around My Neck" | 1988 | , | |
| "Many Styles/The Questions" | , | ||
| "I Don't Care" | , | ||
| "On The Road Again/Interlude One" | 1990 | 16 | I Don't Care: The Album |
| "I Get the Papers" | , | ||
| ", " denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Audio Two”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Audio Two (hip hop duo).jpg by Unknown author, Fair use
- Top Billin' by Audio Two US 7-inch vinyl Side A.jpg by First Priority Music, Public domain
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