Tweedy Bird Loc
| Tweedy Bird Loc | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Richard Johnson |
| Also known as |
Tweedy Bird Gangsta Tweed Blood Killa |
| Origin | Compton, California, United States |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Years active | 1992–Present |
| Labels | Dangerous Records |
| Associated acts | Bloods & Crips, Young Soldierz, Att Will |
Richard Johnson (born August 4, 1967), better known by his stage name Tweedy Bird Loc, is an American rapper from Compton, California. Johnson and producer Ronnie M. Phillips organized the hip hop project Bloods & Crips, a collaboration between members of the California-based Bloods and Crips street gangs.[1] Johnson is a Crip himself, affiliated with the Kelly Park Compton set.[2] For a time, Johnson had beef with fellow Compton rapper Eazy-E, because Eazy-E wouldn't sign him to his label, Ruthless Records. In 1995, shortly before Eazy's death, the two made peace. Johnson is currently working with Eazy's son, Lil Eazy-E.
History
Tweedy Bird Loc and Eazy-E were friends who grew up in the same neighborhood and knew each other very well. When Eazy-E became a famous gangsta rap pioneer with N.W.A and Ruthless Records, Tweedy Bird Loc had started working a project called "Bangin' On Wax". Eazy-E was excited for Tweedy Bird Loc. Eazy at the time was more famous and had more commercial success, Tweedy Bird also wanted to make it big in the rap game and sent some demos to Eazy-E and asked if he could be signed to Ruthless Records. Eazy said it was too difficult to make this decision. Angered, Tweedy Bird Loc formed Dangerous Records with producer Ronnie Phillips. Many other rappers befriended him, such as Att Will, Notorious Joe, Big D Mark and female MC Nini X a.k.a. "Bloody Mary."
187 Ride By
Tweedy Bird Loc, with the help of Ronnie Phillips, began recording his solo debut album 187 Ride By in 1992. He was still beefing with Eazy-E at the time; when Tweedy Bird Loc overheard Eazy on an interview saying that he won't sign Tweedy Bird Loc to Ruthless, Tweedy felt very disrespected so he and his fellow rappers Big D Mark, Nini X and Notorious Joe wrote a vicious diss track aimed at Eazy and his manager Jerry Heller, and his protegee Kokane titled "Hoe is a Bitch" in which he attacks and criticizes Eazy of selling out, being sexist towards women, and from Tweed's point of view, brown-nosing off of his manager Jerry Heller for fame. "Hoe is a Bitch" would eventually be recorded on 187 Ride By.' Eazy-E never responded to the track. Tweedy Bird Loc also aggressively insults the all female hip hop group H.W.A. who were in cahoots with Eazy at the time. Kokane and H.W.A. never responded to the track either.
Tweed was also having a feud with Bronx MC Tim Dog for dissing Tweedy's city and the West Coast hip hop scene in general on his "Fuck Compton" track. Tweedy would eventually respond to this with his single "Fucc the South Bronx" (also a diss aimed at other East Coast rappers such as KRS-One), and another Tim Dog diss: "What's Really Goin' On". These are well known events in the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry. Tweedy Bird Loc also had a single from 187 Ride By called "Comin' Out the Cage". 187 Ride By was released officially on September 14, 1992.
Besides being a solo rapper, Tweedy is also a producer. He and Ronnie Phillips organized the project Bloods & Crips, a collaboration of gangsta rappers who are members of the gangs, Bloods and Crips. Tweedy produced Bloods & Crips' debut release, Bangin' on Wax in 1993.
Tweedy Bird also helped produce Nini X and her debut album She's Dangerous.
Many other rappers joined Dangerous Records such as Fo' Clips (whose Just Be Thankful album was produced by Tweed), Big WY, Dogg, Pops and Lil Stretch, who formed the group Young Soldierz.
No Holds Barred
Tweedy Bird Loc started working on his second and last solo album so far, No Holds Barred in 1994, The album spawned his new single "Walk That Walk", This album had more commercial success than his previous '187 Ride By' album. Tweedy also had a television interview live from Compton.
Tweedy released another diss targeted at Ruthless Records and Eazy-E from No Holds Barred entitled "Y'all Can't Fucc With Us". He also disses MC Ren on the track.
Tweedy also dissed Miami rapper and 2 Live Crew member Luke Campbell on this album in response to his west coast diss song "Cowards In Compton". Tweed responded with his own song, "Fucc Miami". The main reason Tweedy dissed Luke was because Luke dissed his city, although "Cowards In Compton" was not actually aimed at Dangerous Records or Tweedy—Luke targeted the song at Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg as revenge for being dissed by the duo on Dre's song "Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" from his 1992 solo debut The Chronic. Dangerous enjoyed becoming more open to the public, even though they are still considered underground to this day. In early 1995 before Eazy-E's death from AIDS, Tweedy and Eazy-E decided to end their feud.
Current Events
Tweedy Bird Loc is currently working with Eazy-E's son, Lil Eazy E. It is unknown whether Tweedy Bird Loc will release another studio album.
Discography
Solo albums
- 187 Ride By (1992)
- No Holds Barred (1994)
Solo singles
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Fu'k the South Bronx" | 187 Ride By |
| "Comin' Out the Cage" | ||
| 1994 | "Walk That Walk" | No Holds Barred |
References
- ↑ allmusic ((( Bloods & Crips > Biography ))) Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-04-11
- ↑ "Bloods" (PDF). Gang Resistance Education And Training. Retrieved 2009-04-11.