
Ruthless Rap Assassins were a British hip hop group from Hulme, Manchester, England. The group was formed by MC Kermit La Freak (later simply Kermit - real name Paul Leveridge) and brothers Dangerous Hinds (real name Anderson Hinds) and Dangerous C (real name Carson Hinds).
Kermit grew up in Moss Side, Manchester - where he learnt to play violin at the age of 6 - and was briefly a DJ under the name of 'DJ la Freak', whilst doing a psychology degree at Manchester Polytechnic. He joined the breakdance crew Broken Glass, who moved into making records with "Style of the Street" following a meeting with Manchester DJ and producer Greg Wilson. The song was recorded for the Street Sounds Electro UK (Street Sounds, 1984) album, but the label owner Morgan Khan was impressed with their work and persuaded them to record more tunes for the album. In order to give the impression of a thriving British hip hop scene, the songs were recorded under a variety of aliases: in truth, of the seven tracks on the album, only one was not recorded by Broken Glass.
Kermit met the Hinds brothers - at the time calling themselves the Dangerous 2 - and together they decided to form the Assassins, with Greg Wilson staying with them as a producer. Their first release was the single "We Don't Kare" (Murdertone, 1987), which had as a B-side a song by Kiss AMC - an all-female Manchester rap group that featured Christine "Kiss" Leveridge, Kermit's sister. They followed this with two singles entirely of their own, "The Meltdown Session" (Murdertone, 1988) and "The Drone Session EP" (Murdertone, 1989) - in between which, Dangerous C performed a rap for a B-side remix of Kym Mazelle's "Useless (I Don't Need You Now)" (Syncopate, 1988).
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Links to Peel[]
Peel seemed to have discovered the group in 1989 and was impressed by them to invite the ensemble to do a session for his show which they did. Further material from the group were played until 1991, by which time the trio were in the process of splitting up.
Ruthless Rap Assassins never forgot their appreciation of Peel in giving them airtime and even dedicated their 12" single, And It Wasn't A Dream, to the DJ, by writing on the record sleeve, Thanks to John Peel and thinking men and women everywhere. [1]
Sessions[]
1. Recorded: 1989-06-04. First Broadcast: 26 June 1989. Repeated: 25 July 1989, 26 December 1989
- Three The Hard Way / Posse Strong / Just Mellow
Other Shows Played[]
- 13 April 1989: Justice (Just Us) (12" - The Drone Session E.P.) Murdertone
- 17 April 1989: Law Of The Jungle (12" - The Drone Session E.P.) Murdertone
- 18 April 1989: Justice (Just Us) (12" - The Drone Session E.P.) Murdertone
- 26 April 1989 (BFBS): Justice (Just Us) (12" - The Drone Session E.P.) Murdertone
- 02 May 1989: Justice (Just Us) (12" - The Drone Session E.P.) Murdertone
- 03 May 1989 (BFBS): Law Of The Jungle (12" - The Drone Session E.P.) Murdertone
- 10 May 1989 (BFBS): Law Of The Jungle (12"-The Drone Session E.P.)' (Syncopate)
- 15 May 1989: Z Bend (v/a LP - Edward Not Edward) Wooden
- 30 May 1989 (Radio Bremen): Z Bend (v/a album - Edward Not Edward) Wooden
- 31 May 1989 (BFBS): Z Bend (v/a LP - Edward Not Edward) Wooden
- 07 June 1989 (BFBS): Z Bend (v/a LP - Edward Not Edward) Wooden
- 1990
- 19 February 1990: Posse Strong (12" - 4 From The Killer) Syncopate
- 20 February 1990: And It Wasn't A Dream (12") Syncopate
- 26 February 1990: Go Wild! (12" - 4 From The Killer) Syncopate
- 17 March 1990 (BFBS): And It Wasn't A Dream (album - Killer Album) EMI
- 31 March 1990 (BFBS): And It Wasn't A Dream (album - Killer Album) EMI
- 14 May 1990: Just Mellow (The Norman Cook 12" Remix) (12") Syncopate
- 26 May 1990 (BFBS): Just Mellow (The Norman Cook 12" Remix) (12") Syncopate
- 29 May 1990: Just Mellow (12") Syncopate
- 05 June 1990: And It Wasn't A Dream (album - Killer Album) EMI
- 06 June 1990: Just Mellow (The Norman Cook 12" Remix) (12") Syncopate
- 16 June 1990 (BFBS): Yakety Yak (album - Killer Album) EMI
- 1991
- 03 March 1991: Justice (Just Us) (The Mase Remix) (12") EMI
- 17 March 1991: Justice (Just Us) (12") EMI
- 05 October 1991: Less Mellow (album - Th!nk, It Ain't Illegal Yet) EMI
- 12 October 1991: Less Mellow (12") EMI
- Peel 001 (Radio Bremen): Less Mellow (LP - Th!nk, It Ain't Illegal Yet) EMI
- 26 October 1991: Pick Up The Pace (album - Think, It Ain't Illegal Yet) EMI
- 03 November 1991: Radio (album - Think, It Ain't Illegal Yet) EMI
- 14 November 1991 (Radio Mafia): Radio Red Hour: Spin Out
- 15 November 1991 (BFBS): No Tale, No Twist (album - Th!nk, It Ain't Illegal Yet) EMI
- 23 November 1991: Radio (album - Th!nk, It Ain't Illegal Yet) EMI
- 06 December 1991 (BFBS): Hard And Direct (12") EMI
- 14 December 1991: No Tale, No Twist (album - Th!nk, It Ain't Illegal Yet) EMI
- 1997
- 13 January 1997 (John Peel's Classic Sessions): Three The Hard Way