DJ Julio (Steven Santiago)
Jimmy Mac (James Mclean)
Mr. Nice (Jose Semprit)
Mr. Schick (Daniel Rivera)
The Mean Machine went through a few members in the late 70s, before settling to the final four members at the end of 1979.
About a year and a half later, they were knocking on the doors of Sugar Hill Records and auditioning for Sylvia Robinson and her crew.
They rapped in both English and in Spanish making them one of the first bilingual rap groups around. Sylvia loved the idea of making a bilingual rap record and released their first single “Disco Dream” in the summer of 1981. Many of the lyrics used on the track were actually borrowed from Son of Sam of the Harlem World Crew with his permission.
Hispanics all over the country went crazy over the group when they heard Spanish rap for the first time. This of course lead to the opening of doors to Latin America.
The group was shelved by Sugar Hill following a radio interview they did with Frankie Crocker at New York’s WBLS. One of the members said something about the label that didn’t sit well.
The recorded for Honey Hush Recordings in 1986 with the single “At the Party”.
The group split up and hasn’t recorded since.
Info submitted by DANNYRAPS AKA MR.SCHICK and Charlie Rock
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