Fat Boys

Perhaps more than any other act from hip-hop’s first decade, The Fat Boys embody the genre’s core tenets: ingenuity in the face of technical and budgetary constraints, personalities so big they swallowed everything in their path, and a hunger to remake the past in their own image. Discovered via a talent show hosted by legendary radio DJ Mr. Magic, the trio of Prince Markie Dee, Kool Rock-Ski, and Buff Love—also known as The Human Beat Box—linked up with rap pioneer Kurtis Blow, who enlisted Run-DMC producers Larry Smith and Davy “DMX” Reeves to help hone the group’s sound. Their self-titled debut from 1984, headlined by the hit single “Stick ’Em,” is perhaps the first commercially released record to include beatboxing. Through the 1980s, the group’s popularity grew as the members branched into feature film acting and national advertising campaigns, their creative and commercial apex coming with 1987’s Crushin’, which featured “Wipeout,” their crossover collaboration with The Beach Boys.