Heltah Skeltah

Boot Camp Clik affiliates Heltah Skeltah delivered a celebrated debut album, Nocturnal (1996), but struggled to follow through with subsequent output as their reputation simmered despite a fine follow-up, Magnum Force (1998). The Brooklyn duo of Ruck and Rock began as two-thirds of the Fab Five along with O.G.C. (the Originoo Gunn Clappaz) and together scored an underground hit with “Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka.” The group split in 1996 to record solo albums for Duck Down Records, Heltah Skeltah’s Nocturnal and O.G.C.’s Da Storm. Of the two, Heltah Skeltah’s garnered the most acclaim, and the duo thus became a small underground sensation, appreciated largely for their vocally inventive yet strictly hardcore style. Their contributions to the Boot Camp Clik’s For the People (1997) furthered the acclaim, but by the time Heltah Skeltah returned with their follow-up, Magnum Force (1998), the hype had died down, and the album unfortunately met a mediocre acceptance, partly because the duo toned down their hardcore posturing. Following this minor disappointment, Heltah Skeltah maintained a low profile and were not invited to join the long-awaited Boot Camp Clik follow-up, The Chosen Few (2002). ~ Jason Birchmeier