these two brothers combine their individual musical talents to create an iconic duo
that would take them to the top of the charts as well as create a blueprint for others to follow
sadly health issues illicit behavior and a preventable death would change everything
forever let's find out what happened to american hip-hop duo pm dawn jersey city born brothers
atrelle cordes also known as prince b and jared cordes also known as dj minute mix formed the
hip-hop duo pm dawn in 1988. the name refers to the darkest hour before the light the boys grew
up surrounded by music their mothers sang gospel tunes in the church while their stepfather briefly
played the conga during club appearances with r b funkban cool in the gang before they made it big
prince b began djing parties and composing songs at the start of high school he created a demo tape
with his brother using the money that he'd earned through his job as a security guard at a homeless
shelter a little-known fact about the duo is that it wasn't a brother act at first but a cousin act
prince b and his paternal first cousin gregory known by his stage name as doc g or dr giggles
originally made up pm dawn then doc got into some major trouble when he fought with a high school
bully who turned out to be a big time drug dealer a hit was put out on doc so he hightailed it out
of there and into the navy leaving a spot open for bee's little brother jarrett they first shopped
their demo to tommy boy records the rap subsidiary of warner brothers the label told them that they
weren't quote hard enough and they were also too much like another successful alternative hip-hop
group by the name of de la soul who tommy boy had already signed so they moved on and soon hooked
up with independent label warlock they dropped the duo's debut single owed to a forgetful mind
in 1989 no one really paid any attention to the song until a record label in the uk got their
hands on it the song ended up doing much better over there and before the duo knew it they were
getting offers left and right from most of the major uk record labels the label that ultimately
released the song in the uk british hip-hop label g street records brought the duo to london in 1990
they began recording for their debut album however a bankruptcy temporarily threw things off track
eventually island records acquired g street and pm dawn was able to forge ahead a couple of other
singles were released in the uk before their debut album titled of the heart of the soul and of the
cross the utopian experience dropped in the summer of 1991. the second single off the album would
make the duo household names in the us as well as abroad said adrift on memory bliss which sampled
british pop band spandau ballet's song true was released in august 1991 it captured the number
three position on the uk chart and shot all the way to number one on the us billboard hot 100.
it made history becoming the first rap song by a black act to top the
chart vanilla ice's ice ice baby and marky mark and the funky bunches good vibrations
were the other rap songs that had previously secured the top ranking
the follow-up track called paper doll previously released in the uk
would make it into the top 40 in the us that same year all of their success however didn't
get them the respect from their peers one would think they would have earned pm dawn challenged
hip-hop's limited subgenre categorization which amplified the controversy over the
legitimacy of rap that leaned toward pop music and away from a more hardcore stance
the duo was essentially using the tools of hip-hop to make music that appealed
to the largely white pop audience and a lot of people had a problem with that
with the success of the album the band embarked on a world tour during this
tour prince b gave a now infamous interview to details magazine in which he called out several
rappers i don't like black people i don't like white people i don't like that kind of thing
once you consider yourself black or white you're stupid the prejudice thing is so stupid if you
are prejudiced you are stupid public enemy and people like that they just make mountains out of
molehills krs1 wants to be a teacher but a teacher of what nwa just don't do anything at all one of
the targeted rappers krs-1 decided to confront b about what he said he and his group boogie down
productions responded by bum-rushing a pm dawn performance at the sound factory in new york
city he proceeded to throw the duo off stage and then began an impromptu concert of their own later
krs-1 would receive a lot of backlash for his actions people were especially confused since he
was the founder of the stop the violence movement formed after a young fan was killed at a bdp
and public enemy concert in 1988 prince b would later attribute the incident to simply being a
publicity stunt he also believed that the magazine interviewer had his own agenda and personal
problem with alternative hip-hop and made things up to ensue drama krs-1 would eventually apologize
for the incident around this time prince b would suffer a major health crisis he would end up in
the hospital after slipping into a three-day coma he would then be diagnosed with diabetes since
early childhood bee had a weight problem and over the years continued to eat poorly and not exercise
in 2019 his cousin doc g spoke to vince magazine about bee's battle with food
he was sneaking food all the time behind my back and with diabetes sugary foods are the drug it
will kill you the same way cocaine will then one day eddie murphy called he wanted help with his
upcoming album but after the duo met up with him he also mentioned a new movie that he was working
on he suggested that they write a song for the movie as well in october 1992 pm dawn contributed
the single i die without you to the soundtrack for the 1992 romantic comedy film boomerang
it's shot to number 3 on the hot 100 and was also included on the duo's second album the bliss album
vibrations of love and anger and the ponderance of life and existence released in march 1993 the
second single off the album called looking through patient eyes which samples george michael's hit
father figure also became a top 10 hit another song to take notice of was the track plastic
it was intended to resolve the group's previous conflict between hardcore hip-hop fans and artists
and alternative hip-hop fans it referred to the tensions between the two camps as plastic and
not real both prince b and dj minute mix would adopt a couple of new monikers around this time
b would also be known as the nocturnal and minute mix as jc the eternal their sophomore album
also included the tracks so on and so on which led to a sampling lawsuit in 1999.
in the lawsuit pm dawn was accused of using unauthorized samples from a david batiste and the
gladiators song called funky soul though their label allen records went on to win the lawsuit
the song was still removed from subsequent releases of the bliss album and is no longer
available for purchase in their publishing catalog the duo's 1995 album jesus wept didn't put up
anywhere near the same numbers as their first two albums this would be an unfortunate result
since prince b would claim after the release that this was the pm dawn album to get if people really
wanted to get to know who he was since the albums that came before didn't really showcase that
three years later the group's fourth album dearest christian i'm so very sorry for bringing you here
love dad was released the title refers to prince b's newborn son at the time named christian again
it didn't do well and was the first album to not make it onto the billboard 200 album charred
in the same year minute mix was accused of s******y a*****g his 14 year old female cousin
and was subsequently arrested when asked about the accusation years later in an interview all he had
to say was that the charges were dropped and the judge dismissed the case due to a lack of evidence
in 2000 they released the compilation the best of pm dawn through their website they also began
selling a mail order only album called music b's health continued to decline and in early 2005 he
suffered a massive stroke that left him paralyzed on the left side of his body undeterred pm dawn
participated that summer on nbc's reality tv show hit me baby one more time featuring several other
former pop stars despite the fact that bee was still suffering the effects of his stroke
they beat out the competition to claim the twenty thousand dollar charitable prize
which they contributed to the juvenile diabetes research foundation following their
appearance on the reality show minute mix was terminated from the group for s****l misconduct
even though some reports claimed he decided to leave on his own to pursue a solo career
this led to the introduction of doc g once again into the group unfortunately b would suffer two
more strokes over the next decade he would also have one of his legs amputated below the knee
and end up in a nursing home for an extended period of time on june 17 2016 prince b died of
renal disease due to his long-standing battle with diabetes leaving behind a wife and three children
he was 46 years old today doc g continues to perform and record music under the pm dawn name
along with new member producer and songwriter k-rock short for king's respect other kings who
joined in 2018 for a while now they claim to have a new album coming out however as of the making of
this video nothing has been released instead they put out a handful of non-album singles along the
way including their latest called nothing's been the same which dropped in march 2021 so
what happened to minute mix aka jc the eternal well he's definitely not happy about what doc g
has done with the pm dawn bran since prince b's passing he hasn't been able to speak publicly
about it much because of the pending litigation allegedly back when prince b was nearing the
end of his life dog took the opportunity to transfer the band trademark into his own name
the duo has since even changed the original meaning of the group's name
to prime motivators demolishing all warriors now dog g though has made some claims of his own
that while b was incapacitated jc broke into b's house and stole his computer containing the entire
catalog of pm dawn songs even though doc g and k-rock have continued over the last several years
to keep the pm dawn name and legacy alive fans don't seem to be very receptive of their efforts
numerous website and social media comments call for the duo to stop pretending to be
something that they're not and that pm dawn will always be prince b and dj minute max
on a lighter note celebrations are in order this year as 2021 marks the 30th anniversary
of pm dawn's debut album of the heart of the soul and of the cross the utopian experience
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