10 Artist Side Projects You Never Knew About

Image via Complex Original

Album: The City Never Sleeps (2007)

Psycho Les of the Beatnuts went off on his own in 2007, releasing a solo album titled Psycho Therapy (The Soundtrack). He also formed a side project with former Beatnut and frequent collaborator Al Tariq, as well as Missing Linx associate Problemz. Together, the trio became Big City, and dropped their only album, The City Never Sleeps, that same year. For fans of the group, the rapping shouldn’t be a surprise (sample lyric: “Ayo this cat put a scratch on my grey BM/It brought the devil out I mean like Damien/I took his ass straight to the ATM/I whipped a crowbar to his cranium”). There’s still a general Beatnuts swag about it, with jovial melodic loops, but they try a few new ideas, like the Down South concept cut “Boy.” Or what sounds like a Cor Anglais sample on “MILF (Miss Juice Goose)”—a laundry list of mothers they…you get the idea. A few of the beats go in an unexpected direction, like “However It Go,” which toddles around over a series of oddball effects.

Album: El Niño (1998)

Everyone remembers Blackout!, Method Man and Redman’s classic collaboration/side project, because the two had an unbeatable chemistry and the right balance of star power. It even had a sequel. Sad to say, but it doesn’t look like there’s about to be any El Niño 2. Although there was an unquestionable chemistry between the three rappers—after all, Redman debuted on an EPMD album, and Keith Murray was introduced to the world on Sermon’s solo debut. There was also a bit of a charisma imbalance. Redman was on the verge of becoming one of hip-hop’s biggest names, and where Meth and Red had complementary star power, Def Squad felt a bit lopsided. Nonetheless, they did a kickass cover of “Rapper’s Delight” called “Def Squad Delight,” and their sole album included some great production from Erick Sermon, whose late-’90s output has never really received the respect that it deserves.

Albums: In Thugz We Trust (2004), Thug Lordz Trilogy (2006), and Thug Money (2010)

If you’re not tuned in to old Cali street rap or G-Unit beef, and remember Yukmouth primarily as one of the “I Got 5 on It” guys, then there’s a whole wormhole you can dive into right now to follow this stuff to the core. Alternately, you can just check out the recorded output of Thug Lordz. We recommend this path. Two Cali rappers who made their biggest impact in the ’90s, gangster icons C-Bo and Yukmouth first united for 2004’s In Thugz We Trust, which reportedly did a rock-solid 30,000 copies without radio. If you miss the G-Unit era, but are cool with brutal G-Unit diss tracks like “He Ain’t a Thug,” it’s worth investigating. The duo’s remake of Spice 1’s “Trigger Gots No Heart” (“Killa Cali”) was an album highlight, and sparked a sequel, which also incorporated Spice 1 into the lineup. Their 2010 record also has its moments, especially “Wake Up,” which is their collaboration with the Jacka and a scratchy-voiced European hook singer named Mr. Probz. In turn, he just so happens to have one of the biggest house records in the world right now with “Waves (Robin Schulz Remix).”

Albums: Waves (2000) and Waves II (2003)

Love Daft Punk but already plumbed the depths of their discography? There’s a lot more to be found. Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo both released numerous records on 12” and CD under different names. One of the biggest Daft Punk records wasn’t a Daft Punk record at all—it was by Bangalter alias Stardust, and it was called “Music Sounds Better With You.” Homem-Christo, meanwhile, bankrolled a whole label called Crydamoure with co-owner Éric Chedeville. They released Daft Punk-style filter disco house records. Le Knight Club was an alias for the two label owners, and their catalog—while never compiled in album form—is worth hunting down. While “Soul Bells” is probably their most celebrated record, it’s also worth digging for “Doggystyle,” which, instead of filtering disco, flips the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” The two Waves compilations, which put together the best releases by the label, are definitely worth hunting down.

Albums: Sweetback (1996) and Stage 2 (2004)

After the world-conquering Love Deluxe tour of ’94, Sade Adu took a break from the recording industry. The rest of Sade—Stuart Matthewman, Andrew Hale, and Paul Denman—started working on new projects. Matthewman dropped some house singles using his alter egos Edge Test and Cottonbelly before getting involved in another side project—Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite. But the trio of Matthewman, Hale, and Denman began working on a record as Sweetback as well, named for Melvin Van Peebles’ 1971 film. Working with Amel Larrieux, then known for her work with Groove Theory, the group released the sensual “You Will Rise.” The sound on their debut jumps around a bit—“Au Natural” incorporates Bahamadia, and sounds like someone thought Digable Planets weren’t quite bohemian enough. But it’s effective, coffee house jams in the best possible sense.

Albums: The Psycho Realm (1997), A War Story Book I (1999), and A War Story Book II (2003)

Although the Gonzalez brothers Sick Jacken and Big Duke were rapping as the Psycho Realm prior to B-Real’s involvement—they released their debut single, “Scandalous,” on the Mi Vida Loca soundtrack in 1994—it was only after B-Real jumped on board in the wake of his group’s temporary breakup that they released their self-titled debut album in ’97. Produced by the brothers, along with B-Real and Cypress Hill percussionist Bo-Bo, The Psycho Realm was a bad trip in a good sense, a psychedelic rap record in a Cypress Hill vein, like Eazy-E’s “Down to tha Last Roach” blown out to album length. Flows were elastic, and beats were grim and gritty, an immersive experience that, at times, sounded like a West Coast Latino version of the Boot Camp Clik.

Album: Dat’s How It Happen To’M (2002)

DJ Paul and Juicy J have had plenty of side projects, from the Prophet Posse to Tear Da Club Up Thugz, but perhaps none are as underrated as Da Headbussaz—a group made up of the Mafia’s core members and one of the most talented rappers to ever grace the No Limit roster, Mr. Whomp Whomp himself, Fiend. The three had great chemistry, as Fiend’s growling, unpredictable energy bounced between Paul and J’s more controlled, forceful flows. From Project Pat’s perfect chorus on “U See We Poe” to the agro bongo-driven “Ruffest Niggaz Out,” Da Headbussaz was one of the Hypnotized camp’s most underrated records and deserves credit. Of course, the group’s next big release would be Da Unbreakables, which broke them to a whole new audience.

Albums: Mobstability (1998) and Mobstability II: Nation Business (2008)

Just a decade between albums, no big deal. The Speedknot Mobstaz was Twista’s group, and their debut album is widely considered a classic record, at least in Chicago. Although the upbeat “In Your World” appeared on the Dr. Doolittle soundtrack, the group never quite crossed over. But the first Mobstability album is still one of the most underrated regional rap classics of its era. The album went gold, despite only having one single pushed nationally. It was produced entirely by Legendary Traxster, who was extending his reign as one of the nation’s most distinctive producers after the success of Do or Die and Twista’s Adrenaline Rush. The slick “Legit Ballers” was a particularly pristine song, each surface cool and metallic. The album also includes ferocious Bone Thugs diss record “Crook County,” in which Twista raps at a furious tempo about the group’s “mumbling R&B” and suggests Bone Thugs will “see Eazy-E soon.” The group’s latter album isn’t quite classic material, but it’s got some joints. One latter-day record worth seeking out in particular is the otherworldly “Out My Body.”

Album: The Family (1985)

Prince always had side projects, from Vanity Six to Morris Day and the Time. The Family is primarily known today because their Prince-written record “Nothing Compares 2 U” became one of the biggest songs on earth when performed by Sinead O’Connor. The group was formed when Morris Day and Jesse Johnson decided to leave the Time and pursue solo careers. Prince renamed the group the Family, and they released one album together (at least, until a reunion more than 25 years later). It featured Prince’s first incorporation of a string section courtesy of composer Clare Fischer, which was evident on underrated single “The Screams of Passion,” a fun and funky record that sounds like it’s moving at a few different tempos at once. It would end up on the Girl 6 soundtrack a decade later. The album it was culled from was already out of print.

Album: Dancing for Mental Health (1983)

A strange curiosity in the history of music, Will Powers’ Dancing for Mental Health was the product of Lynn Goldsmith, a photographer who brought together a bunch of her celebrity musician friends to release a self-help record that also happened to be musically awesome. In reality, it was making fun of self-help records, really—songs like “Kissing With Confidence,” which featured the talents of Nile Rodgers, Todd Rundgren, and Steve Winwood, boasted lyrics like: “These worries are best cleared from the mind by the romance chant method, a technique which will also place your lips naturally in kissing position” (followed by a chant in Spanish). Luckily, the music is really pretty amazing, especially if you’re a fan of early ’80s disco/new wave crossover records like those of Tom Tom Club or the Talking Heads.