Original Flavor

One of rap's middle school crews headed by Ski, an MC/producer, Original Flavor dropped their inauspicious debut This Is How It Is in 1992. Although Ski worked with legendary New York DJ Clark Kent for the project, the album fizzled unceremoniously. For their follow-up, producer-in-training Ski enlisted the aid of a few more MCs including T-Strong, Chubby Chub, and a young Brooklynite with some experience in the rap field, Jay-Z. Jay-Z had worked with fellow Brooklynite Big Jaz on the track "Hawaiian Sophie" and the two were commonly referred to as Jaz and Jay-Z.