New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Wu-Tang Official Website) - First there were four, then they became six, and back to four again, and lately reduced to just two. When one thinks of
Black Knights, the names that mostly come to mind would be that of say Rugged Monk and Crisis The Sharp Shooter. Not that the rest were not equally as popular but mainly because these are the remaining Knights still flying that flagship and having another new generation of MC's with them in what appears to be an invasion of Westcoast Killa Beez.
The Black Knights were composed of four forward-thinking individuals: Crisis The Sharpshooter, The Rugged Monk, Holocaust aka Warcloud, and Doc Doom (R.I.P). The Black Knights first formed in 1995 as young teenagers coming primarily from Long Beach and Compton and then teaming up with Wu-Tang's very own RZA in 1997. RZA initially put them together with their allies Northstar (Meko The Pharaoh and Christ Bearer) to form Black Knights of the Northstar and introduced them to the world as the first Westcoast Killa Beez to ever be associated with the Wu-Tang. Their explosive talent and professional associations have led to 3 national tours and extensive key appearances on 3 Platinum and Gold selling albums including Wu-Tang Killa Bees Swarm and Bobby Digital. They have worked with names such as George Clinton, System of a Down, Kam, Kurupt, Battlecat, J-Wells, Killarmy, various Wu-Tang producers and artists, just to name a few.
The Knights and Northstar continued to make music together but as separate groups within a family unit. The Knights have at least completed about four projects that remain unreleased to date, their first debut was meant to come out via Loud/Wu-Tang records in 2001 but was shelved due to label folding. Taking matters into their own hands, the group released the album "Every Knight Is A Black Knight" independently via their own imprint Black Ball'd Entertainment and sold more than 15,000 copies worldwide without any distribution, or mainstream promotions. Unfortunately the group lost Doc Doom around 2007 and with Warcloud focusing mainly on his solo and side projects, Crisis and Monk continued making music, touring and gaining new fans and associates whilst they were at it.
The Black Knights are aware of their skills and are now taking steps to fulfil their potential, Crisis and Monk naturally seek to open peoples' eyes and to make the best in any life situation and their music achieves that in a way that has gotten thousands of albums sold without any financial support, managed to get clothing deal, their own label with talented roster of artists. They are still one of RZA's favourite groups to date and still repping that Double W, as in West coast and Wu-tang. Their forthcoming album "All Skillz, No Luck" which features their Wu comrades (RZA, Prodigal Sunn, Beretta 9 etc) and other giants such as WC, Truth Hurts etc is a testament to their skills, endurance, relevance and longevity within the rap game.
RZA planted the seeds in 1997, these seeds grew, became full trees and are now planting their own seeds, four years ago there were only a handful of Westcoast Killa Beez, and in 2008 to date via Northstar and mostly Black Knights the world has come to know about talents such as Dexter Wiggle, The Committee, Indovizualz, Yellow Jackets and many many more stretching beyond the Westcoast to the East and even globally to Europe, United Kingdom. Wu-International has decided to dedicate a whole interview series to the Beez the world never saw coming, This month and the next we will be covering news, music and exclusive interviews from the best the west has to offer. It is only fitting to set it off with the forefathers (even though still young) and foundation of the Westcoast Killa Beez, Wu-International presents... Black Knights "All Skillz No Luck" Interview. Its The Knights or Nothin'..... Enjoy!!
