Urban Dance Squad

• Genre: Funk Rock
• Hometown: Amsterdam

About

Hi, kids! Want to take a brief walk through history? Urban Dance Squad (UDS) smashed together funk, rap, metal and loopy turntablism to create a distinctive sound. All this was achieved during the prehistory of Rapcore with the release of Mental Floss for the Globe (1990). It proved to be a genre-blurring album that was many things: fun, goofy, and occasionally preachy, with great ear-candy arrangements, bluesy slide guitars and expert scratching. The wonderfully groovy, slinky single "Deeper Shade of Soul" made a dent in Billboard's Hot 100, charting in at No. 21. But this auspicious beginning marked the end of their affair with stateside success. That single along with the insanely catchy "No Kid," (also from Mental Floss) proved UDS were in step with Beck's yet-to-be-released Post-Modern Pop anthems -- just as Persona Non Grata (1994) revealed their penchant for bracing Funk Metal. So close your books, grab your headphones and show appropriate appreciation for Urban Dance Squad's superb musicianship and wild imagination. Who says show-and-tell is boring.

- Will Lerner