Natural Elements (rap)
| Natural Elements | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | N.E. |
| Origin | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Years active | 1993-present |
| Labels | Kings Link, Fortress Entertainment |
| Associated acts | Charlemagne, Dante Pachino, Essence, Raidermen, Nightbreed, DJ Premier, Northeast Wildcats, Scram Jones, I.G Nexus, Kenny Diaz |
| Members | L Swift, A-Butta, Mr. Voodoo |
| Past members | Charlemagne, KA, Howie Smalls, The InTIMidator, G-Blass |
Natural Elements are an underground hip hop group from New York City, active since 1993.
Brought together in 1993 under the direction of Charlemagne, Natural Elements began as a group consisting of solo artists Mr. Voodoo, L Swift, Ka, Howie Smalls, G-Blass, and the InTIMidator. In 1994, Natural Elements dropped its first 12" with "The EP" which was produced by Charlemagne under Fortress Entertainment. L Swift and Mr. Voodoo received the most attention initially and by 1995, A Butta joined the group and officially Natural Elements condensed into its modern day trio.
After reforming the group into what was now the official Natural Elements, Mr. Voodoo, L Swift, and A-Butta began to record tracks together. With Charlemagne, their original goal before pursuing a major label was to build up Fortress Entertainment. As a side project, A-Butta and L Swift formed the duo "2Face", and released "NYC/Hey Hey Hey" under Blind Side Recordings in 1996. Natural Elements became an NYC underground hip-hop sensation with their presence on DJ Premier's "Reality Check 101", and appearances on radio shows. They became known for their incredible freestyles and their uncanny ability to flow one after another and finish each other's sentences, sometimes trading bars back to back like old school rap groups used to do. This rhyme style was taught to them by Charlemagne and can still be heard in group tracks today. They became most famously recognized for their appearances on the Stretch and Bobbito Show, "The Underground Railroad", and The Halftime Show on New York University Radio. The group put out its first 12-inch in 1997 under Dolo Records with "Bust Mine" and "Paper Chase" which were also produced by Charlemagne.
During this time, rappers were beginning to get fed up with the lack of creative control given to the artists by their record labels. An indie rap movement began to flourish with Rawkus Records at the helm. Eventually, Natural Elements acquired a record deal with a major label, Tommy Boy Records. In 1998, N.E. released their first single "2 Tons/Live It Up" under their indie division called Tommy Boy Black Label. All three members put out various solo work, but no official albums were ever released as Tommy Boy dropped them soon after due to issues between the group and label. The Natural Elements debut album which was due to release was then shelved in spite of the hype it accumulated. In an interview, Mr. Voodoo stated "The Tommy Boy situation was hectic. We was suppose [sic] to have an album put out in 1999. First, halfway through the album our A&R was fired. We still were still on and finished the album but they kept sitting on it. We were like let us go but give us our masters. So we got 'em. A whole fuckin album that no one may ever hear." An unfinished and unofficial copy of the album with assorted songs eventually leaked onto the Internet, and thus received mixed reviews. The group eventually took a small hiatus and disbanded due to personal issues.
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