Tunnel Rats (music group)
| Tunnel Rats | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | T.R.'z |
| Origin | Whittier, California |
| Genres | Christian hip hop, West Coast hip hop, underground hip hop |
| Years active | 1993–present (on hiatus) |
| Labels | Brainstorm, Thump, Uprok |
| Associated acts | The Battery, Future Shock, Footsoldiers, Foundation, The Inklings, LPG, New Breed, Resistance, Theresa Jones |
| Members | Ahred a.k.a. Redbonz, Ajax Starglider, Dax, Dert, Dokument, Elsie, Griffin, Jurny Big, Macho, Peace 586, Propaganda, Raphi (a.k.a. Shames Worthy), Sev Statik, Soujourn, Trey Qel Drama, Triune, Zane |
| Past members | Donovan, Jamie, Jerms |
Tunnel Rats is a West Coast underground hip hop collective founded in 1993 in Whittier, California. Named after the tunnel rats in the Vietnam war, the mixed-gender, multi-racial collective consists of some seventeen individual members and incorporates four affiliated groups, LPG, Future Shock, Foundation, and New Breed, which have recorded both within Tunnel Rats and independently. Several members also formed two additional side-projects, Footsoldiers and The Resistance, which recorded one album in 2006 and collaborated with KRS-One. Pioneers in the Christian hip hop genre, Tunnel Rats often met with resistance from church leaders who disliked the collective's aggressive style and felt that Tunnel Rats praised their rapping skills more than glorifying God. In the early 2000s, the East Coast group The Cross Movement likewise criticized Tunnel Rats, claiming it did not place enough emphasis on the Gospel. Due to a high number of Mexicans in the collective, Tunnel Rats also encountered racism when performing in the South. Despite these hardships, Tunnel Rats managed to garner critical acclaim and significantly impacted the Christian hip hop movement. The collective has released four albums, plus numerous additional recordings from its affiliated groups and individual members. Though currently on hiatus, Tunnel Rats has not disbanded, according to a statement by member Peace 586.
The Tunnel Rats formed after rapper Dax Reynosa performed at a graffiti equipment store Hex's Hip Hop Shop. After the performance, he invited about two dozen rappers to his house for an open mic. The performers came from racially diverse backgrounds, a mix of Latinos, whites, and blacks, groups which Reynosa says did not always get along then. Among the standout performers that night were Reynosa's cousin Jurny Big, his sister Zane One, the four-member group Future Shock (consisting of Ahred a.k.a. Redbonz, Ajax Starglider, Sojourn, and DJ Trey-Qel), and Shames Worthy (a.k.a. Raphi), all of whom came together to form the Tunnel Rats. Reynosa was inspired to name the group "Tunnel Rats" after his father, who served in the Vietnam War as a tunnel rat. Ahred, a member of Future Shock, stated in an interview that "We just put a name to it and called it Tunnel Rats. In Vietnam, the tunnel rats were the guys who went underground to make sure that the tunnels were clear so the soldiers could go through. We considered ourselves as those guys going first to make the way clear for people to go after us." Reynosa recounts that "we never believed that we were called to emcee or rap, never. We were called to minister."
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