Fu-Schnickens was composed of Chip Fu (Roderick Roachford), Moc Fu (Joe Jones), and Poc Fu (Lennox Maturine). Fu stood for unity and schnicken was a made-up word that meant coalition. The three friends from East Flatbush, Brooklyn, first gained attention after performing at a hip hop event at Howard University, after which the group was signed by Jive Records. The group’s debut single, “Ring the Alarm,” hit the top ten on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart in 1992, which sparked anticipation for the group’s debut album, F.U. Don’t Take It Personal, and also inadvertently immortalized and ignited a new-found popularity for the original “Ring the Alarm,” the signature tune of dancehall reggae singjay Tenor Saw from 1985, which the group sampled to create its track of the same name. Furthermore, with the hit singles “La Schmoove” (featuring Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest) and “True Fu-Schnick,” the album reached the top 20 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certified for gold-level sales by the RIAA.