When Afrika Islam’s DJ gig at The Roxy evolved into hosting Zulu Beats, the first ever hip hop show on FM radio, he invited fellow Zulu King B-Boy Donald D to freestyle over his beats. Tapes of the show spread across the US and eventually as far as Europe. That’s when Vincent Davis (Vintertainment Records) approached Donald with an offer to sign him and DJ Chuck Chillout as The B-Boys.

They released three singles in 1983 that have been sampled hundreds of times by artists including Britney Spears, The Prodigy, Massive Attack, De La Soul and The Beastie Boys. After a short stint with Original Mark being added to the group, Donald asked Brother B to join the group, and two more singles followed in 1985, but things were changing at Vintertainment:

We were supposed to record a full album. Joeski Love came to the label and he recorded the ‘Pee Wee Dance’ and the song became big. Vincent Davis kinda forgot about us … We were having problems, Brother B started stressing out and did his own thing … I was looking for something else to do.

After releasing an indie solo single in 1987, Donald was invited by Afrika Islam and Ice-T to be a member of the collective Rhyme Syndicate. “FBI”, his first single from his 1989 debut album Notorious on Rhyme $yndicate Records, was a top 10 hit on the US Rap Chart. His sophomore album dropped in 1991 and “I’m Gonna Smoke Him” was featured in the 1992 film Trespass.

Chillout was recruited to DJ on New York’s WRKS “Kiss FM” on Friday nights around the same time he was in The B-Boys, bringing hip hop to the masses throughout the rest of the decade. He also produced songs for Dismaster Crew, Deuces Wild and Kam, participated on two tracks on Run DMC’s seminal King Of Rock album, and remixed Public Enemy’s “Night of the Living Baseheads”. In the 1990s, he hosted the popular New York hip hop video show Video Music Box, then brought hip hop music to masses in Japan as a radio DJ there.

On July 18, 2011, The B-Boys, as Chillout, Donald D and Brother B, did a reunion show in London alongside Captain Rock, Newcleus and Arthur Baker.