Sheek Louch
Sheek Louch is a rapper whose real name is Sean Divine Jacobs. Yes, his middle name is Divine. He has some other nicknames too, those being Donnie Def Jam and Donnie G. What does the G stand for? Not a clue. We'll just assume is stands for "gangsta." Mr. Louch is a member of the rap group The LOX, which no one has heard anything from in the last 10 years or so.
If you think you are going to find any useful information on Sheek Louch on Wikipedia, think again. His page was obviously written by some fan or member of his "posse" since it's very opinionated and poorly written. It basically says he's one of the best rappers ever, which is a blatant lie. I'm not saying he's bad, he's just not on anyone's radar. Most people have never even heard of him despite that he has been around for several years.
Sheek Louch is best known for being a member of The LOX. He has also released a solo album called Walk witt Me, which was apparently overlooked by spell checkers. This album was released through the LOX's D-Block record label. According to the Wikipedia article, Louch "goes hard" and stuff like that no matter what he does. We'll have to take their word for it.
The LOX
Sheek Louch is one-third of the rap group The LOX. The other members are Jadakiss and Styles P. They started off signed to Bad Boy Records with Sean "Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy, Puffy" Combs. Later on they left Bad Boy and joined the Ruff Ryders before starting their own record label. They are expected to return to Bad Boy Records sometime in 2011. All of this sounds like something out of pro wrestling.
The trio of rappers started out in Yonkers, New York, where they are from. In high school they started a rap group called "The Bomb Squad," though they never actually diffused any live bombs. Instead, they did shows and put out demo tapes. Later they changes their name to "The Warlocks" and kept putting out underground mix tapes and getting more fans with their rough style and telling it like it is on the street. These streets are real, in case you didn't know. Mary J. Blige soon heard about the group and sent one of their tapes to Sean Combs, CEO of Bad Boy. He signed them to a record deal and they changed their name to The L.O.X., which apparently stands for Living Off eXperience. Sure thing, fellas.
They started to go mainstream in 1996 after collaborating on the Life After Death Album and on a tribute song to the Notorious B.I.G. This was after Biggie got shot and everyone acted like a political figure had been assassinated. He just got shot. Though he was a great rapper and is probably rolling in his grave at what has become of rap today. Puff Diddly is a big part of the crap that rap has become, but that's just my opinion, and so happens to be the right one.
The LOX appeared on other tracks with Mase, Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez. In 1999, the group became unhappy with the way their careers were going with Bad Boy Records, so they demanded to be released from their contract. They then joined The Ruff Ryders so they could continue to express their views in their records, which was good for them since Ruff Ryders focused a lot more on hardcore rap music. Bad Boy was more about hip hop dance songs that were popular for radio play. They also made expensive and flashy music videos. The LOX just wanted to do their hardcore style of rap, so Ruff Ryder Entertainment was the better option for them and their image.
The LOX did what they could to legally get out of their contract, but nothing has worked. So, they decided to go public with the news and started campaigning for them to be let go by Bad Boy. Fans started getting behind them and their quest to be set free. Eventually, Bad Boy finally agreed to let them go from their agreement and all was good. Now that they got out of their contract, other groups would not be afraid to speak up when unhappy. Because it's just a contract, after all. It's not like it means anything. Pro athletes do it all the time too. They sign a long term deal and suddenly become unhappy and want to leave. Maybe they shouldn't have signed a contract so long to begin with if they thought they might not be happy later on. No one is forcing people to put their signatures on these things, especially since they are worth so much money.
Even though they fought hard to get out of Bad Boy, the group had a meeting with the Diddy guy in 2009 about possibly coming back to the label. As of 2011, it looks as if the group will be re-signing with Bad Boy. At this point it doesn't really seem to matter anymore. Record labels were the big thing back in the late 90s, but no one really cares about them anymore. If the LOX want to keep making hardcore rap, then that's great. They just won't get any mainstream recognition because all of that attention goes to the cookie cutter acts that we hear on the radio every day. Whatever is dance friendly and appealing to the tweens is what makes the most money these days. Raps don't have to be good at all. Look at all the crappy "rappers" out there that have zero talent yet still manage to become big successes. Even trash like Kesha can get famous for doing practically nothing, and she's barely even hot.
The biggest surprise about the LOX is that they are still in existence. Most rap groups fizzle out after a few years because of infighting or the fact that they aren't any good. The LOX have managed to stay together somehow. Sheek Louch must be happy about that. I still don't know who Sheek Louch is.
