Black Sheep is a hip-hop duo who were most popular in the '90s. The duo consists of rapper Dres and producer and rapper Mista Lawnge. They were a part of the Native Tongues supergroup, which included Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and more.
Black Sheep’s biggest hit, “The Choice Is Yours (Revisited),” is a classic for listeners across generations. They most recently performed it at A GRAMMY Salute to Hip Hop, which aired December 10, 2023. The track comes from their debut album, A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing. This album included several successful singles, including “Flavor of the Month” and “Strobelite Honey.” Just earlier this year, Lola Brooke sampled the classic song for her track "Just Relax.” Here is a look at what Black Sheep has been up to over the years.
Black Sheep released albums in 1991 and 1994. However, they hit the dreaded “sophomore slump” with their second project, Non-Fiction, which was not critically or commercially successful. The duo disbanded shortly after this release.
Their next album, 8WM/Novakane, would not be released until 2006. Duo member Mister Lawnge made some appearances on the album, but Dres is considered the only member of Black Sheep. An instrumental version of their debut, A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing, was released in 2010. Tortured Soul , which was an album and mixtape released by Dres, released in 2018.
What Black Sheep Member Dres Been Up To
Dres of Black Sheep has remained active musically and socially. He released solo music and appeared on songs in 1999 and 2000. He also appeared on the lead single from the 2011 Slaughterhouse EP. Later, he formed a duo with A Tribe Called Quest member Jarobi called Evitan, which is Native spelled backward. The duo’s name pays homage to their supergroup, Native Tongues. They released a project in 2012 called Speed of Life, with their most recent output being a remix of a track called “Mad Men," released in 2022. Dres continues to be a prominent figure in the music space, regularly posting on his social media accounts and appearing at various hip hop-centric events.
Further, Dres’ announcement from earlier this year has his day-one fans getting quite excited. “This particular project is a D&D project — Dilla & Dres. Through the blessing of Ma Dukes and my man Tony, I've been allowed to visit a sacred land," he shared during the Induction Ceremony into Washington D. C.’s National Hip Hop Museum. The album has no release date at this time. Footage from the making of this album - among other moments - is included in his new documentary titled The Choice is Yours. It chronicles Dres’s life as a hip hop icon and is available to stream now on Paramount+.
What Former Black Sheep Member Mista Lawnge Has Been Up To
Mista Lawnge of Black Sheep has not been active musically for quite a while. During the sessions for 8WM/Novakane, Mista Lawnge was working on a secret album titled The Class of ‘89. The project seemed to stem from spite since Dres suggested Mista Lawnge work with other producers. This was not something he wanted to do. The fact Dres found out about it via their publicist only strained their relationship even more and ended it altogether. Mista Lawnge returned to the public spotlight in 2020 with a talk show on YouTube called Guess Who’s Talking. On it, he interviewed guests from a myriad of different avenues. However, only three episodes of the show are available on YouTube.
What The Duo Has Been Up To Together
Sources say Black Sheep were supposed to reunite for a tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut project in 2016. According to these sources, they announced the tour across their social media, but it never materialized into actually happening.
The tour would have reunited the members and lined up well with their fellow Native Tongues group members, A Tribe Called Quest, who dropped their final album that same year. Despite the duo's disbanding, their coming together to perform at the Grammys Hip-Hop Tribute show - and Dres posting a picture of them together in April of this year - gives listeners hope that things may have changed.
Black Sheep has, unfortunately, had legal issues with streaming services. The duo sued Universal Media Group (UMG) earlier this year for “unlawfully lowering its artists' royalty payments from Spotify as part of an ‘undisclosed, sweetheart deal’ for shares in the streaming service in 2008.” Unfortunately, their case was dismissed in November of this year for two reasons, one being uniquely frustrating - they took too long to do it.
Also, the judge ruled “Black Sheep could not support its remaining claims for underpaid royalties dating from 2021, finding in part that the contract gave the label ‘sole discretion’ over how to distribute its music.” It seems label troubles have been affecting artists throughout the years, no matter what generation they come from.
What's your favorite memory of Black Sheep? Let us know in the comments section.