A Lighter Shade of Brown (LSOB) was a Mexican American

Mexican American

Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...

 hip hop

Hip hop

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

 duo from Riverside, California

Riverside, California

Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...

 best known for their 1990 hit single "On a Sunday Afternoon", a success in the U.S., written by songwriters/musicians David Dunson & Micah Carson.

History

LSOB was formed in 1990 by One Dope Mexican (Robert Gutierrez) and Don't Try To Xerox (Bobby Ramirez). They recorded demos and landed a record deal soon after with small independent label Pump. Their debut album, 1990's "Brown and Proud," brought the group their lone Top 40 single in the U.S. with "On A Sunday Afternoon," which contained samples of The Young Rascals' 1967 hit "Groovin'

Groovin'

"Groovin" is a single released in 1967 by The Young Rascals that became a number-one hit and one of the group's signature songs.Written by group members Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati and with a lead vocal from Cavaliere, it is indeed a slow, relaxed groove, based on Cavaliere's newfound...

 " and Tommy James and the Shondells' 1969 hit "Crystal Blue Persuasion

Crystal Blue Persuasion

"Crystal Blue Persuasion" is a 1969 song originally recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells and composed by Eddie Gray, Tommy James and Mike Vale....

" and peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. The song also went to #1 for 2 weeks in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

The duo provided songs for Latino-market movies such as Mi Vida Loca

Mi Vida Loca

Mi Vida Loca is a 1993 American drama film directed and written by Allison Anders. This film includes Jason Lee's first performance as an actor in a small role alongside director Spike Jonze as a drug buyer....

and I Like It Like That following the release of their second LP, 1992's '"Hip Hop Locos," which failed to chart. The success of "Sunday Afternoon" nonetheless resulted in Mercury Records

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

 signing the group and releasing their third disc, Layin' in the Cut, in 1994. The record did not sell as well as was hoped, peaking at #184 on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 albums chart. LSOB went on a temporary hiatus, returning in 1997 on indie with Danny "Dice" and Eric "Bajo" Thump Records

Thump Records

Thump Records is a record label specialized in freestyle music, Latin music and hip hop music. They are probably best known for their rap and R&B Old School compilations, as well as their Low Rider compilations.-Artists on Thump Records:* Adolfo...

. Their self-titled fourth album featured guest appearances from Rappin' 4-Tay

Rappin' 4-Tay

Anthony Forté , better known by his stage name Rappin' 4-Tay, is an American rapper from the Fillmore District of San Francisco, California.-Music career:...

 and Dwayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Toné!

Tony! Toni! Toné!

Tony! Toni! Toné! is an American Soul/R&B group from Oakland, California, popular during the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s. During the band's heyday, it was composed of D'wayne Wiggins on lead vocals and guitar, his brother Raphael Saadiq on lead vocals and bass, and their cousin Timothy...

.

1999 marked the last of their releases, including a greatest hits album and a non-charting single, "Sunny Day." That year, Gutierrez became a DJ at San Bernardino radio station KGGI

KGGI

KGGI is a commercial radio station in Riverside, California, broadcasting to the Riverside-San Bernardino, California area on 99.1 FM. The station airs a Rhythmic Top 40 music format owned by Clear Channel Communications....

.

Discography

Year	Title	Label	US R&B Chart	US Top 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
1990	Brown & Proud Brown & Proud Brown & Proud is the debut album by Latin rap group, A Lighter Shade of Brown. It was released in 1990 for Pump Records and was produced by Jammin' James Carter, Fabe Love, DJ Romeo, and Tony G. The album peaked at #184 on the Billboard 200 and #8 on the Top Heatseekers...	Quality Quality Records Quality Records is a Canadian entertainment company which released music albums in Canada on behalf of American record labels, and also released recordings by Canadian artists... /Mercury Mercury Records Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...	-	184
1992	Hip Hop Locos Hip Hop Locos Hip Hop Locos is the second studio album by A Lighter Shade of Brown. It was released in 1992 for Quality Records and featured production from Romeo, DTTX, Stan Jones, Jessie "Toothie" Lars, Jason Roberts and Angelo "Stone" Trotter IV. Hip Hop Locos was not a success, only peaking at #87 on the Top...	Quality Quality Records Quality Records is a Canadian entertainment company which released music albums in Canada on behalf of American record labels, and also released recordings by Canadian artists... /Mercury Mercury Records Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...	87	-
1994	Layin' in the Cut Layin' in the Cut Layin' in the Cut is the third studio album by A Lighter Shade of Brown. It was released on July 26, 1994 for Mercury Records and was produced by Jammin' James Carter, DTTX, Robert Gutierrez, Romeo and Stoker. Layin' in the Cut would prove to be the duo's most successful on the Billboard charts,...	Mercury Mercury Records Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...	54	169
1997	A Lighter Shade of Brown A Lighter Shade of Brown (album) A Lighter Shade of Brown is the self-titled fourth studio album by A Lighter Shade of Brown. It was released on November 18, 1997 for Thump Records and was produced by Captain Rapp, James Carter, Chris Charles and Ali Malik...	Thump Thump Records Thump Records is a record label specialized in freestyle music, Latin music and hip hop music. They are probably best known for their rap and R&B Old School compilations, as well as their Low Rider compilations.-Artists on Thump Records:* Adolfo...	-	-
1999	If You Could See Inside Me If You Could See Inside Me If You Could See Inside Me is the fifth and final studio album by A Lighter Shade of Brown. It was released on August 10, 1999, for Associated Records and was produced by DTTX, Julio G, Tony G...	Thump Thump Records Thump Records is a record label specialized in freestyle music, Latin music and hip hop music. They are probably best known for their rap and R&B Old School compilations, as well as their Low Rider compilations.-Artists on Thump Records:* Adolfo...	-	-
1999	Greatest Hits Greatest Hits (A Lighter Shade of Brown album) Greatest Hits is a compilation album, the sixth and thus far final album released by A Lighter Shade of Brown. It was released on October 19, 1999 for Thump Records and was produced and arranged by DJ Rectangle, Pebo Rodriguez and Bill Walker....	Thump Thump Records Thump Records is a record label specialized in freestyle music, Latin music and hip hop music. They are probably best known for their rap and R&B Old School compilations, as well as their Low Rider compilations.-Artists on Thump Records:* Adolfo...	-	-

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions			Album
		Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	US Hot Hip-Hop & R&B Singles	US Hot Rap Singles
1990	"Latin Active"	59	-	-	Brown & Proud
	"On a Sunday Afternoon" (feat.Shiro Shiro -Pronounced "shiro":When a Japanese term is pronounced , it may refer to:, the Japanese term for the color white, a Japanese term for a castle, a Japanese term for generation...  and Huggy Boy)	39	-	-
1992	"Homies"	57	54	13	Hip Hop Locos
1994	"Hey DJ Hey DJ "Hey! DJ" is a song by the World's Famous Supreme Team. Writing is credited to Larry Price, Malcolm McLaren, Ronald Larkins Jr. and Stephen Hague. Released on 12" in 1984 on Island Records, there were three mixes included... "	43	67	18	Layin' in the Cut
	"If You Wanna Groove" (feat.Novelist)	-	-	45

External links

• Lighter Shade of Brown ILike Music Page