The Spooks
–—
| Spooks | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Genres | Hip-hop |
| Years active | 1994-2005 |
| Labels | Artemis, Antra, Koch, Epic |
| Members |
(at disbandment) Booka-T Hypno Ming-Xia Joe Davis |
| Past members | Water Water (1995-2003), deceased |
Spooks was an American hip-hop/R&B group, active in the late 1990s. The members of the group got together in 1994, taking their name from the novel by Sam Greenlee, The Spook Who Sat By The Door.[1][2] After attaining success throughout Europe with their album S.I.O.S.O.S., Vol. 1, Spooks garnered a hit with the single, "Things I've Seen" (featured in the Laurence Fishburne film Once in the Life). Water-Water left the group before their second album Faster Than You Know, and died in a car accident in September 2003, days before the album's release.[3] The group disbanded soon afterwards, with little heard from the members since. In 2009 Ming Xia appeared on Chali 2na's Fish Outta Water. The Spooks were discovered by Philadelphia Hip-Hop Legend "Parry P" He was also the one who signed them to the Antra Records. Where he was the Vice President of A&R.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT | BEL Gold | DEN Gold | FRA Gold | GER | NLD Gold | NZL | SWE Gold | SWI | UK Gold | |
| 2000 | S.I.O.S.O.S.
|
39 | 19 | 55 | 73 | 94 | 36 | 73 | 25 |
|
| 2003 | Faster Than You Know
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT | BEL | DEN | FIN | FRA | GER | IRE | ITA | NL | NOR | NZ | SWE | SWI | UK | |||
| 2000 | "Sweet Revenge" Number 5 on the RnB charts in on the East coast of the U.S. | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 67 | S.I.O.S.O.S.Almost 2 million copies sold. |
| "Things I've Seen" Most played song in Europe that year. (Platinum Single). Number 11 hiphop track on U.S. RAP Singles charts. | 4 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 24 | 21 | 28 | 10 | 11 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 6 | ||
| 2001 | "Karma Hotel" One of the most played radio songs in Europe. | — | 34 | — | — | 55 | 83 | — | — | 65 | — | — | 48 | 78 | 15 | |
| "Yes" not released to radio. | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-Album Single | |
| "I Believe" non album single. | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | S.I.O.S.O.S. | |
| "Swindley's Maracas" not released to radio. | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003 | "Faster Than You Know" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 117 | Faster Than You Know |
| "Still Gonna Do It" not released to radio. | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Crazy" not released to radio. | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Change" not released to radio. | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Don't Be Afraid" not released to radio. | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
References
- ↑ "Work in progress", JD (Spooks), rapper - interview by Phelim O'Neill, The Guardian, 25 January 2001.
- ↑ "Spooks: Infiltrating Your Mind Through Music", Interview conducted by Todd E. Jones, MVRemix, 2004.
- ↑ Chris Nettleton, "Death of an MC" (on Water-Water's death), Drowned in Sound, 22 September 2003.
External links
- The Spooks on Allmusic
- The Spooks on imusic.am
- Spooks Biography
- http://www.last.fm/music/Spooks
- Ming-Xia's solo recordings
- Interview with Joe Davis and Booker T on drownedinsound.com
The Spook's Films