Hip Hop Icon Easy A.D. of the Legendary Cold Crush Brothers

A product of the “boogie-down Bronx” Easy A.D. was born in Fordham Hospital.  He attended South Bronx Public School 50 and starred as the basketball team's point guard and Captain. After graduating high school, he attended Lehman College majoring in Business Administration.

As a youth, A.D. frequented The Boys Club where he developed a keen sense of competitiveness, leadership skills, and work ethic. Along with the usual activities that included basketball, swimming, bumper pool, ping-pong, checkers, and chess, A.D. began writing rhymes.  A Boys Club staffer, A.D. and his friend Donald D decided to form a group called the As Salaam Brothers.  The group played at block parties, the Lambert Houses, the Dixie Club, the Boys and Girls Club, and house parties. The As Salaam Brothers disbanded in the summer of 1978.

A.D. and Donald tried out for another group but only Donald was picked up. So, A.D. took the next few months, to write rhymes and attend shows. A.D. met DJ Tony Tone who was putting together a group called The Cold Crush Brothers.  After A.D. was accepted into the group, there were a couple of lineup changes. Eventually, the group settled on DJs Tony Tone and Charlie Chase and MCs AD, Almighty KayGee, Grandmaster Caz and J.D.L. This is the group that became The Legendary Cold Crush Brothers.

Their seminal battles with the Fantastic Five and other iconic groups in the early '80s are still the stuff of legend in Hip Hop's history.

In the mid '80s, the Cold Crush Brothers were of the first Hip Hop groups to perform abroad, touring in Japan and later with Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force. They became known as "The Rolling Stones of Hip Hop" because of their unmatched energy while delivering their stage show.

Throughout the '80s and the '90s, the Cold Crush Brothers made many groundbreaking appearances: including the movie Wild Style and on singles with KRS-ONE, Chuck D, Doug E. Fresh and Terminator X.

Their shows have taken them to Madison Square Garden, Roseland, Harlem World Entertainment Complex, the Savoy Manor and the Brooklyn Museum. The group has performed with Doug E Fresh, Chuck D, LL Cool J, Run DMC, KRS-ONE, Luther Campbell,  Kid Capri, Red Alert, Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five, The Sugar Hill Gang, Big Daddy Kane, Jay-Z, The Roots, Fat Joe and O.D.B. of the Wu Tang Clan.

Television appearances include Live @ Five, MTV, Metro Live and Russell Simmons’ One World Music Beat. The Source and Vibe magazines have also featured the Cold Crush Brothers in their pages.

Outside of the group, A.D. partnered with KRS-ONE to help found the Temple of Hip Hop in 1999. He has also worked as the Youth Director at the Harlem YMCA for sixteen years.

In 2005, A.D. partnered with A-tone, the Hip Hop Historian to found Classic Hip Hop LLC.

A-tone, The Hip Hop Historian

Born in Lewes, Delaware, A-tone consciously became a practitioner of Hip-Hop at the age of 12 in 1981 after being introduced to audio tapes from the early days of Hip Hop. He honed his B-boy skills at local junior high schools and the Berlin Multi-Purpose Center on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Delaware. Progressing steadily, he won 2nd Place in a B-boy competition in Salisbury, MD in 1982.

During the early 80s, the Eastern Shore was burgeoning with different DJ crews that included: Disco Tizer, Force One, Grandmaster Funk, Omega Funk, Snead's Family Productions and many others. A-tone graduated from Indian River High School in Frankford, DE in 1987 and matriculated to Duke University.

During his college years, A-tone was originally known as Ant-Lïve, the Hip-Hop Historian because he always seemed to be able to pull little-known facts about Hip Hop Culture out during conversations. His "always-on" personality contributed to the "Lïve" in his name. While at Duke, he attended an African-American Dance History class in 1991 taught by Sally Sommer. She was impressed with A-tone's knowledge of the history of Breaking and was asked to participate in an Independent Study on Hip-Hop the following year.

During the 1992 Study, A-tone went to New York City and interviewed Crazy Legs, Easy A.D., Jazzy Jay and Grandmixer D.S.T. A-tone and A.D. became fast friends and continued to stay in contact with each other.

A-tone graduated in May of 1992 from Duke with a Bachelor's degree majoring in African-American Studies with a Concentration in Computer Science. Eager to expand on his cultural and technical knowledge after college, A-tone moved to Washington, DC and began work as a Computer Technician at the National Endowment for the Arts. Soon after his move in May, 1992, A-tone expressed interest to Crazy Legs in starting a Washington D.C. chapter of the Rock Steady Crew. Legs, being loyal to the Universal Zulu Nation, the umbrella organization for Rock Steady, introduced A-tone to Afrika Bambaataa, founder of the UZN. A-tone eventually became a DC Chapter Leader for the UZN which helped him build a grassroots following.

In 1993, A-tone was asked to be a presenter of Hip-Hop at the Washington Performing Arts Society's Percussive City Dance Festival. He wrote articles for the WPAS program and recruited talent for a sold-out show, which featured the Rock Steady Crew. The WPAS event drew widespread regional attention, with A-tone being quoted in the Style section of the Washington Post.

Another major presenting gig came with the Smithsonian Institution's 1993 Festival of American Folklife. A-tone organized the Hip Hop portion of the festival and recruited talent to perform in front of a packed crowd under the largest tent on the National Mall. The official festival program includes an article written by A-tone. He also wrote articles that were published in two other Smithsonian programs that featured the Rock Steady Crew, Rhythm Technicians and GhettOriginal Productions.

Later in 1993, A-tone wrote articles for YSB (Young Sisters and Brothers) magazine on Hip Hop-related issues. Another presenting opportunity came in 1994 with WPAS which featured Tracie Morris of the Nuyorican Poets. Another Hip Hop presentation for WPAS was held by A-tone at the Gala Hispanic Theatre.

A-tone wed in 1994 and has two children. After the Million Man March in 1995, he was inspired to change his name from Ant-Lïve to A-tone, which references the concert "A" or 144 beats per second, that orchestra instruments tune up to before playing.

Continuing to express his love for Hip Hop Culture, History and Art, A-tone collaborated with Easy A.D. and formed Classic Hip Hop L.L.C. Their collaborations have resulted in two successful Hip Hop Culture exhibits in New York at the Schomburg Library for Research in Black Culture and the Harlem YMCA. A-tone is working on a book with A.D. on Hip Hop History and holds regular Classic Hip Hop jam sessions in DC. A-tone and A.D. launched Classic Hip Hop Radio which features a 24-hour playlist of music, interviews and live shows.

The Classic Hip Hop Concert Series is currently the primary project for Classic Hip Hop LLC.