Braggadocious emcee from Harlem with incredible lyrics and an even more incredible vocabulary. Born Mohandes Dewese, Kool Moe Dee used to kick mad routines with The Treacherous 3 in the early 80's. He is credited with inventing the speed rap (The Treacherous 3 & Spoonie Gee "The New Rap Language") and popularizing freestyling (New Year's Battle with Busy Bee in
December '81). After going solo with his
single "Turn It Up" and releasing his debut album "I'm Kool Moe Dee", Moe Dee regularly worked with mega-producer Teddy
Riley and made great fashion statements with his leather suits and giant blind
man shades.
Kool Moe Dee is most famous for his phenomenal battles with Busy Bee, Run-D.M.C. (alongside Special K on the seminal rap
television show "Graffiti Rock"), and, most of all, LL Cool J.
Ignorant suckas like to say that LL won the battle with "Jack The Ripper". However, Moe Dee lyrically eviscerated LL with "Let's Go" and "Death Blow". Needless to say, Kool Moe Dee was never much of a commercial mainstay. Nevertheless, Kool Moe Dee has had major hits with "Wild Wild West", "How Ya Like Me Now", "They Want Money", and "I Go To
Work". Recently, he dropped the "
e" in "Moe" and wrote a
book called "There's A God On The Mic: The True 50 Greatest MC's", where he put himself at number 5 behind Big
Daddy Kane, KRS-One, Rakim, and Melle Mel. Although never humble, Kool Moe Dee knows what he's talking about. He is one of rap's first deep lyricists, he has battle skills like no one else, and if you want an example of real, unadulterated hip-hop, especially from back in the day, then... KOOL MOE DEE IS THE BEST TO LISTEN TO!
"Whoever said rap is not
work is ludacris.
Whoever said it must be new to this.
When you hear me,
You'll compare me
To a prophet for profit, not merely
Writing
extra rhymes for recreation.
Each rhyme's a dissertation.
You wanna know my occupation?
I get paid to rock the nation."
-"I Go To
Work"
Oh, and Moe Dee did not bite Spyder D's "How Ya Like Me Now."
