Lord Finesse

Robert A. Hall Jr. (born February 19, 1970), known by his stage name Lord Finesse, is an American rapper and hip-hop producer from The Bronx, New York, best known as the leader of the D.I.T.C. crew. About.com ranked him number 29 on its list of the Top-50 Hip-Hop Producers.

Early life and education Finesse was born Robert A. Hall, Jr. on February 19, 1970 in The Bronx. He was raised in the South Bronx during the 1970s His grandmother raised Finesse when he was younger living in Forest Projects, a public housing project in neighborhood of Morrisania in the Bronx. He met future D.I.T.C. rapper/producer Diamond D at St. Augustine Catholic School. He attended Morris High School. Finesse would often visit a childhood friend at DeWitt Clinton High School, where they held freestyle battle sessions with other students. At that time, he met A.G. (Andre Barnes) who was a student at DeWitt Clinton High School, another future D.I.T.C. member who was an aspiring rapper. He first started rapping at the age of 12.

Career In 1989, Finesse and his former partner DJ Mike Smooth signed with Wild Pitch Records, home of other popular hip-hop artists such as Gang Starr, Main Source, Chill Rob G, Percee P and O.C.. Around that year, he signed a deal with Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate Management after he lost in a rap battle in a music seminar when he competed with other rappers. In 1990, the duo released their debut album Funky Technician. The album featured production from future star beat-makers DJ Premier, Diamond D and Showbiz. Soon after, Finesse formed the popular New York underground crew D.I.T.C., an acronym for "Diggin In The Crates", together with Showbiz and A.G. and Diamond D. Future members included Fat Joe, O.C., Buckwild, and Big L.

Finesse returned as a solo artist in early 1992 with his second effort, Return of the Funky Man. The album featured guest appearances from Percee P and AG. The album's title track peaked at number 13 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.Return of the Funky Man also included a couple of songs that were produced by Finesse himself, and this would be the start of a career as a much respected hip-hop producer. In 1994 Finesse made a production appearance on The Notorious B.I.G.'s classic debut Ready to Die, on the track "Suicidal Thoughts". In 1995, he produced a big portion of Big L's debut album Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous, including the single "M.V.P." and made an appearance on one of the album's highlight songs "Da Graveyard". He returned as an artist in 1996 with the now rare 12" single "Check The Method" and then the acclaimed album The Awakening. Finesse produced the entire album himself, and enlisted a large number of guests, including KRS-One, MC Lyte, Akinyele, Diamond D, Showbiz & A.G., O.C. and Kid Capri. The underground single "Actual Facts" featuring Sadat X, Large Professor and Grand Puba, was included as a hidden track on the album.

Finesse hasn't released a studio album since this effort, but has continued his production work. In 1997, he produced the title track to O.C.'s acclaimed effort Jewelz and the track "Channel 10" off of Capone-N-Noreaga's debut The War Report. Finesse released a mixtape called Diggin' On Blue in 1999. Later in the year, he produced the track "The Message" on Dr. Dre's seminal 2001 album. Finesse is currently working on a Funky Technician remix project, as well as a new D.I.T.C. album. Along with these projects, he and DJ Premier are working on a posthumous Big L album.

In 1998, Finesse provided the vocal sample on the hook to "The Rockafeller Skank", a hit single by British musician Fatboy Slim from his album You've Come a Long Way, Baby. The song features Finesse's repeated line "Right about now, the funk soul brother. Check it out now, the funk soul brother". This line was lifted from the song "Vinyl Dogs Vibe" by the Vinyl Dogs with the spoken word intro provided by Finesse, edited from the full line, "Check it out right about now. It's no other than the funk soul brother, the Lord Finesse. And you're welcome to the world of the Vinyl Dogs right about now. So if you're diggin', peep how we do it like this"

Lord Finesse returned to the mic on Handsome Boy Modeling School's album White People in 2004. He was featured on the song entitled "Rock 'N' Roll (Could Never Hip-Hop Like This) pt. 2", collaborating with famous old-school DJ's Grand Wizard Theodore and Jazzy Jay. Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park make appearances, as well as Rahzel, then of The Roots.

In June 2012, Finesse filed a $10 million lawsuit against Rostrum Records and DatPiff for the use of a sample of Finesse's song "Hip 2 Da Game" used in Mac Miller's 2010 song "Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza". In January 2013 the lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount.

In 2014, Lord Finesse produced a remix for Swedish rap group Looptroop Rockers' single "Another Love Song".

In July 2020, he released a new remix album, Motown State Of Mind.

Discography Albums + List of albums, with selected chart positions Title Album details Peak chart positions US R&B Funky Technician (with DJ Mike Smooth) Released: February 6, 1990 Label: Wild Pitch/EMI Records Format: CD, CS 93 Return of the Funky Man Released: February 11, 1992 Label: Giant/Reprise/Warner Bros. Records Format: CD, CS 95 The Awakening Released: February 20, 1996 Label: Penalty/Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. Records Format: CD, CS, LP 36

Singles 1989 - 1990 "Baby, You Nasty"/"Track the Movement", "Funky Technician"/"Bad Mutha", "Stricly for the Ladies"/"Back to Back Rhyming""Return of the Funky Man"/"Fuck Em", "Party Over Here"/"Save That Shit", "S.K.I.T.S. (Shorties Kaught In The System)" (non-album single)"Hip 2 Da Game"/"No Gimmicks", "Gameplan"/"Actual Facts"

Guest appearances

Class Act (soundtrack) ~ 'Represent'. -- Runaway Slave, Showbiz and A.G. ~ 'You Know What I'm About'. -- Trespass (soundtrack) Single. Diamond D ~ "Off and On (freestylin' mix)". -- Single, Trends of Culture ~ "Flip da Script". -- Mesanjarz of Funk, Mesanjarz of Funk, Lauryn Hill ~ "On da M.I.C." -- The Untold Truth, Illegal -- One, Two, Ground Floor ~ "The Rhythm". -- The Mouth That Roared...?, Bas Blasta Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, Big L ~ 'Add On'. -- Goodfellas, Showbiz and A.G. That's Them, Artifacts ~ 'Day One'. -- Single, D.I.T.C. ~ '5 Fingers of Death'. -- Hatred, Passions and Infidelity, Diamond D ~ 'Run the Line (Remix)'. -- Single, Peanut Butter Wolf Single, D.I.T.C. ~ 'Dignified Soldiers / DS (Remix)'. -- Full Scale, Showbiz and A.G. ~ 'Troopas Represent'. -- Planets, 3rd Eye Single, Muro D.I.T.C. {2000}~ 'The Club'. -- The Piece Maker, Tony Touch

White People, Handsome Boy Modeling School Single, The Xav

Selected Productions

Filmography 1990 House Party as Stracie Elder

Awards and nominations