'Four Fly Guys' RealAudio discography When Hurricane released his debut album The Hurra , Hip Hop Connection described it as "the finest album never released by the Beastie Boys, and the most essential debut of 1995". '97 sees Hurricane following up in fine style with his sophomore effort Severe Damage. The Hurricane's been around a while. He grew up during the early years of rap in Hollis, Queens, New York, and he's been jammin' on the mic since 1976, so his rhyme fighting skills come from way back. By the time the eighties rolled around, he was running with his crew The Solo Sounds, the first rap group to come out of Hollis, and freestylin' over The Roots' Rahzel's human beatbox. In summer '86, fellow Hollis crew graduates Run DMC brought along their homeboy 'Cane as their most illin'est bodyguard when they headed out on the legendary Raisin' Hell tour with Houdini, LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys. Midway through the tour, the Beasties found themselves without a DJ, and the Hurricane stepped into the breach, becoming their official DJ for keeps. Which meant the rollercoaster rides which were the Licensed To Ill and Together Forever tours - Hurricane was onstage throughout the madness, bouncing for Run DMC, cutting it up for the Beasties, and rapping for Davy D, another Hollis alumni and original member of The Solo Sounds. After the release of Paul's Boutique, Hurricane teamed up with Davy D to form The Afros, and made Kickin' Afrolistics - an album which got a lot of attention at the time, but which didn't quite satisfy Hurricane... Hence The Hurra and Severe Damage. As a producer, Hurricane specialises in fusing nitro-fuelled funk and old-skool beats. It's a heavy duty party sound, recalling the block party beats of Hurricane's early days but with a stripped down Nineties edge. As the NME wrote : "Moving faster than a tornado, wrecking more hell than a pissed-off cyclone, the wrath of the 'Cane is once more upon us. Dynamite." The Hurricane made a lightning trip to the UK in May 1997, taking in the Subterania in London and a storming set at Tribal Gathering. Severe Damage was released on October 20th 1997 - "tough breaks, old school stylings, electro riffs, Beasties rock swagger and a sprinkling of Public Enemy militancy...a block party vibe with electro squelches aplenty...tough enough for sure" (DJ).