From Oakland, California, USA, Yukmouth (b. Jerold Dwight Ellis Jnr., 18 October 1974, Oakland, California, USA) and Numskull (b. Garrick Desmond Husbands, 31 January 1974, Oakland, California, USA) began rapping together as junior high students in their home town. They originally sung with B.W.P. (Brothers With Potential), a six-strong crew who eventually fell apart to leave only Yukmouth and Numskull. The duo renamed themselves Luni Tunz and got their first taste of recording in 1992 on Dru Down’s Explicit Game set. A contract with Noo Trybe followed before the duo burst onto the hip-hop scene in 1995 with their debut, Operation Stackola. The album, which featured guest appearances from Dru Down, Shock-G of Digital Underground, Richie Rich, plus production work by DJ Fuse, N.O. Joe, Gino Blackwell, E-A-Ski and Tone Capone, was based around a heady mix of east and west coast styles. It reached number 1 in the US Billboard charts soon after release, taking many commentators, even within the hip-hop community, by surprise. The secret of their success lay in the duo’s slick, empathetic performance, a theory endorsed by Yukmouth: ‘Sometimes Numskull will just be freestyling, and I’ll damned know exactly what he’s about to say next. We’re like two halves of a whole.’ They also found success with the international hit single, ‘I Got 5 On It’, which was built around a sample of Club Noveau’s ‘Why You Treat Me So Bad’. The follow-up Lunitik Muzik was a sprawling and entertaining album featuring guest appearances from Redman, E-40 and Too $hort among others. The downbeat ‘Y Do Thugz Die’, which commented on the murders of 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G. , was arguably the best track. Both rappers subsequently embarked on solo careers.
