Ugly Duckling

792,002 plays (60,447 listeners)

hip-hop, hip hop, rap, underground hip-hop, hiphop… see all

Los Angeles, United States (1993 – present)

Ugly Duckling are a hip hop trio, formed in 1993 in Long Beach, California. Ugly Duckling’s members are Dizzy Dustin, Young Einstein and Andy Cooper. Their style is alternative hip hop, influenced especially by old school performers such as the Zulu Nation and the Native Tongues Posse. Most of their songs follow the creed that hip hop is about having fun and often mock the clichéd gangster rappers who dominate the mainstream. An example of this can be heard in the song “A Little Samba” and “Smack” in which they rap about the enormous wealth mainstream rappers brag about, and the ridiculous nature of their possessions, such as gold name plates on their cars, pet sharks and jetting off to Bermuda on private planes.

Being heavily influenced by old school hip hop, they conform to the original basics of rap music; turntablism and MCing. Their DJ, Young Einstein, forms the backbone of the group; he is renowned for performing very complex scratches both on the record and live, unlike in most modern rap where the DJ has been pushed to the back in order to emphasize the MC. He is also the owner of a famous ‘Dookie Gold Chain’ which is the subject of the groups song ‘Eye On The Gold Chain’ and is donned by Einstein during most live performances of the track. They are renowned for their live shows in which they perform various antics on stage and interact with the crowd getting them very hyped and affording them the reputation as brilliant live performers.

Taste the Secret
Ugly Duckling
Buy
- Amazon
- eBay
Download
Bang for the Buck
Ugly Duckling
Buy
- Amazon
- eBay
Download
Fresh Mode
Ugly Duckling
Buy
- Amazon
- eBay
Download
Journey to Anywhere
Ugly Duckling
Buy
- Amazon
- eBay
Download

Top Tracks

1	Turn It Up	282
2	La Revolucion	163
3	Rio De Janeiro	144
4	A Little Samba	130
5	Dumb It Down	125
6	Pass It On	119
7	MeatShake	118
8	Energy Drink	116
8	Abigail Silk	116
10	Opening Act	105
11	Smack	104
12	I Wanna Go Home	95
13	Slow the Flow	94
14	The Breakdown	90
15	Left Behind	86

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).

Mr_Sands wrote:
Sunday morning

What are they up to these days. When are they touring again?

View Profile | Leave Mr_Sands a shout
IloveZelda wrote:
last month

hiding in the desert between the sand dunes

View Profile | Leave IloveZelda a shout
betoonking wrote:
last month

great rhymes, great beats, everything i've been looking for in hip-hop

View Profile | Leave betoonking a shout
MartinKamel wrote:
last month

Next CD on 30 September, called "Audacity" or so I hear.

View Profile | Leave MartinKamel a shout
DeSpaDe wrote:
July 2008

need an ENERGY DRINK!

View Profile | Leave DeSpaDe a shout
Fnurlycious wrote:
July 2008

meat to the shizze

View Profile | Leave Fnurlycious a shout
Grapier wrote:
July 2008

Real HIP HOP DOES LIVE WOW LIFE IS GOOD!

View Profile | Leave Grapier a shout
oioioiacab wrote:
July 2008

i love these guys!

View Profile | Leave oioioiacab a shout
funkTEST wrote:
July 2008

turn it up

View Profile | Leave funkTEST a shout
iamdivide wrote:
June 2008

just sweet stuff

View Profile | Leave iamdivide a shout
[deleted-user] wrote:
June 2008

meat to the shizzake
humbug77 wrote:
June 2008

Underrated... They are awesome!

View Profile | Leave humbug77 a shout
kcblogger wrote:
May 2008

UD fucking rocks!!!!!!!!!! check out their remix of speech defect - superfuture... amazing..... when they on tour? need them back asap.

View Profile | Leave kcblogger a shout
danphil7 wrote:
May 2008

you guys should also check out The Leftovers. Paradoxically it's my favorite album from UD.

View Profile | Leave danphil7 a shout
larslindahl wrote:
May 2008

waiting for the next album...better be an improvement - these guys are falling off...

View Profile | Leave larslindahl a shout
HULAposse wrote:
April 2008

i'm on fresh mode

View Profile | Leave HULAposse a shout
morganik wrote:
April 2008

My Mother told me if you gottit, ders no need to wannit, check, cos everything I got just depends on how much I wannit.

View Profile | Leave morganik a shout
morganik wrote:
April 2008

...Before I knock yer big butt silly, He then pulled outta gun> I gave him a hun n' sed don't kill me, yoou don't wanna waist a bullet onna bum like me, scum like me, I want my mummy help me somebody!

View Profile | Leave morganik a shout
morganik wrote:
April 2008

I Couldn't getta tickit so we had to sneak in, DAAAM, But then we got cort cos our sneakers kep' sneaking!

View Profile | Leave morganik a shout
Jn_Barnes wrote:
March 2008

nokaalma, what are you on about?

View Profile | Leave Jn_Barnes a shout