Crucial Conflict

Weed-loving Chicago hip-hop crew Crucial Conflict debuted in 1993 with a self-titled EP but struck gold with their smoked-out 1996 single, "Hay". The breakthrough track, which peaked at Number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, was featured on the fast-rapping group's gold-selling debut full-length album, The Final Tic, and boosted Crucial Conflict's rise to fame. The following year, the group – Wondosas "Kilo" Martin, Ralph "Wildstyle" Leverston, Corey "Coldhard" Johnson and Marrico "Never" King – landed several prominent soundtrack placements, including Peter Spirer's 1997 documentary film Rhyme & Reason and Def Jam's How to Be a Player. They dropped their sophomore album, Good Side, Bad Side in 1998, on Universal Records and stepped up to the plate on Hypnotize Camp Posse's 1999 album CrazyNDaLazDayz, as well as contributing to Warren G's I Want It All. That same year, Coldhard and Kilo had cameo appearances in the "Still D.R.E." music video by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Crucial Conflict split up in 1999, but reunited eight years later and released a comeback album, the southern rap-flavored Planet Crucon. In 2015, the group made an appearance at SXSW festival during Twista's Midwestern Artists Showcase. 2019 saw the release of new single, "Ol'e".