Wise (Stetsasonic)

Leonardo Roman (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage name Wise, is a hip hop record producer and member of hip hop group Stetsasonic, commonly hailed as hip hop's first live band.

Stetsasonic
GenresHip Hop
Years active1981–Present
MembersWise
Daddy-O
Prince Paul
Frukwan
DBC
MC Delite
Bobby Simmons

Early life

Born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Wise moved to the Bronx, New York, where his parents resided with his two older brothers Juan & Jose. At the age of 4, his family moved to East New York, Brooklyn, New York.

Hip hop career

Daddy O and MC Delite were the founding members of the group Stetsasonic, then known as the Stetson Brothers, in 1981. Joining the group in 1983, the group had another level of creativity and talent with the presence of the PRINCE OF SOUND himself, who is also known in the group by the moniker the Stetsa-Human Mix Machine provided beatboxing[1] and other human percussion. Also, what many didn't know was that he was the very first Latino human beat box to hit the hip hop scene.

Wise debuted his Human Turntable technique of beatboxing on the band's first single called "Just Say Stet" b/w "Rock de la Stet," which was released in 1985. There was also another single from the album in which Wise and Daddy-O collaborated. While Daddy-O performs the vocals, Wise gives his version of "Impeach the President," which happens to be the very first time that a human beatbox was heard adding a song-like rhythm to the beat that was coming out of his mouth on the song "Faye" which was on the group's first album, On Fire (1986). With Stetsasonic, Wise toured the world with rap acts like Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Whodini, Eric B. & Rakim, EPMD and Public Enemy.

In 1989, Wise (with fellow Stetsasonic members Delite, Daddy-O and Frukwan) participated in KRS-One's Stop the Violence Movement, an assembly of hip hop artists including Kool Moe Dee, Heavy D, MC Lyte, Public Enemy, and Doug E. Fresh. This artistic collaboration yielded the posse cut "Self Destruction", a protest song decrying black-on-black violence and media stigmatisation of all hip hop as violent.[2] Unusually, Wise was featured not as a human percussionist, but as a vocalist, sharing his verse with Daddy-O.[2] Released in 1989, the single reached #75 in the US Top 40.

Wise has also participated in a few commercials in which he lends his beatbox sounds. One was for Campbell's Soup in which a cartoon of a B-boy bear kicks a ferocious beat. This commercial was aired amidst Saturday morning cartoons.

Wise was also featured in a documentary on the art of the human beatbox, Breath Control: The History of the Human Beat Box,[3] which was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival and also featured fellow human percussionists such as Doug E. Fresh, Biz Markie, Ready Rock C and Emanon.

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References
  1. Saer, Kid (January 2004). "Reminiscing with... Prince Paul". Archived from the original on 2007-03-24. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  2. "Stop the Violence All-Stars - "Self Destruction"". Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  3. "Breath Control: The History of the Human Beat Box". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
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