LA Dream Team


The L.A. Dream Team was a hip hop group based in Los Angeles, California, active 1985-1989, 1993, and 1996. The group was founded by Chris "Snake Puppy" Wilson and Rudy Pardee in 1985. They are known for being one of the early hip hop acts on the West Coast and one of the pioneers of the West Coast hip hop scene.

History

The group was formed in the early 1980s by Rudy Pardee and Chris "Snake Puppy" Wilson. The duo formed their own Dream Team Records label, going on to release their own records and also releases by other California rap artists. Some of the group's best known early releases are "The Dream Team Is in the House", "Nursery Rhymes" and "Rockberry Jam". The group expanded later with Lisa Love, The Real Richie Rich and Big Burt. In 1986, the group signed with MCA Records who released their albums, Kings Of The West Coast and Bad To The Bone. In 1986, Lisa "Miss Rockberry" Love died in an auto accident. The group replaced Love with two female artists: Robin Williams and Tanisha Hill. The newly formed lineup recorded the 1989 album, Back to Black, also released by MCA Records.
By 1986, as electro music began to receive more mainstream coverage, the group's popularity began to wane. Their popularity was further diminished by the rise of West Coast gangsta rap in the early 1990s. LA Dream Team briefly resurfaced in 1993 under the name DTP, issuing a few new singles, including "Rockberry Revisited", an updated version of "Rockberry Jam". Chris Wilson went on to a career in video and music production. Pardee worked in computing, working for Universal as a business services analyst, and later a project manager.
Pardee later formed the group, Family Dream, featuring former Dream Team members Big Burt, Tanisha Hill and The Robin. The group was signed to Motown Records. Rudy Pardee died in a scuba-diving accident in 1998.
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed LA Dream Team among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

Discography

Singles