T La Rock facts for kids

T La Rock, whose real name is Terrence Ronnie Keaton, was born on September 16, 1961. He is an American old-school hip hop artist. He is famous for his song "It's Yours," released in 1984. This song was made with Rick Rubin, who helped start Def Jam Recordings.

About T La Rock

Early Life and Start

Terrence Keaton grew up in the Bronx, New York City. He was born in Manhattan. When he was younger, he was a break dancer. His older brother is Special K, a rapper from the group the Treacherous Three. Another brother, T.O.N.E.-z, is also a rapper. Terrence is quite tall, standing 6 feet 4 inches. He started his music journey in the 1970s. He worked as a DJ, a break dancer, and an emcee (rapper).

His Hip-Hop Career

In 1984, Rick Rubin released T La Rock's song "It's Yours." This song was the very first release to have the Def Jam Recordings logo. However, it was released through a different label called Partytime. Partytime was a hip-hop part of Arthur Baker's Streetwise Records. Even though it was not officially part of Def Jam's main collection, it was a very important song for the label. For its 30th anniversary, the song was officially brought back to Def Jam.

Russell Simmons, who co-founded Def Jam, talked about how important "It's Yours" was. In a 1996 interview, he said the song was very popular in the underground music scene. He felt that T La Rock started a new style in hip-hop. He used many complex words and created a special kind of poetry. Simmons also said that LL Cool J, another famous Def Jam artist, learned from T La Rock's style.

The song "It's Yours" had a big impact on other artists. Many musicians used parts of it in their own songs, which is called sampling. For example, the hip-hop group Public Enemy sampled it in their song "Louder than a Bomb." Nas also sampled it in his song "The World is Yours." Even house-music producer Todd Terry used parts of it.

"It's Yours" was also featured in video games. It was on the radio station "The Classics 104.1" in Grand Theft Auto IV. Later, it appeared in Grand Theft Auto V on the "KULT 99.1 FM" radio station. The Beastie Boys also used the song in their track "Paul Revere." This song was on their 1986 album Licensed to Ill, which Rick Rubin also produced. Ad-Rock from the Beastie Boys even said he sang backing vocals on "It's Yours."

Other artists were inspired by T La Rock. The Wu-Tang Clan did not sample his song "It's Yourz," but their song's chorus sounded very similar to his. The rapper Mystikal made a new version of "It's Yours" called "It Yearns." This song used the original drum sounds and had a similar main part.

Because of the success of "It's Yours," T La Rock signed with Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records. He released two albums with them. The first was Lyrical King (From the Boogie Down Bronx) in 1987. The second was On a Warpath in 1989. T La Rock and DJ Louie Lou produced Lyrical King. Kurtis Mantronik also produced two songs on that album. The title song "On a Warpath" was produced by T La Rock and DJ Hollywood. As of 2022, there are plans for a movie about T La Rock's life.

Recovery and Return to Music

In 1994, Terrence Keaton had a serious head injury. This happened while he was trying to stop a fight. He received medical care and worked hard to recover. He had to regain his memory and improve his body movements.

By 2021, Keaton was working on a film about his life. He also started making new music again. Today, T La Rock is back on stage. He performs his famous songs in the United States and other countries. He performed in Brazil in 2008.

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