Krush Tha Boss

Ronald W. Thompson III (born August 28, 1970), is an American music producer also known as Krush Tha Boss. Once an emcee until 2003, his production skills are compared in reference to Timbaland, P. Diddy, and The Bomb Squad in that he takes r&b classics, morbid sounds, and samples to create a sound he tags Northern Liquor. He is best known for his uptempo club style & his melodic slow jams back in his hometown.

The early years

Born Ronald Anthony Sanford Jr. and raised in Detroit, Michigan, he was later adopted along with his two sisters in his teen years by the late Rev. Willie Thompson Jr. and the late Lucille Thompson. During his preteen years, his biological parents were in and out of his life. From the age of 4 until age 11, he was raised by grandparents. By the time he was 5, he developed a strong love for the Motown Sound and would be caught singing Jackson 5 hits word for word around the house. At age 8, he had written over 60 songs and also had a knack for writing short stories. In 1981, he and his sisters went to live with their mother after their grandparents became ill. Two years later, he and his sisters were placed into foster care when it became evident that their mother was addicted to drugs. "Even though it was a rough time in my life, the love for music never left," he said. But by the fall of 1983, his love for music took a backseat to a new love of film. He began writing stories of movies he would see every weekend during the summer. An instant fan of John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, and Brian DePalma, he wrote stories that his junior high school English teacher at Drew Middle School called "astounding close to miraculous."

The Shift Back To Music

Approaching high school, with music almost extinct in his life, he pursued film making. Thinking he could be the next Brian DePalma, he took a film class as an elective and by the end of his first semester directed his first short film "Metamorphing". He continued writing and learned to write screenplays, full novels, and poetry. Then in February 1985, after watching the movie Krush Groove with his brothers and nephews, Thompson was asked by his younger brother Michael and his nephew Rashaan to help them in a rap battle against a group of rappers from another neighborhood. They won the battle and then almost overnight, made a name for themselves. Later on that year, they would become A.T.C. (Thompson became known as "Q.B. Krush" for his "quick and brutal" delivery & always crushed his opponent, Michael was known as "M.C. Nike" for his love affair and superb style in Nike shoes and apparel, but was as deadly on the mic as Krush was, and Rashaan was known as "The Def Master" for his terror he inflicted on the turntables doing things most DJs other than Jazzy Jeff and M.C.A.D.E. could only pull off and fame struck for the group quickly. Krush's love for music (now hip-hop music) emerged. By the summer of 1986, A.T.C. (which stood for A. T.ouch of C.lass) was beginning to get attention.The group became even bigger when they won a spot on a local rap album called "Detroit Rapp" which was a compilation of other groups and soloists from Detroit. The album was released at the end of 1986. By 1987, A.T.C. was burning a trail of success. After being seen on a local dance show called "The Scene", they were being booked to do shows across the metro area. A.T.C. was also featured in The Detroit News as one of the hottest groups on the album. As hot as A.T.C. was, also with buzz from Silveree, Def D and No Name, The Original Crew and others on the album, it was met with disappointing sales. Still, success poured in for Q.B. Krush and his group. By the end of the year, A.T.C. was the number one rap group in the city being compared to The Kings From Queens, RUN-D.M.C. and had performed to packed houses, won talent shows, received TV and newspaper write-ups, and moderate radio play. Krush also became leader of one of the biggest crews in the city, The Legion Of Def (also known as The L.O.D.).

1988: The Year Of Manhood

Throughout the year, Krush not only made a name for himself as a rapper, but as a producer also. During the summer of 1987, he produced underground hits for other hot up and coming rap artists such as M.C. Freeze, Shapone (known today as Joe Rizz), Whiplash, Excaliber II, M.C. Real The Serious D.O.G., First Class, 3DF, Steve Nitty, and Poe Hustlaz (all of which were members of The L.O.D.). Krush also burned a trail on the battlefield by never losing a rap battle. He was crowned "King" of the North and became "King Krush" after beating The Chillin' King (from the group "Xchange") who at the time was the only rapper in the city who was also undefeated. Also that summer, Krush put together a compilation of his own to shop The L.O.D. a record deal. He was slowly becoming the businessman of the crew as well. He shopped the compilation to Warner Bros. Records, Dream Team Records, Capitol Records, Def Jam Records, Profile Records, & the now defunct MCA Records. None of them called back.....except one. Rudy Pardee of Dream Team Records gave the compilation to The Arabian Prince (formerly of NWA) who at time was a scout for Ruthless Records. Krush and AP agreed to a term undiclosed. That was the beginning of the end for A.T.C. and The L.O.D. as tension in the crew escalated out of control. By the end of year, the chaos somewhat settled to a simmer, but far from squashed.

The deal from Ruthless never transpired. By 1988, Krush took a break from the rap game to finish school. Though he was busy with his rap group and crew, he took care of business when it came to his grades. In June 1988, Krush graduated from Mackenzie High School with a 3.50 GPA.

With all attempts to keep things together, A.T.C. and The L.O.D. officially broke apart by the fall of 1989. Now, Krush would begin a new decade solo.

teppin' To The 90's

After attempts to get a record deal on his own failed, By the fall of 1992, Krush became homeless. Steve Nitty and Whiplash (former L.O.D. members) took him off the streets and they found a friend who was also a rapper to stay with. They became a new group but it was short lived due to creative differences. So Krush was right back where he started. Back on the streets once again, he turned to his biological father's brother who took him in and helped him get on his feet. By the end of the year, Krush had wrote over 100 songs. In 1995, Krush was back on the hip-hop scene in Detroit. By this time, he had started a successful marketing company and an up and coming production company. In 1996, he started his own label with a roster of heavy hitters, but none of the artists panned out. In 1998, He moved to Pontiac, Michigan to test the hip-hop game there. Prospects were flourishing in this unknown hip-hop arena. But he still didn't have a new roster or a rising star. By 1999, his companies were losing money and by the end of the year, he went into restructuring. He also dropped "King" from his name and became "Tha Boss". He felt since he was his own boss and no one told him what to do, the name was a perfect fit.

Millennium Edition

The year 2000 began rocky from the start. With his companies now in restructuring, he began to start up other companies. In 2001, his new ventures which included real estate, finance, and entertainment promotions are gaining little success. His record label and production company were still in play, but still no roster or product. Now a successful businessman, Krush was on the lookout for a key artist for his label. By the end of the year, he found a rapper in the city who was making a name for himself. That artist was Coop Da Real. By 2002, Krush's nephew introduced him to the number one up and coming artist from Pontiac by the name of Rodacious Da Ruffest. This would lead to other artists and producers who would collaborate on production and tracks for release on his label. Over the next year, Krush would see his companies slowly fall apart due to the rough economy in Michigan. Still trying to move forward with the label and production company, Krush continues to produce tracks in hopes of landing a distribution deal for the label. With capital slowing to a crawl and his other business ventures on the verge of collapse, this made it difficult to invest money into the label and production company. By the end of 2003, Krush was on the verge of closing a deal with a local production company who had worked with rap artist Strike (Lickity Split from the movie "8 Mile") and a new r&b act. The deal would make Krush Tha Boss' label a strong contender in hip-hop and in r&b. With Strike on the team, this would also open the door for label distribution. The deal fell through. Two years later, Krush put his label and production company on hold to concentrate on running his marketing, real estate, and entertainment promotions companies. His finance company at this time had folded. By 2006, he would move to Holland, Michigan to gain a new start. But it would turn out to be unsuccessful. All of his companies folded.

Change Of Scenery

By the summer of 2006, Krush Tha Boss headed south to start from scratch. He landed in Stone Mountain, Georgia with nothing but his clothes and his drive to be successful. With no money coming in, he swallowed his pride and took a job at an Atlanta Toyota dealership. Within a few months of being in Georgia, Krush was back at it once again to give his companies new life. He later left the dealership to work at another Toyota dealership in Gwinnett County, Georgia. It was there he met finance director Don Nelson who pushed him to be the success he was. He created a bond and soon after Don pushed Krush into his calling. The beginning of 2007 would prove to be one trial and tribulation after another. As the year began, Krush was slowly moving back into the driver's seat of his own business. But it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be, but he stayed firm and by the spring of 2007, Krush had his marketing company up and running once again. Staying loyal to his craft, Krush began investing into his company while working long hours at the dealership. In between work and business, he turned his sights back to his record label and production company. Once again, he began producing new material to shop around to prospective artists to sign to his label. Not finding his star artist, Krush continued to produce material. In hopes to begin his journey back in the music business, he concentrated on finding financial backing to get the label and production company up and running. He started putting his music on websites that catered to hip-hop music. Still facing problems with his business, Krush holds true to his reigns as he moves forward to making his record label and production company a living beast in the music industry. 2007 would be the toughest year he faced since 1992.

Tha Star Chamber

As 2007 was half way done, Krush had a created a buzz on the internet. From the websites his music was on, he slowly put his music in front of other hip-hop hopefuls and fans. He also found a partner earlier that summer who had been in the medical business who was looking to invest in a new venture. After talks on putting a deal together, Tha Star Chamber Recordin'z was now a living, breathing entity. His partner would run the promotional end of the company and Krush would find, develop, and get new artists in the studio to put albums together to be released. He would also continue to produce the music and serve as executive producer on all of the releases. The first group that was coming to Tha Star Chamber was "Da Truth" out of Atlanta. The group was signed to another label called Trademark Records, which his partner wanted Krush to make it a joint venture. This would make it a powerhouse as Tha Star Chamber would distribute the Trademark imprint through a major distributor once the group proved to be profitable. Krush and his partner then put together a 54 city promotional tour for Da Truth which was to start in October in Detroit and end in April, 2008 in Atlanta headlined by Lil' Wanye featuring UGK and new up and coming hip-hop star Plies. His Partner wanted an album by Da truth that could be sold at the shows during the tour, but Krush didn't think it would be financially viable to do while on the road. Krush saw it as letting the tour create a buzz for the group. Once the tour was over, begin production on a video for the first single from the groups debut album. While the video was gaining ground for the group, start recording the album then. Once the album was done, film the next video for the second single and release the album to the tune of the next single. His partner disagreed. Friction between Krush and his partner began to mount due to creative differences. During this time, Krush looked to other means of financial backing to include but limited to his friend Don Nelson, revenue from his marketing company, and other record execs. It would be known to Krush that his partner wanted to acquire his record label and production company so that he would have more control over the day to day operations and make Krush just a producer for the companies. Once this information was found to be true, Krush severed ties with his partner and Trademark Records. Today, Krush is now running his record label and production company among his other business ventures. There had been rumors circulating that he was close to a distribution deal with Atlantic Records or Koch Records, but none of this is true. He is now building his artist roster and will be releasing albums and mixtapes in the coming months. He hopes to have a distribution deal in the future, but as of right now, he is concentrating on his artist roster and looking for raw, unsigned talent to make Tha Star Chamber a force in the music industry.

Personal

Krush Tha Boss resides in Athens, Georgia. As of July 15th, 2008, he called it quits with his fiance Angela. He has been married twice with his first marriage ending in divorce (2000) and his second marriage ending in death (2003).

He has no children, but has stepchildren who reside in Detroit and in Pontiac. He has five blood siblings and twelve adopted siblings (his blood sister LaKenya and brothers Masson and Sean, who were separated from him at the age of 12, he hasn't seen in nearly 25 years. Two of his twelve adopted siblings, brothers Artis and Laneil, are now deceased). He is an extreme sports fan especially for his hometown teams the Pistons, Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings. He had a run in with the law in 2007. He was convicted of a harassing phone call against Nefertari Imani Baraka (author and educator from his hometown who was also his sister's best friend since the sixth grade) in Dekalb County, Georgia. He was sentenced to time served (six days in jail), one year of probation, 40 hours of community service, and anger management therapy. In 2009, his companies will be incorporated. He plans to venture into building a new club in the city of Athens as well as in Atlanta and a hotel and pavilion in Detroit. He hopes to be the owner of an NFL franchise in Los Angeles and an NBA team in Pittsburgh within the next 5 to 7 years if no team is present in those markets.

External links

Black Planet. http://music.blackplanet.com/krushthabossArtistopia. http://www.artistopia.com/starchamber