Browntown Looters

Members: Oscar F. (D.J. Clear) Venegas Tony (Citric-T) Campos Richard S. (Skinny) Lopez Coming straight from the East Los Angeles hip-hop underground are the Brown Town Looters. The Brown Town Looters have been around for many years. The group was formed back in 1989, when the group was originally named Brown Town. The original members were Critic-T (Boyle Heights), D.J. Clear, and Shotgun (both of Montebello). In 1990, a street-smart homie known as Skinny (East Los) joined the group. In 1992, Brown Town released their first single entitled "Dope House in the Ghetto" on Explicit Records. That summer, Brown Town was performing at various clubs and car shows. That group was getting ready to release their album, since reviews of their shows were very positive. In 1993, their manager, who was also managing "Proper Dos," mismanaged Brown Town. The group decided not to retain him as their manager after backlash was felt from his management tactics. Also in 1993, Shotgun left the group, branching out on his own solo endeavors. In 1994, the group picked up a new rapper, Cash Phlow of South Central Los Angeles. 1994 also brought with it a new name, Brown Town Looters. With this new-year and new name, Brown Town Looters were coming into their own. Also in '94 they released a two-song promotional Compact Disc. The group also began to make appearance at lowrider car shows and concerts. At about the same time, the group started working on another album and were in the process of negotiating to sign with a record label. In 1995, the group met with Future Entertainment, after which, the Brown Town Looters' ads were seen in various magazines such as High Times, The Source, etc. With this new-found exposure, the group, along with Jose Lopez (Skinny's brother) of Looters Management, and Future Entertainment created Hemp Town Records. HempTown Records was created to manufacture cassette tapes and Compact Discs of Brown Town Looter's unreleased album, "Koncrete Phunk." All they needed was a distribution system for their album. Unfortunately, due to Future Entertainment's mismanagement, this never happened. After this fiasco, Citric-T and Cash Phlow joined together with D.J. Ray of "Cruising with La Raza," a cable show on Buenavision Cable in East Los Angeles. D.J. Ray asked Citric-T and Cash Phlow to host the show in East L.A. while he hosted the show in Arizona. This arrangement allowed the Brown Town Looters to gain greater exposure. At about the same time, the group met other hip-hop groups and formed a hip-hop family which as known as "Brown Town Looters Click." The "Click" consisted of Brown Town Looters, featuring Mr. Juvenile, 2-Phattal, Explicit, and Lil' Indian. In 1996, Citric-T and Cash Phlow left the cable show and began their own cable show called "Undaground Flava." The show consisted of rap/hip-hop videos and interviews with guest from the hip-hop Industry such as Cypress Hill, W.C., Doveshack, Mellow Man Ace, and Delinquent Habits. Looter's Management was also booking shows left and right. Brown Town Looters were performing with music artists such as Cypress Hill, Ice-T, Coolio, Zapp, Rodney O and Joe Cooley, Kid Frost, and Mack 10. In August of 1996, the Brown Town Looters, featuring Mr. Juvenile, were featured in the "Definition of Brown" compilation, a product of Latino owned Green Side Records. In 1997, Looters' Management made a deal with John Lozoya (one of the original creators of Lowrider Magazine) of Super Event Entertainment for a Mid-West tour, taking Brown Town Looters to Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, promoting their new album, "Live and Learn." This new tour brought new friendships for Brown Town Looters. One such friendship with Street Smart Clothing, a company associated with Top Nation Clothing. This alliance brought Brown Town Looters a new line of Brown Town Looters clothing (gear). This association also led to a Japan Super Car Show as the headliners. In January 1998, "Definitions of Brown, Part Two" was released and again Brown Town Looters were included. BTL released their "Live and Learn" album on September 18, 1998.