Cash Money Brothas

Cash Money Brothas were a duo out of East Chicago who consisted of "Ponyboy" and "Kaoss". They started making mixtapes in their home when they were in their early 20's. Their "CMB Hip-Hop Megamix" tape series spanned 12 volumes in all and became quite popular in Gary, IN and Chicago, IL where you could find them being sold at local record stores that specialized in dance and hip-hop music. Sometimes they would sell the tapes themselves to fans for only $5 a pop. These tapes stood out at the time as they would use vinyl records to mix the songs, beats and rhythms and then add the finishing touches using sound tools on a Macintosh computer. "The mix itself takes three days to be perfected" said Ponyboy in a 1993 interview. These tapes are now quite rare and sought after by tape collectors. Around the same time the duo was also involved in production duties for the Livin Large Records label out of Chicago. Although there were only a total of 8 releases in all, many of these cuts would make their way to the clubs and House music mixtape circuit. Some were prominently featured by Chicago DJ Bad Boy Bill on his "Hot Mix" tape series. After spending most of the 90's releasing underground mixtapes, Ponyboy eventually became the frontman of the hip-hop trio, "Los Marijuanos", in 1999.