Spooks

by Bradley Torreano
Inspired by the rap/R&B success of the Fugees, Spooks came together in the late '90s with a similar message and group structure, but a much different musical approach. Consisting of vocalist Ming Xia and MCs Mr. Booka-T, Vengeance, Water Water, and Hypno, the group's male-female dynamic brought comparisons to the Fugees almost immediately. The difference lies in the production, which referenced trip-hop and jungle and rarely stuck to a typical hip-hop structure. Boasting this unique approach, the group recorded S.I.O.S.O.S., Vol. 1 in 1999 for Artemis Records. The album was a huge success in Europe, where it turned gold in France, Belgium, Sweden, and Germany, but hardly made a dent in American markets. They re-released the record and put together a live band for their live shows in an attempt to woo U.S. audiences, but the single for "Things I've Seen" did catch on and the group quietly disappeared soon after.