Ugly Duckling

Comparable to De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, the Pharcyde, the Jungle Brothers, and Digable Planets, Ugly Duckling is a quirky, jazz-influenced alternative rap trio who formed in the Los Angeles suburb of Long Beach in 1995. Group members Dizzy, Young Einstein, and Andy Cat started collaborating around 1995, and the hip-hoppers took the name Ugly Duckling because they felt like outcasts on the Southern California hip-hop scene of the mid-'90s. Gangsta rap was the West Coast's dominant hip-hop trend at the time, and Ugly Duckling's members had no interest in the type of mach...