* En anglais uniquement
Equally adept at dealing out narrative reflections and fearsome threats over laid-back funk grooves and menacing productions worthy of horror films, unsung Bay Area gangsta rapper and producer
Seagram left behind a small if revered body of work. It's limited to
The Dark Roads (1993),
Reality Check (1994), and the posthumous
Souls on Ice (1997), all of which were released on Rap-A-Lot and charted.
Oakland native
Seagram Miller debuted in 1992 with "The Dark Road," a grim G-funk track that helped push the parent LP,
The Dark Roads, into Billboard's hip-hop/R&B chart the following February. In addition to close friend and collaborator Gangsta P,
Geto Boys'
Scarface,
Willie D, and
Bushwick Bill, along with fellow Houston heavyweight
Ganksta N-I-P, made appearances. The smoother
Reality Check, boasting a verse from
Too $hort on "Gangstas & Players," followed in 1994 and fared even better commercially, reaching number 53 R&B/hip-hop. Two years later,
Seagram and Gangsta P were victims of a shooting in East Oakland. P survived, but
Seagram died.
Souls on Ice was issued posthumously in 1997. The lead track "Sleepin in My Nikes" reappeared on
Scarface's double-platinum 1998 album
My Homies. ~ Andy Kellman