Terror Squad

Origins

Terror Squad is a hip hop collective from the Bronx, New York City, built around Fat Joe (Joseph Cartagena). Fat Joe founded Terror Squad Productions in 1996, and the crew's members were first heard on his albums Jealous One's Envy (1995) and Don Cartagena (1998). The group's formation as a recording act is usually dated to 1998, with Fat Joe and Cuban Link (Felix Delgado) as founding members.

The original lineup

The lineup on the group's debut album was Fat Joe, Big Pun (Christopher Rios), Cuban Link, Prospect (Richard Perez), Armageddon (John Eaddy) and Triple Seis (Sammy Garcia). Big Pun, whose 1998 album Capital Punishment went platinum on Loud and Terror Squad Productions, was the crew's best-known voice and the label's lead artist at the time.

Terror Squad: The Album (1999)

Terror Squad: The Album was released on September 21, 1999, through Terror Squad, Mystic, Big Beat and Atlantic. It debuted at No. 22 on the Billboard 200 and No. 4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The single "Whatcha Gon' Do," released in August 1999, was led by Big Pun. Production came from Alchemist, Buckwild, Armageddon and others, and the album included early contributions from singer Tony Sunshine, who later joined the group.

After Big Pun

Big Pun died on February 7, 2000, at age 28. His death removed the group's central figure. Cuban Link and Triple Seis left afterward, and the group was quiet for several years. Published accounts say that without Pun's mediation, personal tension between Fat Joe and Cuban Link, along with label problems, kept Cuban Link's planned solo debut, 24K, from being released. The feud between the two men was public, and accounts of its causes vary.

New lineup and SRC/Universal

By the mid-2000s Terror Squad had regrouped around Fat Joe with Remy Ma (then Remy Martin), whom Big Pun had mentored and who was signed to Fat Joe's label after his death, along with Tony Sunshine, Armageddon and Prospect. DJ Khaled and the production duo Cool & Dre were regular collaborators in the Terror Squad camp.

True Story and "Lean Back"

The group's second album, True Story, was released on July 27, 2004, through SRC Records, Universal Records and Terror Squad Entertainment, with Steve Rifkind and Fat Joe as executive producers. It debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 with about 90,000 copies sold in its first week, and reached No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. Production came from Scott Storch, Cool & Dre, Lord Finesse, Buckwild, Scram Jones and others. The track "Bring 'Em Back" featured the late Big Pun and Big L.

The lead single, "Lean Back," written by Fat Joe, Remy Ma and Scott Storch and produced by Storch, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks starting August 21, 2004, and was certified gold by the RIAA. It earned a Grammy nomination. A remix featuring Lil Jon, Mase and Eminem appeared on Fat Joe's 2005 album. The follow-up single was "Take Me Home."

Breakup

After True Story, the group dispersed. Remy Ma released her debut solo album in 2006. Tension between her and Universal over promotion led to a rift with Fat Joe, and she cut ties with him and Terror Squad. Prospect, Armageddon and Tony Sunshine had also left the label by 2006 without releasing solo studio albums there. Sources date the group's end anywhere from 2006 to 2013. Fat Joe and Remy Ma later reconciled and released the joint album Plata O Plomo in 2017, whose single "All the Way Up" received two Grammy nominations.

Legacy

Terror Squad was one of the most visible Latino-led crews in New York hip hop. It launched Big Pun, and later Remy Ma, to national audiences, and "Lean Back" gave the Bronx a No. 1 single.