LA Sunshine
Lamar Hill, a.k.a. LA Sunshine (L.A. Sunshine, alternative spelling) is an American old-school MC prominent in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s.
MC career
In the late 1970s, he met Kool Moe Dee, Special K and DJ Easy Lee and started performing at the age of 15. L.A. Sunshine joined with other rappers Kool Moe Dee and Special K as well as DJ Easy Lee to form the influential old school hip hop group the Treacherous Three. In 1981, they moved to Sugar Hill Records along with another Enjoy Records act Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The Treacherous Three became well known for their singles "Feel the Heart Beat" and "Whip It". They were featured in the 1984 film the breakdance cult-movie Beat Street performing the song Xmas Rap with Doug E Fresh, but disbanded shortly afterwards. When Kool Moe Dee went solo, Hill went with him and performed on stages around the world but spent most of his time on tour doing drugs.
Post-artistic career
In 2011, Hill penned an autobiography titled "L.A. Sunshine: A True Story, The Real Accounts" which details his difficult childhood, the perks and downsides of his time as an entertainer, and the depression, homelessness and suicide attempts that filled his early adult life.
He has two daughters with two different women, neither of which he has married.
Hill has worked several part-time and seasonal jobs in after-school programs and as a teacher's aide at several New York area educational facilities including Promise Academy Charter School in Harlem, Imagine Me Leadership Charter School in Brooklyn and the now closed Rice High School. Students have called him "Mr. L.A." or "Coach L.A."
He still occasionally performs with the Treacherous Three and is proud of his early influence on the hip hop genre, but prefers the stability of a regular job.
References
- Fat Lace LA Sunshine interview
- Discogs.com entry
- IMDB Beat Street entry
- A Pioneer of Rap Music Craves 9-to-5 Stability | New York Times