Children of the Corn (group)

Children of the Corn was a hip-hop group formed in the 1990s consisting of neighborhood friends and fellow Harlem rappers Mase (then known as Murda Mase), Big L, Cam'ron (then known as Killa Cam), Herb McGruff and Derek "Bloodshed" Armstead.^[1][2] The group name is a play on words; it is short for Children of the Corner as well as refers to Stephen King's short story with the same name.

History

Big L was the founder of the group, as he pushed Mase and Cam'ron off the streets and into the studio, as well as Bloodshed, who was Cam'ron's cousin, with the last member of the group being McGruff. They released over 30 songs under the name Children of the Corn, as they tried for a record deal. They got paid any way they could, rhyming for local DJs and selling mixtapes out of their trunks.

The group disbanded after the death of Bloodshed in a car accident in 1997 and the murder of Big L in 1999. Even before the group disbanded, each of the group members had pursued their solo careers. Big L signed with Columbia, Mase with Bad Boy, Cam'ron with Epic and McGruff with Uptown. A collection of the group's songs, entitled Children of the Corn: The Collector's Edition was released in 2003.^[3]

Notes and references