Audio Two was the Brooklyn, New York hip hop duo of emcee Kirk "Milk Dee" Robinson and DJ Nat "Gizmo" Robinson, best known for their first hit "Top Billin'".

History

thumb|Audio Two's trademark song "Top Billin launched the duo to popularity.

The duo's debut single, "Make it Funky", was released in 1987, but it was the B-side, "Top Billin, that became the chart hit. The beat — made by Milk Dee and produced by Daddy-O of Stetsasonic — and Milk Dee's lyrics would be sampled and referenced time and time again, even by the group itself: both the group's full-length debut, 1988's What More Can I Say? and its 1990 follow-up, I Don't Care: The Album, were titled after lines from the song. In 1994, Milk released a solo EP titled Never Dated on Rick Rubin's American Recordings. While the EP was notable for its single "Spam," a duet with the Beastie Boys' Ad-Rock with drum programming by Mike D, aside from the devoted Beastie Boys fanbase the album generated little interest. Milk eventually rediscovered success by producing the singer Eamon, who recorded the 2004 hit "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)."

In 2007, Milk Dee recorded a verse for a remix of "I Get Money" by 50 Cent, thanking all the music artists that sampled "Top Billin'," which earned him royalties.

In recent years, Audio Two member Gizmo became a recording engineer under the name "You Can Ask" Giz. His audio work has appeared on albums by Donell Jones, Calvin Richardson, Jaheim and Tyrese, among others.

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of studio albums, with selected chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:10em;" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:23em;" | Album details

! scope="col" colspan="2" | Peak chart positions

|-

! scope="col" style="width:2.8em;font-size:90%;"| US<br />

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US<br />R&B<br />/HH<br />

|-

! scope="row" | What More Can I Say?

|

  • Released: June 7, 1988
  • Label: First Priority Music/Atlantic
  • Formats: CD, LP, Cassette, digital download

|align="center"|185

|align="center"|45

|-

! scope="row" | I Don't Care: The Album

|

  • Released: April 17, 1990
  • Label: First Priority Music/Atlantic
  • Formats: CD, LP, Cassette

|align="center"|—

|align="center"|74

|-

| colspan="4" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

|}

Unreleased albums

  • The First Dead Indian (1992)

EPs

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ List of extended plays

! scope="col" rowspan="1" style="width:11em;" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="1" style="width:16em;" | Details

!scope="col"| Track listings

|-

! scope="row" | Flip-Flop Mini-Album<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(with The Alliance)</span>

|

  • Released: 1986
  • Label: First Priority
  • Formats: LP

| align="left" style="font-size: 85%;"|

|-

|}

Singles

As lead artist

<!-- ALL SINGLES MUST BE LISTED HERE. ANY SINGLE RELEASED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY TO RADIO IS CLASSIFIED AS A SINGLE. PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE -->

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of singles, showing year released and album name

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year

! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US <br />Rap<br />

|-

! scope="row"| "A Christmas Rhyme"

| 1985

|align="center"| —

|

|-

! scope="row"| "Make it Funky"

| rowspan="2"| 1987

|align="center"| —

| rowspan="5"| What More Can I Say?

|-

! scope="row"| "Top Billin'"

|align="center"| —

|-

! scope="row"| "Hickeys Around My Neck"

| rowspan="3"| 1988

|align="center"| —

|-

! scope="row"| "Many Styles/The Questions"

|align="center"| —

|-

! scope="row"| "I Don't Care"

|align="center"| —

|-

! scope="row"| "On The Road Again/Interlude One"

| rowspan="2"| 1990

|align="center"| 16

| rowspan="2"| I Don't Care: The Album

|-

! scope="row"| "I Get the Papers"

|align="center"| —

|-

| colspan="4" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

|}

Notes

References

  • Who Is Milk D at BeastieMania.com
  • Milk D's Never Dated review at RapReviews.com
  • Milk Dee Interview at HoodHype.com
  • Milk Dee interview at RiotSound.com
  • MC Milk Dee at MySpace.com