Arturo R. Molina Jr. (born May 31, 1964), better known as Frost (originally Kid Frost), is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer. He charted in the 1990s with his first four albums: Hispanic Causing Panic, East Side Story, Smile Now, Die Later and When Hell.A. Freezes Over. His most successful single is "La Raza" which hit number 6 on the rap songs chart in August 1990. His 1990 debut album is credited as the first Latin hip-hop album.
Frost's music entered the Billboard 200 again in 2002 with the album Still Up in This Shit!. He is the father of record producer Scoop DeVille.
Early life, family and education
Molina was born and raised by his grandmother Lola Molina in Windsor, California. He later moved with his mother to Los Angeles, California, and occasionally lived with his family in military bases in Guam and Germany. He is of Mexican descent.
Career
He began his music career in 1982 as Kid Frost as a tribute to his rival Ice-T, whom he often battled in the music industry. In an interview Frost stated that his first actual DJ was in fact Dr. Dre and DJ Yella. He soon became a breakdancer for Uncle Jamms Army.
In the mid-1980s, Frost released several pre-gangsta 12" singles on Los Angeles-based labels Electrobeat and Baja. Hispanic Causing Panic is credited as the first Chicano rap album, and brought attention to Latin rappers on the West Coast.
Frost also established the Latin rap supergroup Latin Alliance,
In 1999, Frost moved to a small independent label, Celeb Entertainment Inc. His first album for Celeb Entertainment This Was Then This Is Now Vol. I was released in 1999. Kurupt, King T, Baby Bash, Jay Tee, Jayo Felony, Xzibit, B-Legit and Cameo were featured on the CD. That Was Then This Is Now Vol. II was released in 2000. Frank V., Clika One, Jay Tee, Baby Bash and other guest rappers were also featured on the CD.
2002's Still Up In This Shit!, released by Hit-A-Lick and Koch Records, featured more Latin rap style and g-funk tracks as well as a hidden bonus rock track, "Cannabis". Mellow Man Ace, Daz Dillinger, Baby Bash, A.L.T., Nino Brown, Don Cisco and other guest rappers appeared, and one track featured the group Tierra.
In 2004 Welcome to Frost Angeles was released on Thump Records, which was produced almost entirely by Frost and his son Scoop DeVille. Only the Intro is produced by Binky Womack, and Philly Blunt co-produced one track. Guest rappers included Cameosis, Genovese and Jay Tee. Frost again signed to Low Profile Records and released his album Till The Wheels Fall Off in 2006. It had various guest appearances which included Baby Bash, Scoop DeVille and Mr. Sancho.
Frost also performed music for films including "Bite the Bullet (Theme from Gunmen)" in the 1993 film Gunmen and "Tears Of A Mother" in the film No Mothers Crying, No Babies Dying, which featured Ice-T.
Frost is also an actor, having his feature film debut in the movie Platinum Illusions. He also portrayed of fictional character T-Bone Mendez from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and contributed his song "La Raza" to the soundtrack.
He was named vice president of the Music Division of Goldmark Industries on August 30, 2006.
In 2016, Frost announced that he had been diagnosed with gallbladder cancer.
Discography
Studio albums
- Hispanic Causing Panic (1990)
- East Side Story (1992)
- Smile Now, Die Later (1995)
- When Hell.A. Freezes Over (1997)
- That Was Then, This Is Now, Vol. 1 (1999)
- That Was Then, This Is Now, Vol. 2 (2000)
- Still Up in This Shit! (2002)
- Welcome to Frost Angeles (2004)
- Till the Wheels Fall Off (2006)
- All Oldies (2011)
- All Oldies II (2012)
- Old School Funk (2013)
- The Good Man (2013)
Collaboration albums
- Latin Alliance <small>with Latin Alliance</small> (1991)
- Velvet City <small>with Latino Velvet</small> (2000)