Too Bad to Be True, or TBTBT, was a Canadian hip hop group, based in Toronto, Ontario, active in the 1990s.Canadian Composer, Volume 4. SOCAN, 1993. The group was best known for its eponymous 1993 album, which won the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year at the 1994 Juno Awards."Juno Awards Celebrate Canada's Cultural Roots". Billboard, April 2, 1994. The group consisted of teenagers Jeromy "Lyric J" Robinson, Shaka "DJ Shaka" Dodd, Al "Al C" Cox, and Frankie "MC Styles" Scarcelli.
History TBTBT began writing and recording rhymes in 1992, while they were still in school. They took part in Toronto's annual Stay Clear anti-drug campaign pop contest."More music notes". Medicine Hat News, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. March 31, 1994, page 32. In 1993, the trio released the album One Track Mind on ISBA Records in Canada and Cold Chillin’/Warner Bros. Records internationally.Kathy Kastner. "Teen rappers take ambition from Toronto to the charts". Lethbridge Herald, September 4, 1994, page 6. Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
The group received significant video airplay on MuchMusic for the album's title track, but consistent with the commercial struggles faced by Canadian hip hop at the time, received almost no commercial radio airplay in Canada outside of the Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal markets."Can hip hop be a sustainable career for Canadian rappers?" The Buzz, CBC News, April 19, 2013, Peter Marrack
In 1994, the group released a second single, "Get Down to It", from its album. The track appeared on the RPM Canadian Content chart for six weeks in April and May that year."RPM CanCon to Watch". RPM Magazine, Apr 18, 1994
Legacy Both of TBTBT member Jeromy Robison's sons have pursued a career in hip hop under the stage names of Casper TNG and K Money.
Discography Album Too Bad to be True (1993)
Singles "One-Track Mind" "Get Down to It"
References