Fredro Starr

Fredro Starr
Background information
Birth name	Fredro Scruggs Jr.
Also known as	Freddy, Firestarr
Born	(1971-04-18) April 18, 1971
Origin	South Jamaica, Queens, New York, USA
Genres	East Coast hip hop, hardcore hip hop
Occupations	Rapper and actor
Years active	1988 – present
Labels	Mad Money
Associated acts	Onyx, Jam Master Jay, Yung Onyx, Outlawz, Layzie Bone, Mekhi Phifer, Silverback Guerillaz

Fred Scruggs (born April 18, 1971) better known by his stage name Fredro Starr, is an American rapper and actor from South Jamaica, Queens, New York best known as a member of hardcore hip hop group Onyx.

Music career

After being discovered by RunDMC and the late Jam Master Jay,^[1] Fredro Starr released six albums with Onyx. Onyx split with Def Jam Recordings after their 1998 release Shut 'Em Down & temporarily broke up. In 2001. Onyx reunited the next year and released Bacdafucup Part II.

Starr also contributed to the Sunset Park, Light It Up, and Save the Last Dance movie soundtracks. Starr released his debut solo album, Firestarr in 2001. Starr's next album, Don't Get Mad Get Money, arrived in 2003. He formed a new group called Yung Onyx in 2006, the group would later disband.

On May 13, 2013 Starr released his debut mixtape & 1st solo project in 10 years entitled Live 4ever Die 2day. On October 17, 2013 Fredro Starr revealed that he almost signed with Death Row Records

Other ventures

Acting career

Starr made his acting debut in Forest Whitaker's 1993 award-winning HBO drama Strapped, for which he earned a Cable ACE Best Supporting Actor nomination, in addition to several Onyx songs appearing on the soundtrack. Other film credits include Clockers, Sunset Park, Ride, Light It Up, and Save The Last Dance.

On television, Starr had a recurring role on Moesha as the title character's boyfriend and fiancé. He appeared in three episodes of HBO's The Wire as Marquis "Bird" Hilton. Starr co-hosted Paramount Domestic Television's daily half-hour urban dance competition, Dance 360, with actor Kel Mitchell. The program aired for one season in 2004 before being canceled due to poor ratings.

Starr also filmed guest appearances on NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Blade: The Series (in which Sticky Fingaz starred in the title role), and "Promised Land." He also played Ricky Gannon on a CSI: Miami episode that aired February 2, 2009.

He also appeared on New York Undercover in the episode entitled "Student Affairs."

Starr plays the lead in the independent feature-length film "Diamond Ruff," which had its premiere in Hartford, CT on November 1, 2013.

Controversy

50 Cent

There has been a low-level argument between Onyx member Fredro Starr and 50 Cent. According to the Rap News Network, 50 Cent started a confrontation with Fredro Starr at the 2003 Vibe Awards.^[2] In a 2003 interview Fredro Starr explained, "50 Cent basically started shit with me, started a scuffle, and a bodyguard broke us up. He's a punk. He's disrespectful to Jam Master Jay ever since he passed".^[2] In an interview with the Source magazine, Fredro Starr said that 50 Cent had been disrespectful towards the Onyx rap group even though Onyx had given him his first breakthrough on a song called "React" from the 1998 album, Shut 'Em Down.

DMX

On September 18, 2012 Fredro Starr rapped a freestyle that was aim at fellow pioneer New York rapper DMX with Fredro rapping "A lot of n*ggas think they Ironmen, they lying men," Fredro raps. "Just roll me in the lion's den, talking about real hip-hop, I am him, alot of haters want the fire to end, don't want the fire to wind/But I've got the fire and desire to win/Won't stop until I cop a f*cking flying Benz, this n*gga X talking sh*t right, if he ever try it again, huh, he be in front of the firing pen, if his crew front, be a lot of dying men, at the funeral, family and crying friends, let's get back to money, we go together like tire & rims, you wanna ball, we can go as high as the rim, So much weed smoke, time to call the fire men/We got the cocaine, n*gga, flying in, any way you want it, any way you need it, my n*ggas be supplying them, when the new J's came out, I was buying ten."^[3] On September 26, 2012 during a radio interview DMX responded to the diss by saying "Couldn’t even reach my knee, I am not worried about him, all he is a sitcom "Moesha" gangsta. He should just stick to being a reality gangsta cause that’s about all he’s good for."^[4]

Personal life

His cousin and fellow Onyx group member is Sticky Fingaz.

Fredro Starr married Croatian supermodel Korina Longin in 2007.^[5] Longin did not tell her parents of her intent to marry the hip-hop artist turned actor until after the nuptials took place. She posted her new status as a "Mrs" on her online profile by changing her name to Longin Starr and announcing that she married the rapper.

Solo Discography

Studio albums

• 2001: Firestarr
• 2003: Don't Get Mad Get Money
• 2013: Made In The Streets (with The Audible Doctor)^[6]
• 2014: Firestarr 2

References

External links

• Fredro Starr at the Internet Movie Database
• Fredro Starr on Myspace
• Fredro Starr at Allmusic.com
• Diamond Ruff The Movie