Foesum is an American hip hop group from Long Beach, California whose members include T-Dubb, MNMSTA and DJ Glaze. They recorded their first album on Penalty/Tommy Boy Records called “Perfection” which was released on October 22, 1996.
Ten years prior to their debut album release, DJ Glaze and MNMSTA had a DJ group called Perfection made up of friends from their neighborhood. Perfection performed at dozens of school events and house parties in the city. By 1989, the group had recruited over 10 members. By the end of their senior year in high school, DJ Glaze and MNMSTA came up with the idea to produce their own hip hop record. Travvy Trav, the oldest member of the group helped to purchase a Roland 808 drum machine and found rapper Domino (Ghetto Jam). With a 4-track recorder, two turntables and the 808 they started recording. Tender D, now known as Wayniac of The Twinz (Warren G) was added to the group by T-Dubb and Travvy Trav, who are actually first cousins. After many disappointments and some personality conflicts, Domino eventually left the group. This sparked a song collaboration with now famous Long Beach rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg called “Let ‘Em Understand Perfection” on a compilation album called “Please Pass The Mic” which was a diss track aimed at Domino. This explains one of the lines by Snoop in Dr. Dre‘s “Nuthin’ But a G Thang“ song, “Perfection is perfected, so I let ’em understand“.
In 1991, Perfection met Big Wes and Suge Knight who at the time were bodyguards for New Edition. Big Wes was starting his own label, Lockdown Records and took an interest in the group. After a few months, the name Perfection was dropped and was replaced with Foesum. Foesum (slang for “Foursome”) would consist of four members: T-Dubb, Wayniac, MNMSTA and DJ Glaze. Foesum recorded an entire album at Solar Records, home of legendary groups Lakeside, the Whispers and Babyface. With little possibility of securing a major record deal, Foesum was inactive for about a year, but then in 1992, member Wayniac was approached by Warren G who needed help writing his album Regulate…The G Funk Era. Eventually, Wayniac teamed up with his brother, Trip Loc and formed a group called “The Twinz” immediately signing a record deal with Def Jam Records. In the meantime, DJ Glaze, MNMSTA and T-Dubb would continue to record. They decided to keep the name Foesum and considered Travvy Trav (who unfortunately passed away in 1989) as the fourth member.
In 1994, Foesum met Tony G and Julio G of the 1580 AM KDAY Mixmasters through Kid Frost. At the time, Ruthless Records CEO, Eazy E asked Julio G to host The Ruthless Radio Show on 92.3 The Beat in Los Angeles. In just a few weeks with the help of Tony G, Foesum recorded their songs “Lil Somethin’ Somethin’” and “Listen To The Sound.” The songs caught the ear of Eazy E as well as music executive Kevin Mitchell in New York who was able to pitch a deal with Big Beat/Atlantic Records. Foesum eventually signed an album deal with Atlantic Records in January 1995. The first single, “Lil Somethin’ Somethin’” was released in the summer of 1995 on Big Beat/Atlantic Records and received major play on the video show “The Box” and LA radio stations 92.3 The Beat, Power 106 and KMEL in the Bay. The album, “Perfection” was eventually released on Penalty Records/Tommy Boy in the Fall of 1996. Since then, Foesum has worked on a number of new independent albums, solo projects and collaborations with artists and producers around the world.
Since 1996 Foesum has toured around the world and released a number of independent albums through various record labels and distributors.
In 2023, Foesum shot a video for their classic song “In The Wind” off the Perfection album. Check out the video here! They have reconnected and are now active on all social media platforms as @foesumofficial
In January 2024, member T-Dubb unexpectedly passed away leaving MNMSTA and DJ Glaze to keep his legacy alive and the Foesum franchise going. Foesum released “International Collaborations”, a collection of songs they’ve recorded with artists and producers all over the world in February 2024. The new album entitled “Two Thousand Twenty Foesum” is scheduled to come out later in the year.
