Steele (birth name
Darrell A. Yates, Jr.) is an
American rapper, famous as half of the underground rap duo
Smif-N-Wessun, and as a member of
Hip Hop supergroup
Boot Camp Clik. Steele and
Smif-N-Wessun partner
Tek made their debut on
Black Moon's classic 1993 album
Enta Da Stage on the tracks
"Black Smif-N-Wessun" and
"U Da Man". The duo was signed to
Buckshot's
Duck Down management, and released their debut single
"Bucktown" in 1994, followed by their debut album
Dah Shinin' in early 1995. The release was influential over the
New York Hip Hop scene of the mid-90s and is now hailed as a rap classic. The duo soon changed their name to the
Cocoa Brovaz due to a lawsuit from the
Smith & Wesson firearms company, and released their second album
The Rude Awakening in 1998, featuring the singles
"Won on Won",
"Black Trump" and
"Bucktown USA". After the temporary demise of
Duck Down Records, the duo signed to
Rawkus Records, and appeared on a number of Rawkus releases, including the
Soundbombing II compilation, the
Lyricist Lounge 2 compilation, the
Lyricist Lounge III compilation and
Talib Kweli's
Quality album. The duo returned to
Duck Down Records for a 2002
Boot Camp Clik effort
The Chosen Few. In 2004, Steele released a solo mixtape titled
Amerikkka's Nightmare, a release which was heavily politically influenced. Tek and Steele returned as
Smif-N-Wessun in 2005 for the release of their third album
Smif 'N' Wessun: Reloaded. Steele is featured on the
Boot Camp Clik album
The Last Stand, released on July 18, 2006. In 2010 Steele released
Amerikkka's Nightmare Part 2, which again featured heavily political lyrical content. Steele is also the older brother of fellow Boot Camp member,
Top Dog, who is part of the
Originoo Gunn Clappaz.