Blazin' Squad

Career

Blazin' Squad put out several white label singles on the Weighty Plates label, all built around remixes of the track "Standard Flow" from their album In the Beginning. Ras Kwarme and Origin Unknown handled the remixes, and one version featured Jamaican dancehall artist Elephant Man on guest vocals. Even though these were underground white label releases, "Standard Flow" moved enough copies to become the group's first Top 100 entry, peaking at number 78 on the chart dated 17 August 2002 and staying in the countdown for three weeks.

The band's official debut came with a cover of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's "Crossroads" on Warner Music's East West Records label. That single became their first to crack the UK Top 40, landing straight at number one on the UK Singles Chart of 31 August 2002. The track was heavily re-recorded and barely kept any of the original lyrics. The media gave it a rough ride, with some critics saying the group's rap skills were "not to be taken seriously" and others writing them off as only for a younger crowd. Still, their debut album In the Beginning went gold in the UK and spun off two more top ten hits: "Love on the Line" and the double A-side "Reminisce/Where the Story Ends". The album itself got generally poor reviews. AllMusic's Jon O'Brien called them the "self-proclaimed pioneers of chav culture."

In 2003, the group kept up their chart run with two more top five singles. "We Just Be Dreamin'" hit number three in July, and "Flip Reverse"—co-written by former member Liam D'Souza—reached number two in November. That track was used to relaunch Top of the Pops, with a special performance filmed outside the BBC Television Centre featuring about 100 hooded back-up dancers. But the singles' success didn't carry over to the second album, Now or Never, which only made it to number 36 on the UK Albums Chart. A live DVD of a Liverpool concert came out for Christmas 2003 but sold poorly and didn't boost album sales. The third single from Now or Never, "Here 4 One", peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart in early 2004, but sales weren't enough to land the group a third album deal.