Triple Beam – Conspiracy : Classic West Coast Hip-Hop

Black Market Records has been the starting point of several successful artists from Sacramento, CA. Triple Beam is one of those success stories that you might have missed.

Triple Beam consisted of rappers Shotgun, Pook, and Chopah. Their first Black Market Records release was the 1999 album 28g’s w/o the bag. The album featured heavy hitters such as Keak Da Sneak, Spice 1, and label mates Mr. Doctor and Brotha Lynch Hung. The album was a commercial success and sold over 20,000 units during early release. This brought major fame, attention and growing pains. These elements can be hard to balance – even for seasoned artists.

Their 2000 sophomore album, Conspiracy was a highly anticipated follow-up to their successful debut. The album featured artists such as Yukmouth and Knumskull from the Luniz; and Bootsy Collins. It also features a remix to the “Parking Lot Pimpin'” single featuring Knumskull. The pressure was on for a successful follow-up but conflicts with Black Market happened early during the album release. The album sold over 13,000 units during the initial release. This was an impressive accomplishment for an independent group at the time but, not as successful as the first.

The group separated from Black Market Records and formed their own label called A1 Entertainment. In 2002, they released 36 Zips and in 2010, they released Still Hustlin.

Group member Chopah, actually remained signed Black Market Records and released his successful solo project Troublemaker, in 2003. It featured artists such as; B-Legit, E-40, and Yukmouth and Knumskull from the Luniz. It even featured Black Market alumni Homicide and group Triple Beam group mates Shotgun and Pook.