Unsigned Hype: MC Mechanism & DJ Too Tuff

The subjects of The Source's August 1991 Unsigned Hype column were Philadelphians MC Mechanism and DJ Too Tuff. The latter was a member of the Tuff Crew, who came "back in action for the 90's with a fresh young talent on the mic". Mechanism came up on Lady B's hip hop radio show and has a "straight up hardcore North Philly rap" style. His "high-pitched voice" "comes off nicely with complex cadences that flow on and on".

A quick search of the two artists' names together shows that they never released any commercial material. However, unikone, with "courtesy of DJ Too Tuff", posted a song on Soundcloud by the duo, titled "Ultimate Break".



DJ Too Tuff's own Soundcloud account features the song "With the Quickness", produced by him and featuring Mechanism. It has 1986 in the title, but he writes 1989 in the description as the former date would most likely be too early for the group.



Searching MC Mechanism's name by itself turns up no results, meaning that he most likely never had a solo career. However, the description on "With the Quickness" states that Mecha made an uncredited guest appearance on Tuff Crew's 1989 album Back to Wreck Shop on the song "Come On & Go Off".

Though he appeared on Tuff Crew's first two albums, DJ Too Tuff had left the group by the time of their 1991 album Still Dangerous (also their last album), meaning that he thought embarking on a duo alongside MC Mechanism would bring him the success of his past group. However, it appears to have never come to fruition.

Note: Robbie Ettelson of unkut posted an interview he had with Too Tuff in 2015 on Medium that details Tuff's experiences with the Tuff Crew and his criminal troubles after the dissolution of the group that is definitely worth a read.