COld Ice Europe Malta

CREW IN ACTION ''C.I.A ''.............. COLD ICE formed C.I.A (CREW IN ACTION) in 1991 with school friends CRUSH (Darren g.purkiss), WARLORD (Anthony galea), HIGHLANDER (Kenneth cassar) . From inception C.I.A gathered a following, new members joined in. And the core group grew constantly. Among the new additions where RAGGA FX (Anthony camilleri) and THE CANIDIANS CREW Kevin Schembri, Gordon Mamo, Joe Mamo, Chris Camilleri, BASSMAN (kenneth il canadiz) ,CRIMINAL X (eddie criminale), and MIKE THE FLY and Claire, Vicky, marija and charmaine all joined the C.I.A. IN 1992 . Many others from all around the island where allowed to join in, ICE-D (Darren) , ICE-BREAK (chris xopi) , COOL D (Ivan Sant), B-FINE, and RAGGA M.C. (Thomas Ormond) . All this was happening around 1993. Smaller satellite groups where forming and where a constant addition to the main C.I.A crew. Among these where caroline miruzzi , Audrey farrugia, mariella ,BISHOP , STEEL, BEAT-M (joe zarb) , Julie Verpoort, ICE-CAP ,FADDY, WEBER, GHIGO, Malcolm Johnathan Grech, TRIB (neil galea demarco) , VIGO and the CRACK-X duo consisting of ICE-K and PANZI . At around mid-1994 C.I.A had reached a solid set-up of more than 40 core and non-core members. However at this stage the crew did not attempt any musical venture C.I.A was more about introducing the b-boy lifestyle in Malta than anything else. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IN 1994 COLD ICE and BEAT M formed what is considered as Malta ’s first hip hop band, D.O.P (DAYS OF PAYBACK). The set-up was a basic one with COLD ICE as main MC and lyricist and BEAT-M on backing vocals, sampling, programming and producing. Local Axis accredited dancers TRIB and VIGO joined ranks as stage performers. The style the band adopted was a compromise more than anything. The band quickly re-organized and with the introduction of Italian producer JAAZ a mildly heavier trio set–up was achieved. After several freestyle sessions and some studio practice the band hit the recording studio to deliver the demo tape ‘I EXPLODE’ and 'JUMP'. Two songs where on this tape with Cold Ice providing main vocals, JAAZ and BEAT-M performed as backing vocals. Producing was shared between the band and co-produced by local production guru ANDREW ZAMMIT at TONE STUDIOS in b’kara. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the meantime CIA was growing faster than ever. Many new faces joined in, DOUBLE D, BODYBUILDER, Stefan , MESS-AGE, TOCC, CHAMP-K, the TWINS and MAX-D where the first newcomers.. By late-1994 two smaller units where integrated. The first one consisted of DUKE, CRIME, CLAN ,TUTU and Graham. The second one was the trio made up of MC WALL (Wallace zammit), Amy Farrugia , Bernie Falzon, ICY-A (alastair mallia) and FLAVE( brian agius). Summer of 1994 was also memorable since the first hip hop parties in Malta where getting organized.... By early-1995 CIA had grew exponentially and a 60 strong posse was now a reality. The crew gained fame around the local clubbing and nightlife circuit and members where on the increase. More b-boys joined forces with C.I.A., Cedric Farrugia, Eliza Farrugia, REDKID (clint grima), T-FLEX (philip chetcuti), WAVE and Marco it taljan and joe (josephine) farrugia potter where the next to be added to the list.. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAYS OF PAYBACK ''D.O.P''.............. IN 1996 CIA members where increasing consistently as more people joined in, HUNTER (ramon azzopardi), GROOVE, JOINT (jonathan bezzina), ZGI, FRESH-T (rudi mifsud bonnici), CHICO and BUGNY , TIGER (errol sammut), ATOMIC (daryl psaila), MZA, Etienne Licari, ALAN CURMI, PAMELA (Pamela psaila), NICKY B BARTHET, Carl Cini, WILLY, B.J. (morgan chetcuti) ,WAVE, MICRO (simon b barthet), PSYCHO (warren magro), R-THUG, JUNKY, UFO, SHANNON ZAMMIT , BRANDON ZAMMIT, LIA GATT, LEESA AZALEA and LOCO(ramon farrugia) where the next lot of b-boys to enter CIA.....even some members from the sliema posse THE SANITERIUM joined in , PETE and a few others... Finally IN 1995 Malta had it’s own b-boy subculture and Rap/ Hip Hop music were acknowledged and given space in clubs..HAVANA was the first club dedicated to HIPHOP thanks to COLD ICE and the C.I.A..... in 1996,C.I.A. released the mega hit Classic album ''RADJU BIDWI'' which sold more than 5000 copies in Malta and gozo. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The year 1997 was another success story for CIA as the crew was recognized country-wide as a strong and real posse.....More interesting members joined the crew, brothers Carlo borg and Sandro borg , DINESH , Giacomo Muscat, and Canadians BIGGIE (Anthony azzopardi) and CHILLY became part of the crew in 1998. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Around 1999 the Knights opened in MARSASCALA and this helped the group to build a strong hold in the south. This was emphasized with the birth of the SouthKillas Crew a crew that included bboys and bgals, graffitti artists and the group Gunstaz Crew - DJ Black Jungle, LISMILLEY , Psycho, D Man, Dyer(RIP) , lepho, iloys, cedric, ic cypess, lisparky and Stone. They gave a live performance at the Knights Club in Mscala around November 1999. The group brought together people from Paola, Tarxien, Zabbar, Cottonera, B'Bugia and M'Scala --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New members joined CIA in 1999 ,this time the hip hop crew from B’bugia, DRU (Andrew Bugeja), EMILIO, CLINT ,ruben, zimba, and BONGI (david bongailas). In the year 2000 COLD ICE reformed D.O.P again this time with new members HOOLIGAN (Johnston), BUGLY B, MACK 11 (Graham Coleiro ) , FREAK, LUKE and G FORCE.