Born in
Brooklyn,
New York City to an
Afro-Jamaican father and
Indo-Jamaican mother, Ed was raised in
Flatbush before moving to
Canarsie, and is identified with
East Coast hip-hop. Ed attended
Erasmus Hall High School and
Samuel J. Tilden High School. At the age of fifteen, he established a rapport with his neighbor
Howie Tee, who worked with him on his demo. Ed's debut album
Youngest in Charge was released in 1989 and included the songs "I Got It Made", "Think About It" and "I'm The Magnificent", which were produced by "Hitman"
Howie Tee. In an interview with
Billboard (magazine) writer James Richliano, Special Ed, who co-wrote his songs, said that he, "used to like writing poetry and creative writing in school," and that he, "wrote a lot of lyrics that amused my teachers. Even when I was younger, I could kick a beat with my hands and rhyme at the same time." In 1990, Ed released his album
Legal, the title a reference to his turning eighteen, with the singles "Come On Let's Move It" and "The Mission". Ed was later a member of
Crooklyn Dodgers, a
supergroup put together in order to perform songs for the
Spike Lee films
Clockers and
Crooklyn, with the track "Freaky Flow" receiving a remix by
DJ Premier. In 2004, Ed released the album
Still Got It Made on his own label, Semi. Ed appeared in the film
Ganked, alongside
Kel Mitchell of
Kenan and Kel, and had an uncredited cameo in
Juice. ==Discography==