Urban Dance Squad first got together in 1986, at a jam session in De Vrije Vloer, a club in Utrecht, a jam which resulted in the first Dutch rock band with a rapper (they borrowed the name from
Parliament-Funkadelic's
Urban Dancefloor Guerillas); a song, "Struggle for Jive"; and the blending of white and black music in the Netherlands, at the same time that
Fishbone,
Living Colour,
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Faith No More, and the
Beastie Boys were doing the same in the United States. The band recorded its first album,
Mental Floss for the Globe, in Brussels in 1989 (produced by
Jean-Marie Aerts, of
TC Matic), and came to instant success. It won an
Edison Award, and the single "
Deeper Shade of Soul" was a hit in Europe, and in the United States, where it charted at number 21 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Two more singles were released from the album, and Urban Dance Squad toured the US in 1991, opening for Living Colour. The UDS had always been a volatile unit with the band members frequently arguing, and this came to a head while touring as the opening act for
U2, after the release of ''
Life 'n Perspectives of a Genuine Crossover'', when DJ DNA quit abruptly. In the middle of the band's career, to capitalize on the success of
grunge and
alternative rock, Urban Dance Squad released
Persona Non Grata in January 1994. All of the tracks feature heavy use of distortion and guitar. The singles "No Honestly" and "Candy Strip Exp." were released, the latter single being released as a radio edit that cuts most of the pre-song noise.
Artantica saw release in 1999, and was a return to the band's hip-hop roots, and received critical acclaim. Urban Dance Squad disbanded the following year, though they did perform together again as late as 2006. == Musical style and influence ==