The Nonce

The Nonce was a rap duo from Los Angeles, California that were active in the 1990s (releasing material from 1992 to 1999). As part of the Project Blowed collective, working with Aceyalone, amongst others, they developed a reputation for smooth, jazzy, classy production, complimented by laid-back, smart rhymes (paying homage to the Old School Rappers they grew up off of in the mid-80’s)

The members of the group were Nouka Basetype (a.k.a. Sach) and Yusef Afloat.

1992 saw the release of the groups first single, The Picnic Song. The group slotted in between spaces made by other luminaries such as The Pharcyde, Freestyle Fellowship & A Tribe Called Quest, but it was to be nearly a further 2 years (due to internal wrangling with the label) until the duo would release their biggest single to date, Mixtapes in 1994.

In 1995 a full length album, World Ultimate, was released on Rick Rubins American Recordings label. The album is currently out of print. In 2005, to commemorate the 10 year anniversary, a Japanese re-issue surfaced in limited quantities. There are also plans to re-issue the album on Vinyl in the future. As of 2008, no official re-issue has surfaced.
After World Ultimate came an EP, The Sight Of Things in 1998. In 2005, previously unreleased material from The Nonce was issued in the form of two compilations: Advanced Regression and The Right State of Mind.

Nouka Basetype, now known as Sach, began to release solo material from 1998 with the cassette only album Seven Days To Egineer. He followed that up in 2002 with the Mary Joy released LP, Suckas Hate Me. 2005 saw the release of his 3rd solo album, Sach 5th Ave.

On May 21st, 2000, Yusef «Afloat» Muhammad was found dead on the side of Freeway 110 in Los Angeles, he was 28 years old. The cause of his death is still unknown.

The Nonce were mentioned by Chicago group All Natural, on their underground hit Renaissance, featuring Lone Catalysts.

«With the pen, we ascend, on air like The Nonce…»

Making reference to the track «On The Air» from the album World Ultimate.