A few years ago, my friend Chris was telling me about his life-long friend, Stoney Sharp, who had moved from Florida to LA and was making music videos. If you’re from Southern California (or probably New York), you’re well familiar with people’s “friends” who are “in” the entertainment industry, and how the introduction of one of these friends to your life usually means you’ll be suffering through a godawful one-man/woman-show before long or being asked to read a script. Since I am from Southern California, I squirmed a little and rolled my eyes subtly while agreeing to watch what I expected to be an amateur video on the Internets.

I believe the thump as I fell from my high horse that evening was audible, and Stoney’s videos wound up introducing me to two of my favorite rap groups of all time, both based in LA: 8-Bit and Ugly Duckling.

The other night, Chris showed me a new video Stoney and some other friends had just launched on www.funnyordie.com. It inspired me to share here the 8-Bit and Ugly Duckling videos I love so much and to point you towards Ghetto Rich on FunnyOrDie.com, where Stoney and friends are collecting votes towards… something. I’m not sure what the equity is there, but I am sure you’ll enjoy these:

I-deez

Smack!

Ghetto Rich