Berntony Smalls is the birth name of rapper Al’ Tariq. Formerly known as Kool Ass Fash/Fashion. Early on he was influenced by two classmates, one of which would go on to Iconic stardom, the original Cut Creator and LL Cool J. He was also mentored by behind the scenes DJing and Producing heavyweight, Drew Ski/Dr. Butcher. In 1990 he started his career as a solo artist working with Psycho Les and JuJu, who would become the production team The Beatnuts!