The Force MDs originally called itself the L.D.s, then the Force MCs, but ultimately preferred MD, which is short for musical diversity. Though the group wasn't quite always as recognizable as other New York R&B acts when it first started, the Force MDs were among the first R&B vocal groups to intermix doo-wop-affected consonances with hip-hop beats. When the group began performing as the L.D.s on Greenwich Village street corners and the Staten Island ferry, the group was comprised of brothers Stevie D.