Rare Essence, affectionately known by their fans as "THE WICKEDEST BAND ALIVE", grew from a relationship between four childhood friends: Quinten "Footz" Davidson, Andre "Whiteboy" Johnson, Michael "Funky Ned" Neal and John Jones. After school, the four young musicians would get together in each other's basements and play top forty hits from such influential bands like Parliament/Funkadelic, Cameo, and Confunkshun. Eventually the band adapted more players and conformed to the go-go sound that started in 1976.