Rapper, emcee Positive K, was born on August 9, 1967, in the Bronx, New York, as Darryl Gibson. He was originally a member of the rap group, Five-Percent Nation and then he joined the rap group Almighty God Committee from Queens, rapping under pseudonym Positive Knowledge Allah. Positive K began his solo career as a rapper in 1986, with his debut Hip Hop album Fast Money for a small label, Star Maker Records.
In 1987, Positive K signed to Nat Robinson’s First Priority Music label. Positive K’s 1989 duet with rapper MC Lyte on the single, “I’m Not Havin’ It” was his first song to be listed on a Billboard music chart (Billboard’s RapHip-Hop chart).
In 1992, Positive K’s full-length debut album on Island Records, The Skills Dat Pay Da Bills, peaked at no. 4 on Billboard’s Heatseekers album chart, no. 50 on Billboard’s R&B Album chart and no. 168 on the Billboard 200 Album chart. It sold more than 500,000 copies. “Night Shift Positive K,” the leading single from the album, peaked at no. 10 R&B and no. 101 Billboard Hot 100. US. However, the most successful single from The Skills Dat Pay Da Bills, was “I Got a Man” which peaked at no. 1 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, no.14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and no. 17 on Billboard Hot Rap Singles in 1993. His follow up single, “Carhoppers” peaked only at no. 101 R&B but it remained on the chart for 24 weeks.
Positive K appeared in a cameo role in the film A Bronx Tale and with Beavis and Butt-Head on The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience in a remix of “Come to Butthead.” In 1997, he released “Black Cinderella,” which reached no. 92 on Billboard Hot R&B Singles and stayed charted for five weeks. Nine years later (2006) he appeared on rapper Nas’ “Where Are They Now” ’90s remix.
In 2008, Positive K’s compilation album Back to the Old School was released under the EchoVista label. In 2015, he collaborated with Greg Nice on his song “Make It Happen,” and two years later, in 2017, they teamed for the single, “Bring It. Afterward, they called themselves individually PK Dolla and N.I. and collectively Gr8te Mindz. However, their singles are still marketed and sold online under the artists names “Positive K and Greg Nice.”
In 2019, Positive K left First Priority Music label and began working closely with rapper/producer Big Daddy Kane.
