D.U. and the Golden Era of Va Hip-Hop

Ok they say a picture is worth 1,000 words but this is one of a few I can think of that's worth a few thousand at least.
Shoutout to the homie Ahmed Rahman aka lil Roc for digging this one up.
The brothers in this photo with me are members of the legendary Disorganized Union collective along with several other members not pictured here.
D.U. was the 1st hip-hop collective of it's size in Richmond and one of RVA's defining crews. If you know the history of Va hip-hop you know how important this picture is.
And check me out on the far left with my young roots lol...
Classic.
P.S. missing from the pic are Jo Doja, Pedro aka (R.I.P.), Dishaun (R.I.P.), D-Rhythm, Gary aka Demi, Duane Brannon aka Dzine Detail my man Andre Christian and my brother Manu Moss who were also members at one point or another.

Much love to the business owners, Dj's and journalists involved at the time because they are were and still are a major force driving the central Va hip-hop scene, allowing us outlets, venues and opportunities to flourish... Brother's like Artie Jefferson, owner of the legendary Phono Booth Records and Tapes which was probably the most important location during the early stages of this Va Hip-Hop movement for too many reasons to mention but among them were meeting and sharing the stage with world famous Hip-Hop Legends such as Notorious BIG, Wutang, Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes and countless others as well as all the local legends like Elbravador Filmworks, Dj-Sir Rj, Dj Spade Haynes, @Dj Smooth aka Martinez Kelley, Kirby Carmichael, the real Dj Stormin Norman, Chris Brooks, Craig Belcher, legendary promoters like The Great Hosea Fox, Steve K Branch and others who gave credible local artists a spotlight when REAL promoters would book (and pay) local acts that put on the best representation of the local talent rather than selling slots to the higher bidder to pay for the main act lol.
There was also some overlapping between D.U. and the other major collectives due to us all having connections in our various areas with other artists.The SupaFriendz collective incorporated some of our members thru our long time affiliation with Skillz, Derrick Barbour, Kalonji the immortal, Lonnie Battle who I met at Nite World as the Dj for Jeff Session & Jamie Alston aka D.U.C. (managed by William Spain), and Mike Street while I linked up with my H.P. & SS connections along with the homies Kendell aka DogRilla (R.I.P.) Wig2z and Cloud 9 artists Boog Hood, Clifton Lewis, Jamal Woodson, Dario September Slim along with extended family such as Terry Tredd Battle, Bronce Lewis, Telly Owens and others Forming the Legendary Bloody Reign crew which collaborated on several occasions with the union and together these collectives defined the central Va sound in what will eventually become known as Va's golden era.
Edit- I also wanna shout out some others in the extended creative family that made relevant contributions during that era such as Bill McGee, Derrick Freake Williams, Michael Funkmotor Braxton, Frazel Harris owner of Power Rec, Cash Clay & Midnite Butcha aka The Highlanders, Dj Ramon Allen , Carlton Barfield and Keith Barfield of the legendary NSPOT along with Kalonji, Sha-Born, Chad Morris and Dah Campbell of Tribe of Juda & The GodFellaz.