Swizz Beatz honored his grandmother’s legacy in a tribute post, revealing she came up with the name for the legendary Hip-Hop crew Ruff Ryders.
On Tuesday (August 26), the Grammy-winning producer posted a photo of his grandmother, Sandra Dean, sitting confidently on a massive bike alongside his uncle Joaquin “Waah” Dean, co-founder of Ruff Ryders Entertainment.
The image, taken Sunday (August 24), was paired with a caption that gave credit where it was long overdue.
“My grandmother is the one who named Ruff Ryders and she’s still riding high in these NY streets Ahumduallah. DEAN FAMILY 4 LIFE,” Swizz wrote. He added, “She still outside.”
View this post on Instagram
Swizz Beatz’s Uncle Reveals Origin Of Ruff Ryders Name
The Ruff Ryders brand, which launched in 1988 as an artist management company, later became a powerhouse label and lifestyle movement, home to acts like DMX, Eve, The LOX and Swizz himself.
But the name? That came straight from Sandra Dean’s living room.
In a 2017 interview, Waah Dean recalled the moment the name was born. “I was at my mother’s house and I said to her, ‘This Special Effects name don’t really work for me, I don’t really feel this name. Let’s find a name that makes sense.’ And then I was watching a Black cowboy movie at the foot of her bed.”
He continued, “I looked at my mother and I said, ‘there it is. Look at us Ruff Riders.’ And then my mother said ‘ride or die.’ I said ‘that’s what we’re going to do. And that’s how that was discovered.’”
Sandra Dean, mother to Waah and grandmother to Swizz, spoke in a 2022 interview about the family’s musical roots and how her children’s passion for sound was inherited.
“They all like music because I like music and their father likes music, so I think they got it from us and they just took it to another level,” she said. “Then the three of them got together and made history. You can see where the music is, and it’s in their heart.”
Waah co-founded Ruff Ryders Entertainment with his siblings Darrin “Dee” Dean and Chivon Dean. The brand would come to define an era of late ’90s and early 2000s Hip-Hop.