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Notable People

 

Here’s the best-supported public list I could verify for the specific NYCHA Soundview Houses — not just the wider Soundview neighborhood. Important note: sources often mix up Soundview Houses with Soundview the neighborhood and nearby NYCHA developments like Bronxdale/Sotomayor, Bronx River, Monroe, Sack Wern, Castle Hill, etc. NYCHA Soundview Houses itself is the 13-building development on two superblocks in Soundview. 1

Confirmed / strongly supported

  1. Darcel D. Clark — Bronx County District Attorney; former judge. Her official Bronx DA bio says she was “raised in the Soundview Houses,” and she became the 13th Bronx District Attorney on January 1, 2016. 2

  2. The Jazzy Five MCs / Jazzy 5 — pioneering early hip-hop group connected with Afrika Bambaataa and the 1981 Tommy Boy single “Jazzy Sensation.” Multiple hip-hop histories identify the group as coming from or forming in the Soundview Houses / Soundview Projects. Publicly named members associated with the group include Master Ice, Master Dee, Master Bee, A.J. Les, Mr. Freeze / Chuckie Chuck / Charles Foushee, with earlier/associated members such as MC Sundance / Leon Heyward and Charlie Choo. 3

  3. Lord Tariq / Sean Hamilton — rapper best known from Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz and the hit “Deja Vu (Uptown Baby).” He was also part of the Money Boss Players; hip-hop sources describe Money Boss Players as a Soundview projects crew, and AllMusic identifies Lord Tariq as a Money Boss Players member. 4

  4. Money Boss Players — Bronx hip-hop crew associated with Soundview; members commonly listed include Lord Tariq, Big Ah, C-Dubb, Eddie Cheeba, Tre Bag/Trey Bag, and producer Minnesota Money Boss. Sources describe the crew as South Bronx/Soundview-connected and significant in ’90s underground Bronx rap. 5

  5. Minnesota / Minnesota Money Boss — hip-hop producer/rapper and Money Boss Players founder/member, known for production work with artists including Big Pun, Mos Def, Sadat X, Grand Puba, Lil’ Kim, and others; Complex calls him a “Soundview legend.” 6

  6. Peter “Pistol Pete” Rollack / Rollock — notorious founder/leader associated with Sex Money Murder. This is “notable” in the notorious/criminal-history sense: sources on the SMM true-crime book and DOJ materials tie SMM’s rise to the Soundview housing projects / Soundview Housing Projects, with Rollack as a central figure. 7

Often linked to Soundview, but not clearly the specific NYCHA Soundview Houses

  • Big Pun — very strongly tied to Soundview and sometimes described as from the “Soundview projects,” but better-known biographical summaries usually say he grew up in the Soundview neighborhood or on/near Commonwealth Avenue, not definitively inside NYCHA Soundview Houses. 8
  • KRS-One — tied to Soundview, but sources say he lived in a group home on Lacombe Avenue near Soundview Houses, not necessarily inside Soundview Houses. 9
  • Yaphet Kotto — some local lists claim he grew up in Soundview Houses, but stronger public sources usually only verify the Bronx/Soundview connection, so I wouldn’t count him as confirmed. 10
  • Wesley Snipes — linked to Soundview in some sources, but not reliably to the NYCHA Soundview Houses specifically. 9

People from nearby Soundview-area projects — not Soundview Houses

I would not count these as NYCHA Soundview Houses people: Sonia Sotomayor from Bronxdale/Sotomayor Houses, Afrika Bambaataa from Bronx River Houses, Kemba Walker from Sack Wern Houses, Ed Pinckney from Monroe Houses, Drag-On/Disco King Mario/Andre Harrell from Bronxdale/Sotomayor-area sources, and The Cru from Lafayette/Boynton/Lafayette Houses area. The Soundview neighborhood has many NYCHA developments, which is why lists online often get blended together.