Arthur Russell, an influential avant-garde producer who died in 1992, briefly collaborated with Mark Sinclair—later known as actor Vin Diesel—in 1986 on a hip-hop track. Music industry figure Gary Lucas had encountered the teenage Sinclair years earlier rapping outside an ice cream parlor in Manhattan's West Village, and reconnected with him after his transformation into a more polished performer. Lucas arranged a studio session through Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records, pairing the experimental Russell with the aspiring rapper for beat production.

The pairing proved musically misaligned from the moment recording began. Russell's production style emphasised spontaneous freestyling, whilst Sinclair performed only pre-written, extensively rehearsed material that he'd refined through countless street performances. Unable to improvise over Russell's unconventional beats, Sinclair's delivery faltered through numerous takes. Russell ultimately abandoned the project, concluding the creative partnership couldn't function. Whilst Russell retained his legacy as an avant-garde icon, Sinclair pursued an enormously successful career in cinema, leaving their brief collaboration as an obscure artefact in the histories of both artists.