The group was named Spoonie Gee and the Treacherous Three when Jackson returned for a period before going solo. The group added Special K as a member when Jackson left to record his first single.

Jackson was a founding member of the Treacherous Three, along with L.A. He then recorded for Robinson's Enjoy! Records, his first release for the label being the similarly minimalistic 'Love Rap' (on which he was accompanied on Congas by his brother Pooche Costello), issued on the B-side of the Treacherous Three's 'New Rap Language' (on which he also featured), leading to his early nickname of 'The Love Rapper'. Spoonie Gee has been described as 'the original gangster rapper'. Spoonie's name was suggested, and he recorded 'Spoonin' Rap', which was released on Brown's Sound Of New York, USA imprint, featuring a lyric that included jailhouse references that would later become common in Gangsta rap, and with echo applied to vocals in a similar way to many Jamaican deejay records. His first recording came about after Peter Brown visited Robinson's record store and mentioned that he was looking to make a rap record. His mother died when he was twelve years old, and he went to live with his uncle, the record producer Bobby Robinson, in whose apartment he began to practice rapping. Jackson was born in Harlem, New York City, receiving his 'Spoonie' nickname as a child because the spoon was the only utensil that he used to eat with.

Spoonie gee