Hailing from the San Bernardino area, Shaki took the name MC Shaki as he began getting into hip-hop scene in the late 80's. Through a family friend, he was able to record his first demo You Know It at Groove Time Record's in-house studio. His track soon appeared on the Inland Empire Rapp Syndicate mixtape in 1988. Several years later he resurfaced through a deal with Eazy-E's Ruthless Records as the label was in search for new artists after the NWA split up. Shaki then adopted the name Dirty Red where he was featured on various albums with Eazy-E, Menajahtwa, and Kokane. In 1997 Shaki starred in the independent film Underground where he played an upcoming rap artist. Although his lyrical delivery was highly praised among many, his career never took off largely because of legal problems.