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Hussain Yoosuf, better known by his stage name Spek, is a Canadian hip hop musician. He is best known for his singles "Smell the Coffee" and "I'm a Hippie". He is a former member of the Canadian hip hop pioneers, Dream Warriors, and, more recently, known for his work as an entrepreneur and music publisher.
Spek started rapping at the age of 14 in his hometown of Montreal. He joined the hip hop group Dream Warriors shortly after the release of their hit songs "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style" and "Wash Your Face in My Sink".
At the age of 17, he signed a worldwide record contract with EMI and toured the world before settling in London. Spek soon found himself touring across Europe with the British jazz-rap crew Us3. Working with his musical partner Brian Rose, he collaborated with members of Jamiroquai and with Nitin Sawhney. Sawhney's album, Beyond Skin, featuring Spek was highly praised by Sting and Madonna, won the South Bank Album Award and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. He appeared on the BBC TV programme Later... with Jools Holland .
Spek's songs were used in advertising campaigns by Nokia and Fox Entertainment Group and in the DreamWorks Pictures 2004 comedy Envy . Spek's single, "Smell the Coffee", was used several times in the Old Vic in EastEnders .
The Times described his music as "a gentle and genial collection of dreamy love songs and street smart hip hop grooves". Loaded magazine described his album, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, as "like Prince and De La Soul in a mucky mudwrestle. Exceptional," and gave it 10 out of 10.
In 2003, Spek was asked to co-host the Juno Awards.
His "Look Me Up" video was voted number one on MTV UK's Daily Chart Live. His "I'm a Hippie" single was a hit in Canada.
In 2005, Spek was cast in a lead role in the UK/European independent feature film Nefarious, starring with the Danish star Kim Bodnia and others. Playing a dual, he also wrote the film's soundtrack and score with his longtime collaborator Brian Rose. The film was screened at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2006, Spek began development of his next film project, Fricky Khan, about a Sri Lankan motorcycle racer and multiple Grand Prix winner who died at a young age. The story is based on the life of his uncle.
After years of working as a recording artist, writer, composer, producer and music publishing executive, Spek moved to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in 2007 to establish the first music publisher in the United Arab Emirates. As managing director, partner and co-founder of Fairwood Music (Arabia), Spek pioneered respect for musical copyrights in the Middle East, handling some of the world's leading music catalogues for the Middle East and North Africa including those of Universal Music Publishing Group and EMI Music Publishing. [1]
In 2011, Spek launched a new firm, PopArabia, supported by the Abu Dhabi government initiative twofour54. PopArabia represents the music publishing catalogs of Sony ATV, EMI Music Publishing, Kobalt Music, Concord Music, Peermusic and others. [2] PopArabia connects international stakeholders seeking opportunities in the Middle East and those in the Middle East seeking access to world class music.
In January 2015, it was announced that Spek would move to New York, taking on a new role as the senior vice president, creative and A&R at the New York City music publisher Reservoir Media Management.
Spek continues to release music independently. In September 2019, he performed his song "Pilgrim" with his friend and collaborator Nitin Sawhney to a sold-out audience at the Royal Albert Hall for the 20th anniversary of Sawhney's breakthrough album Beyond Skin. Spek is also featured on Sawhney's album, Immigrants, featured on the single Lifeline released in July 2020.
In February 2020, it was announced that Spek had returned to the UAE, focused on opportunities in emerging markets.
Eric B. & Rakim are an American hip hop duo formed on Long Island, New York, in 1986, composed of DJ Eric B. and rapper Rakim. They first received acclaim for their 1987 debut album Paid in Full, which featured versions of the popular singles "Eric B. Is President" and the title track. They followed with three successful albums: Follow the Leader (1988), Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990), and Don't Sweat the Technique (1992).
Jazz rap is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music, as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre, that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of the past with a newly dominant form of the present, paying tribute to and reinvigorating the former while expanding the horizons of the latter." The rhythm was rooted in hip hop over which were placed repetitive phrases of jazz instrumentation: trumpet, double bass, etc. Groups involved in the formation of jazz rap included A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Gang Starr, The Roots, Jungle Brothers, and Dream Warriors.
Christopher Edward Martin, known professionally as DJ Premier, is an American DJ and record producer. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr—alongside the rapper Guru—and presently forms half of the hip hop duo PRhyme, together with Royce da 5'9".
Fred Lee Scruggs Jr., better known by his stage name Fredro Starr, is an American rapper and actor best known as a member of the hardcore rap group Onyx. Fredro Starr was discovered by the late hip hop star Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. who signed Onyx on his label JMJ Records. Onyx went on to release three top selling albums before Fredro began his solo career. As a part of Onyx, Fredro Starr was nominated as "Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop New Artist" on American Music Awards of 1994 and won "Best Rap Album" on 1994 Soul Train Music Awards.
Tamer Nafar is a Palestinian rapper, actor, screenwriter and social activist of Israeli citizenship. He is the leader and a founding member of DAM, the first Palestinian hip hop group.
Erik Francis Schrody, known by his stage names Everlast and Whitey Ford is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter who was the frontman for hip hop group House of Pain. His breakthrough as a solo artist came in 1998 with his album Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, which blended rock and hip-hop and garnered him his first Grammy Award nomination for the song "What It's Like". The album peaked at number 9 on the Billboard 200 album chart, while the single peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. As of 2023, they remain his highest mainstream chart positions for an album and single respectively.
Joseph Anthony Hernandez, professionally known as Tony Touch, is an American hip hop break dancer, rapper, record producer and DJ of Puerto Rican descent.
Israeli hip hop refers to hip hop and rap music in Israel. Israeli hip hop artists have mainly emerged from the populations of Mizrahi Jews, Ethiopian Jews, and Israeli-Arabs, though there have also been numerous artists from Israeli Ashkenazi Jews especially Hasidim. Israeli hip hop artists enjoy wide popularity in Israel and have succeeded in appealing to international markets particularly the United States.
Alida Kinnie Starr is a Canadian multidisciplinary recording artist.
Farid Karam Nassar, better known by his stage name Fredwreck, is a Grammy Award-winning American hip hop recording artist, DJ and record producer. He got his big break when he became a producer for Dr. Dre's newly founded record label Aftermath Entertainment, and then went on to work with Snoop Dogg's record label Dogghouse Records and became a known producer on Tha Dogg Pound-affiliated material. During this time he also was a producer for Snoop Doggs track: Riders on the storm Ft The Doors on EA's Need for Speed Underground 2. He has produced tracks from Kurupt's Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha and most of his next release, Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey; both released during the period the rapper had left Death Row Records. He has also produced for other hip-hop and pop artists such as Eminem, Britney Spears, Ice Cube, Westside Connection, Lil' Kim, Hilary Duff, Xzibit, The Game, Nate Dogg, Everlast, Cypress Hill, 50 Cent, Mobb Deep, as well as non-US acts such as Dizzie Rascal, Tamer Hosny, Qusai Kheder and Karl Wolf.
Nitin Sawhney is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian and other worldwide influences with elements of electronica and often explores themes such as multiculturalism, politics, and spirituality. Sawhney is also active in the promotion of arts and cultural matters, is chair of the PRS Foundation, sits on the board of trustees of theatre company Complicité, and is a patron of numerous film festivals, venues, and educational institutions. In 2021 he was an ambassador for the Royal Albert Hall.
Still in the Game is the sixth studio album by American singer Keith Sweat. It was released by Elektra Records on September 22, 1998, in the United States. The title of the album refers to Sweat being in the music business for over a decade. It was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on October 14, 1998. The single "Come and Get with Me" peaked at number 12 in the US. Follow-up "I'm Not Ready", released that same year, peaked at number 16.
Kevin Mark Trail is a British R&B, soul, reggae and hip hop singer-songwriter and record producer. He appeared on two tracks on The Streets debut album Original Pirate Material, including the hit single, "Let's Push Things Forward", which made the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart.
Beyond Skin is an album by English musician Nitin Sawhney. It was released on the Outcaste label in 1999. The album focuses largely on the theme of nuclear weapons; Sawhney states in the booklet that the album "has a timespan that runs backwards", beginning at "Broken Skin" with the India-Pakistan nuclear situation and ending at "Beyond Skin" with Robert Oppenheimer quoting the Bhagavad Gita – "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds".
Aref Durvesh is a celebrated and prolific tabla artist who has recorded and performed with Badmarsh & Shri, Sting, Susheela Raman, Cheb Mami, Jeff Beck, Visionary Underground, and is also one of the longest-serving members of Nitin Sawhneys band, having performed on all of his albums as well as all his UK and international tours. His father was a musician, a disciple of Bismillah Khansahib, and a world-renowned shehnai player. Aref grew up with Indian music all around him and fell in love with tabla. Aref has taken traditional tabla performance into a new dimension by integrating it into contemporary urban music, jazz, hip hop and fusion, as well as being a virtuoso in the traditional skills. He is now extending his talents to producing his own album and performing live under his own name, while continuing to tour with Nitin and Shusheela.
Subliminal Simulation is the second studio album by Canadian hip hop group Dream Warriors, released in 1994 in Canada and worldwide in 1995, on EMI/Pendulum Records. The original duo, King Lou and Capital Q, expanded to include Spek and DJ Luv.
Qusai Kheder is a Saudi rapper, singer/songwriter, record producer, television personality, voice actor and DJ. He is the first professional Saudi hip hop artist.
David McEwan is an Australian Sound Designer,record producer, engineer, composer, and a member of the band The Safires. He is the co-owner of The Sanctuary Recording Studio in London and is best known for his work on the award-winning Plan B album The Defamation of Strickland Banks. He has also had long time production connections with musician Nitin Sawhney. David McEwan is also the son of the Australian actor Colin McEwan.
"Side Effects" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her eleventh studio album, E=MC² (2008). It was written by Carey, Scott Storch, Crystal Johnson and the song's featured artist, Young Jeezy. It was inspired by Carey's marriage to record executive Tommy Mottola and his controlling nature over her and her career. Carey discusses how she still deals with the side effects of the experiences that she encountered during the relationship. Critical response to the song was positive, with many critics highlighting it as an album standout, praising its candid lyrics and honesty. It charted at number 93 on the US Billboard Pop 100 chart.
Shabir "Shabs" Jobanputra is a UK music business figure, whose Outcaste and Relentless labels have had a sufficient impact on British popular culture to place him in the top 20 of The Guardian's list of the most influential ethnic minority figures in the media. He is currently MD of Relentless Records, which was re-launched as a stand alone division of Sony Music in January 2012.
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