Derrick May | |
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 Derrick May | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as |
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| Born | April 6, 1963 |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | Transmat |
Derrick May (born April 6, 1963), also known as Mayday and Rhythim Is Rhythim, is an American electronic musician from Belleville, Michigan, United States. May is credited with pioneering techno music in the 1980s along with collaborators Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, commonly known as The Belleville Three. [1]
May is an only child [2] born to a single mother in Detroit. May began to explore electronic music early in his life. At age 13, Derrick May began attending Belleville High School, and became friends with Juan Atkins in 1981. [3] After an altercation, May became friends with Saunderson. [4] [5] Atkins taught May and Kevin Saunderson the essence of DJing as well, formed a trio, Deep Space Soundworks, collectively existing to present their favorite music at parties and clubs. [6] In an interview with a French magazine, May explained that people used to laugh at the ideas that they were entertained by Kraftwerk and disco sounds, we did our thing and continued to believe in ourselves, regardless. [7] During high school, Saunderson and Belleville High School classmate Juan Atkins were fans of DJ Charles "The Electrifying Mojo" Johnson.
When their careers took off, the three young men opened their three individual record labels, Metroplex belonging to Juan Atkins, KMS and Inner City for Kevin Saunderson and Transmat/Fragil all on Gratiot Ave, in Detroit's Eastern Market, this was known as Techno Alley. [8]
When Derrick May was a teenager, he worked part-time in a video arcade. [9]
May's production career started in 1987 with the release of a record called "Nude Photo" (written by Thomas Barnett), which helped kickstart the Detroit techno music scene. A year later, he followed this release with what was to become one of techno's classic anthems, the seminal track "Strings of Life", which was named by Frankie Knuckles. [10] It "hit Britain in an especially big way during the country's 1987–1988 house explosion." [11] May's best known track, according to Frankie Knuckles, "just exploded. It was like something you can't imagine, the kind of power and energy people got off that record when it was first heard. Mike Dunn says he has no idea how people can accept a record that doesn't have a bassline." [10] The song was featured in video game Midnight Club: Street Racing . [12] [13]
Opened in 1988, The Music Institute in Detroit was where they held their residency. [14] May describes the place as a spiritual place for music. "We had a young beautiful black crowd and I mean beautiful in the sense of spirit mind and soul. We had white kids coming, Spanish kids coming, gay kids coming, straight kids coming." [3]
Derrick was a mentor to many great artists. Among them, Carl Craig and Stacey Pullen have cited the difference between May's two labels as Transmat being fully devoted to original creation, whereas Fragile is where an artist can utilize more sampling, for a little creative push. May also ran a side-gig collective known as KAOS, a separate and lesser-known endeavor from Deep Space. May's Transmat Records label was the home of his best material, cuts like "Nude Photo," "Strings of Life," "Kaos" and "It Is What It Is," most produced from 1987 to 1989 as Rhythim Is Rhythim. [15] And though his release schedule all but halted during the 1990s, he continued DJing around the world and helping other artist to release their music honed Transmat into one of the most respected techno labels in the world. [9]
In Surreal Underground Entertainment 1993 America, Carl Craig said he "doesn't want Americans to look back at the music and think of it as a down point in history. The majority of American artists sent their musical efforts to Europe because it is more accepted by a wider audience." [16]
In the documentary about the Detroit techno scene, High Tech Soul, May notes that he saw people in Italy wearing Underground Resistance shirts and was surprised at the group's success outside of Detroit. He says, "People were going crazy over Underground Resistance, and it was like they weren't even there." [17]
Recently, May produced the music for the film of the popular fighting video game Tekken . [18]
For two years, in 2003 and 2004, he was given control of Detroit's popular annual electronic music festival. [19] Originally conceived by Carl Craig, Derrick May, produced for 2 years. He named his event Movement, replacing the Detroit Electronic Music Festival along the Detroit city riverfront. Derrick May claims Carole Marvin stole the idea of festival from himself and Carl Craig. Her actions created a rift in the electronic music community in the talking a self-righteous stance, by firing Carl Craig. [20] [21] In 2004, Kevin Saunderson and Ade' Mainor produced the Festival of Sound Electronically and International Nurtured, in short: Fuse-In for 1 year in 2005. As of 2019, the Detroit Electronic Festival is operated by Paxahau. [22]
Derrick May also still maintains a steady performance schedule, playing internationally many weekends. A pioneer of techno, he produces what he calls Hi-Tek Soul or "George Clinton meeting Kraftwerk in an elevator." [10] He has also cited Yellow Magic Orchestra, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Ultravox as influences. [23]
In September 2020, May was accused of sexual assault by several unnamed women dating back to the early 2000s. May denies all allegations. [24] [25] [26] [27] In connection with the accusations, he also filed a lawsuit for defamation against Michael James, a collaborator on the track "Strings of Life", who May believed to be pursuing a personal vendetta over unpaid royalties. The suit was later cancelled in February 2021. [28] [29] [30]
Belleville is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western suburb of Detroit, Belleville is located roughly 29 miles (46.7 km) southwest of downtown Detroit, and 18 miles (29.0 km) southeast of Ann Arbor, and is completely surrounded by Van Buren Township. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 3,991.
Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mills, Kevin Saunderson, Blake Baxter, Drexciya, Mike Banks, James Pennington and Robert Hood. Artists like Terrence Parker and his lead vocalist, Nicole Gregory, set the tone for Detroit's piano techno house sound.
Juan Atkins, also known as Model 500 and Infiniti, is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan. Mixmag has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno." He has been a member of The Belleville Three, Cybotron, and Borderland.
Movement Electronic Music Festival is an annual electronic dance music event held in the birthplace of Techno, Detroit, each Memorial Day weekend since 2006. Previous electronic music festivals held at Hart Plaza on Memorial Day weekend include Detroit Electronic Music Festival (2000–2002), Movement (2003–2004) and Fuse-In (2005). The four different festival names reflect completely separate and distinct producers, brands and directions. All of these festivals presented performances by musicians and DJs that emphasized the progressive qualities of the culture surrounding electronic music including the celebration of Detroit being the birthplace of the popular electronic music subgenre Techno.
Carl Craig is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He has recorded under his given name in addition to a variety of aliases, including Psyche, BFC, and Innerzone Orchestra.
Kevin Maurice Saunderson is an American electronic dance music DJ and record producer. He is famous for being a member of a trio, along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May, who came to be known as the Belleville Three, who are often credited to being among the pioneers and originators of techno: in particular this act helped define Detroit techno, the earliest style of this music genre. Born in New York, at the age of nine he moved to Belleville, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, where at Belleville High School he befriended the other members of the trio.
Transmat is the record label of techno musician Derrick May, founded in 1986. For years, the label "released the tracks that would fuel the techno boom". Artists included Rhythim Is Rhythim, James Pennington, Joey Beltram, and more.
The Electrifying Mojo is an American radio personality. He is a disc jockey based in Detroit, Michigan whose on-air journey of musical and social development shaped a generation of music-lovers in Detroit and throughout southeastern Michigan and Canada and was of importance to the development of Detroit techno.
Inner City is an American electronic music group that formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1987. The group was originally composed of the record producer and composer Kevin Saunderson and the Chicago, Illinois, vocalist Paris Grey. Saunderson is renowned as one of the Belleville Three—along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May—high school friends who later originated the Detroit techno sound. In February 2018, Billboard magazine ranked them as the 69th most successful dance artists of all-time.
The Belleville Three are three American musicians, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson, who are credited with inventing the Detroit techno genre in Belleville, Michigan.
Aril Brikha is an acclaimed Assyrian techno musician, recognized globally for his contributions to the genre. After relocating to Sweden, he gained further recognition when he was nominated for Best Dance Album at the Swedish National Radio Gold Gala contest.
Stacey Pullen is an American techno musician based in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
Eddie Fowlkes is an American techno DJ. He was influential to the early Detroit techno scene.
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range of 120 to 150 beats per minute (BPM). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat. Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers, as well as digital audio workstations. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular.
Detroit, Michigan, is a major center in the United States for the creation and performance of music, and is best known for three developments: Motown, early punk rock, and techno.
Kelley Hand, known professionally as Kelli Hand and K-HAND, was a musician and DJ from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Hand was widely credited with opening the door for Black women's participation in the previously male-dominated techno and electronic music communities during the 1990s and was known as the "First Lady of Detroit techno". A prolific DJ with an "impossibly deep catalogue", Hand continued to produce and perform music up until her death in 2021.
Abdul Qadim Haqq, also known as Haqq and The Ancient, is an American visual artist who was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan.
"Strings of Life" is a 1987 song by American electronic musician Derrick May, in collaboration with Michael James, and released under the name Rhythim Is Rhythim. It is his most well-known song and considered a classic in both the house music and techno genres. May is credited with developing the futuristic variation that would be dubbed "techno". LA Weekly ranked it number-one in its list of "The 20 Best Dance Music Tracks in History" in 2015.
Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit is a 1988 compilation of early Detroit techno tracks released on the Virgin Records UK imprint 10 Records. The compilation's title helped establish the term "techno" as the name for electronic dance music emerging out of Detroit in the 1980s.
"No UFO's" is a 1985 techno song by Juan Atkins under the alias of Model 500. It was released on Atkins own label Metroplex. The song was the first track released after the split of Atkins' previous group Cybotron. The music followed similar themes of the previous group with science fiction and alienation but featured less of a song structure than Cybotron's music leading the track to be often identified as one of the earliest techno songs.
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