Arturo R. Molina Jr., better known as Frost, is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer from Los Angeles. He charted in the 1980s with his first four albums: Hispanic Causing Panic, East Side Story, Smile Now, Die Later and When Hell.A. Freezes Over. His most successful single is "La Raza" which hit number 6 on the rap songs chart in August 1990. His 1990 debut album is credited as the first Chicano rap album.
Mantronix was an influential 1980s hip hop and electro funk music group from New York City. The band was formed by DJ Kurtis Mantronik and rapper MC Tee. The group is primarily remembered for its pioneering blend of old school hip hop, electronic, and club music. They underwent several genre and line-up changes during its seven-year existence between 1984 and 1991, and released five albums beginning with their 1985 debut The Album.
Tackhead is an industrial hip-hop group that was most active during the 1980s and early 1990s, and briefly reformed in 2004 for a tour. Their music occupies the territory where funk, dub, industrial music and electronica intersect. The core members were Doug Wimbish (bass), Keith LeBlanc (percussion) and Skip McDonald (guitar) and producer Adrian Sherwood. Despite being short-lived as a band proper, the legacy and output of these groups of musicians has been prodigious.
Douglas Arthur Wimbish is an American bassist, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, Depeche Mode, James Brown, Annie Lennox, Tarja Turunen, and Barrington Levy.
Mark Howard James, professionally known as The 45 King and also known as DJ Mark the 45 King, was an American hip hop producer and DJ from The Bronx, New York. He began DJing in the mid-1980s. His pseudonym, the 45 King, came from his ability to make beats using obscure 45 RPM records.
The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee, with occasional contributions from DJ Dano B, DJ Reggie Reg and DJ Crazy Eddie. They first appeared on record in 1980 on the B-side of Spoonie Gee's single, "Love Rap".
Dynamix II is an American DJ act and record label specializing in electro, Florida breaks, and Miami bass. Their 1986 single "Just Give The DJ A Break", reached gold status. Over 600,000+ units of the record were sold and the song reached No. 50 in the United Kingdom in 1987. The record, was considered to be a "formative and influential" in the Miami-bass genre. The track was one of first Miami Bass records to use a Roland TR 808 bass drum.
Funk carioca, also known as favela funk, in other parts of the world as baile funk and Brazilian funk, or even simply funk, is a hip hop-influenced music genre from Rio de Janeiro, blending the rap subgenres of Miami bass and gangsta rap. Despite its name, funk carioca has no musical correlation with the American funk by any means.
DJ Rectangle is an American DJ/turntablist and Dance/Hip Hop/Club record producer.
Ed Keeley, better known by his stage name Friction, is a drum and bass producer and DJ from Brighton, England. He runs his own record labels, Shogun Audio & Elevate Records, and has formerly presented a regular overnight show on BBC Radio 1.
J-vibe is a composer and record producer who is known for his prolific original compositions. He is an important part of the underground West Coast rap and dance scene. He has also been a computer software programmer since he was 13 years old.
Uncle Jamm's Army was an American funk/hip hop collective crew based in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Their singles "What's Your Sign", "Dial-a-Freak", and "Yes, Yes, Yes" were influential to the electro, old school funk, and early West Coast hip-hop genres.
JDC Records was an important record distributor during the golden years of dance music (1976–1990). It was originally located in San Pedro, California and owned by Jim and Dale Callon. The company name came from their initials, JDC. They distributed world-wide and carried many independent labels. JDC was known for their "JDC Mixers." Popular DJs such as DJ Pebo would take records from the catalog and create a non-stop dance mix. JDC also had a retail record store in San Pedro. It was managed by Rudy Benavides.
Looking for the Perfect Beat: 1980–1985 is a compilation album by hip hop musician Afrika Bambaataa.
The Brotherhood were a pioneering UK hip-hop group with a solid following across the UK from the early 1990s. Releases with seminal UK Hip Hop label Bite It! Recordings were followed by a later move to Virgin. The 1996 album Elementalz has been described as one of the best UK hip hop albums ever made and "a staggering achievement in British music". The band finally split in 1998 and have since been credited as one of the most influential bands on the 90s UK hip-hop scene.
"What Ya Wanna Do?" is a single by American recording artist Ice-T from his third studio album The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say. It was released in 1989 via Sire Records. The song served as a posse cut and featured several artists from hip hop collective Rhyme Syndicate: Bronx Style Bob, Divine Styler, Donald D, Everlast, Hen-Gee, M.C. Taste, Nat The Cat, Randy Mac, Shakell Shabazz, Toddy Tee, and DJ Evil E. It was produced and programmed by Afrika Islam and co-produced and arranged by Ice-T himself for Rhyme Syndicate Productions. The song was recorded at Syndicate Studios West & Wide Tracks, in Los Angeles, California, and mastered at Future Disc Systems, also in L.A.
Jungle Funk is a drum and bass group formed by Vinx De'Jon Parrette, Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbish. Beginning in 1996, they performed over one hundred and fifty shows throughout Europe and Australia. The trio performed a complex hybrid of R&B, drum and bass, dub, funk, and soul music, buttressed by sampling and electronic percussion. In 1998, they released their eponymously titled debut album Jungle Funk, which consisted of a recording of their live performance in Austria.
This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 1979.
Rodney Lloyd Edmonson Sr., professionally known as Jazzie Redd is an American radio personality and former recording artist. He formerly hosts local radio show BIG HOMIE Jazzie Redd. Redd is also a national recording artist and actor noted for the success of his hit single and video “I Am a Dope Fiend” released on Pump/ Quality records. This anti-drug rap song gained him instant recognition in the music industry as early as 1992.
