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| Hi-Tek | |
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| Birth name | Tony Louis Cottrell [1] |
| Also known as | Tekzilla |
| Born | May 5, 1976 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
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| Years active | 1996–present |
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Tony Louis Cottrell (born May 5, 1976), [2] better known as Hi-Tek, is an American rapper and music producer from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is best known for his work with Talib Kweli. His father is singer Willie Cottrell of the Willie Cottrell Band, whom Hi-Tek featured on his second album, Hi-Teknology 2 .
Hi-Tek grew up in the West End, Cincinnati. He started his career with hip hop group Mood and had a regional hit with "Hustle on the Side". That song was made for Mood's album Doom, which featured amongst others Brooklyn MC Talib Kweli. Hi-Tek went on to produce most of Talib Kweli and Mos Def's Black Star (1998). In 2000, Tek and Kweli (under the name Reflection Eternal) released Train of Thought (2000) on Rawkus Records, with raps by Kweli and beats by Hi-Tek. It enjoyed moderate crossover radio success with the singles "The Blast" and "Move Somethin'". Reflection Eternal released a follow-up album titled Revolutions Per Minute on May 18, 2010.
After signing to Rawkus Records, Hi-Tek produced for a number of the labels projects, including the popular Soundbombing series; a three-record compilation of mostly Rawkus-based artists. In 2001, he released his solo album Hi-Teknology on Rawkus. The album featured appearances by Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Vinia Mojica, Buckshot, and others, with all production handled by Hi-Tek. It received critical acclaim and spawned a minor hit, "Round and Round" with Cincinnati singer Jonell.
Hi-Tek is a staff producer for Aftermath Entertainment and its affiliates, as well as past associates such as Kweli and Mos Def. He has also recorded songs for Dion Jenkins, an R&B singer signed to Aftermath. Hi-Teknology 2 was released October 17, 2006, on Babygrande, and distributed by Koch Entertainment. [3] The producer released the third installment, Hi-Teknology 3: Underground on December 11, 2007.
In November 2015, producer 9th Wonder announced Hi-Tek as the newest member of The Soul Council – the production staff of his record label It's a Wonderful World Music Group. [4]
| Album information |
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Train of Thought (by Reflection Eternal with Talib Kweli)
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Hi-Teknology
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Hi-Teknology²: The Chip
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Hi-Teknology 3
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Revolutions Per Minute (by Reflection Eternal with Talib Kweli)
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Reflection Eternal is an American hip hop duo composed of emcee Talib Kweli and producer Hi-Tek. They released their first album, Train of Thought, in 2000. They have since released a mixtape, The RE: Union, in late December 2009, and their second album Revolutions Per Minute was released May 18, 2010.
Rawkus Records was an American hip hop record label, owned by James Murdoch, known for starting the careers of many rappers. Rawkus started in 1995 with releases in hip-hop, drum and bass and fun-dustrial.
Quality is the first studio album by American rapper Talib Kweli. The album was released on November 19, 2002, by Rawkus Records. It received wide critical acclaim and had some commercial appeal from the song "Get By", produced by Kanye West. Kludge magazine included it on their list of best albums of 2002.
Lamont Dorrell, known as Ayatollah, is a hip hop record producer. He has mainly produced music for New York–based rappers, including Mos Def, Talib Kweli, R.A. the Rugged Man, Tragedy Khadafi, Wordsworth, Vast Aire, Afu-Ra, Guru, M.O.P., Inspectah Deck, Cormega, and Ghostface Killah.
Soundbombing II is the second installment in Rawkus Records' Soundbombing compilation series, released by the label on May 18, 1999. Mixed by DJ Babu and J Rocc of Beat Junkies, the album included tracks from a variety of artists, both Rawkus' signees and popular artists from other labels.
Vinia A. Mojica is an American singer from Queens, New York. She is best known for her collaborations with the Native Tongues collective and other hip hop artists.
Black Star is an American hip hop duo formed in 1996, from Brooklyn, New York City. The duo is composed of rappers Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli. The duo is named after The Black Star Line, a shipping company founded by Marcus Garvey. Their critically-acclaimed debut album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star was released on September 29, 1998. After decades of only releasing singles and appearing on compilations, Black Star released their sophomore studio album No Fear of Time May 3, 2022 on the podcasting platform Luminary.
Lyricist Lounge 2 is the fourth hip hop compilation album by American record label Rawkus Records. It was released on November 28, 2000, as the second installment of Lyricist Lounge album series, based on New York's Lyricist Lounge showcases.
Best of Decade I: 1995–2005 is a compilation album, featuring singles released on Rawkus Records during their first ten years. The compilation revolves around the label's star Mos Def, who appears on eight of the fifteen tracks. There is one previously unreleased track featured on the album, which is the Mos Def song "Beef".
Hi-Teknology²: The Chip is a sequel album to Hip hop producer Hi-Tek's first album, Hi-Teknology. Born as Tony Cottrell, He had spent most of his time in the low key hip-hop scene of Cincinnati, Ohio who eventually ran into Mood in 1992. Working with them kickstarted his career and affiliated himself with many MCs. He is best known for his collaboration with Talib Kweli on the album Reflection Eternal. He rose in popularity with the underground hip-hop scene and has worked alongside many talented even Grammy-nominated artists such as 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes. Although working with many talented artists and having a huge impact working with Rawkus Records Collective, it was time for him to show off his own unique abilities which led to his three solo albums. The release of his sequel album Hi-Teknology gained quick recognition and was soon to be sought after by many up-and-coming artists to produce their own albums.
Train of Thought is the debut album of American hip hop duo Reflection Eternal, released October 17, 2000, on Rawkus Records. Collaborating as a duo, rapper Talib Kweli and DJ and hip hop producer Hi-Tek recorded the album during 1999 to 2000, following their individual musical work that gained notice in New York's underground scene during the late 1990s. Kweli had previously worked with rapper Mos Def as the duo Black Star, and Hi-Tek had served as producer on the duo's debut album.
"The Blast" is a hip hop single from Reflection Eternal's debut album, Train of Thought. It features rapping from the duo's emcee, Talib Kweli, as well as from its producer, DJ Hi-Tek. It is the only Reflection Eternal song that Hi-Tek raps on, and like all Reflection Eternal songs, he produces it. The song has a somber and jazzy beat backed by vocals from Vinia Mojica. It has a music video directed by Little X in which Kweli and Hi-Tek are rapping in a rainstorm. Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def, Pharaohe Monch and Kweli's grandmother, Javotti Greene make cameo appearances. The music video version is extended in length, and gives Talib Kweli an extra verse. The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks and #49 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and was engineered by Guy Snider. The official remix features new verses by Talib Kweli as well as neo-soul singer Erykah Badu.
Hi-Teknology³ is the third installment of Hi-Tek's Hi-Teknology series. Tek, who made a name in the 90's via his collaborations with Talib Kweli and Mos Def, has always used his albums as a springboard for budding talents but Hi-Teknology³ takes the tradition to a new level. The album is geared towards shining light on today's most promising newbies with help from some yet-to-be-named veterans. via Babygrande Records. It also been released in the U.K.
Revolutions per Minute is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Reflection Eternal, released May 18, 2010, on Blacksmith Records and Rawkus Records. Composed of rapper Talib Kweli and DJ/hip hop producer Hi-Tek, it is the duo's follow-up to their collaborative debut Train of Thought (2000).
D. (Derick) Prosper began his career as a poet on the NPS National Poetry Slam circuit. He won several regional competitions and featured on the 1994 Providence Poetry Slam Team. D. Prosper was the youngest poet featured on the tour. He ranked fourth in the nation at the NPS finals in Asheville, North Carolina. Prosper was also featured in respected publication Fast Folk Music Magazine. He eventually earned a coveted spot on the 1994 Lollapalooza Tour D. Prosper's love of spoken word poetry ignited his passion for hip-hop music.
Talib Kweli Greene is an American rapper. He earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with solo success including collaborations with producers and rappers Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Pharrell Williams. In 2011, Kweli founded his own record label, Javotti Media.
"Just Begun" is a song by American hip hop duo Reflection Eternal, composed of New York rapper Talib Kweli and Ohio producer Hi-Tek. The song was released on February 2, 2010, as the second single from their second studio album Revolutions per Minute (2010). The song is a posse cut featuring verses from rappers Jay Electronica, J. Cole and Mos Def, the latter of whom also forms a duo with Talib Kweli, known collectively as Black Star.
Soundbombing is a hip hop compilation album by Rawkus Records, released on October 14, 1997. The album helped launch the careers of Mos Def and Reflection Eternal, who later became Rawkus's most popular artists. Soundbombing is regarded as a "scene-defining" underground hip hop album.
Anderson .Paak: "DJ Hi-Tek did that bit"
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