Music Of Life | |
---|---|
Parent company | Music Manager (owner) |
Founded | 1986 |
Founder |
|
Status | Inactive |
Distributor(s) | Music Manager |
Genre | |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Official website | music-of-life |
Music of Life is a British independent hip hop and dance music label formed in 1986 by Froggy and Simon Harris, managed by Chris France. [1]
At first, the label licensed new rap music from US production company Powerplay for the first compilation album Def Beats 1, but as an addition to the US material, Harris produced an extra track under his own 'Music of Life Productions' recorded in London by the label's A&R man Derek Boland. 'Rock the Beat' by Derek B [2] [3] created a demand for British hip-hop; the label signed artists including the Demon Boyz [4] and Daddy Freddy. [5]
Music Week wrote in 1988 that Music of Life was "the most successful hip hop label in the UK right now". [6] Record Mirror identified Music of Life as one of the few hip hop labels "to believe in home grown talent". [7] In 1989, Studio Week magazine called Music of Life "the foremost rap label in this country at the moment." [8]
Furthermore, in 1989, Music of Life expanded its portfolio with the launch of its sister label, Living Beat. [9] Specialising in dance music, house, and pop recordings, Living Beat achieved chart success with releases such as "Supermarioland", which reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart. [10] Notable contributions include Harris's collaboration with Nintendo under the pseudonym 'Ambassadors of Funk', Samantha Fox's "Go for the Heart," and facilitating Prince's first UK No. 1 single, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World".
The label's founder, Harris, is credited with producing a series of breakbeat albums, comprising 12 volumes of "Beats, Breaks & Scratches" [11] . Collaborations with prominent artists such as Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), Paul Oakenfold, Afrika Bambaataa, and George Clinton have resulted in the production and release of similar influential albums, all of which formed an integral part of the Music of Life catalogue [12] [13] .
The Music of Life catalog includes songs from:
Old-school hip hop is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and the original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contemporary styles.
The new school of hip hop was a movement in hip hop music, beginning in 1983–84 with the early records of Run–D.M.C., Whodini, and LL Cool J. Predominantly from Queens and Brooklyn, it was characterized by drum machine-led minimalism, often tinged with elements of rock; rapped taunts, boasts, and socio-political commentary; and aggressive, self-assertive delivery. In song and image, its artists projected a tough, cool, street b-boy attitude. These elements contrasted sharply with funk and disco, novelty hits, live bands, synthesizers, and party rhymes of artists prevalent in the early 1980s. Compared to their older hip hop counterparts, new school artists crafted more cohesive LPs and shorter songs more amenable to airplay. By 1986, their releases began to establish hip hop in the mainstream.
Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK garage styles.
Fred Brathwaite, more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American visual artist, filmmaker, and hip hop pioneer. He is considered one of the architects of the street art movement. Freddy emerged in New York's downtown underground creative scene in the late 1970s as a graffiti artist. He was the bridge between the burgeoning uptown rap scene and the downtown No Wave art scene. He was immortalized in 1981 when Debbie Harry rapped on the Blondie song "Rapture" that "Fab 5 Freddy told me everybody's fly." In the late 1980s, Freddy became the first host of the groundbreaking hip-hop music video show Yo! MTV Raps.
East Coast hip hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in New York City during the 1970s. Hip hop is recognized to have originated and evolved first in The Bronx, New York City.
The Universal Zulu Nation is an international hip hop awareness group formed by and formerly led by hip hop artist Afrika Bambaataa.
The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are is the debut studio album by hip-hop group the 2 Live Crew. It was released in 1986 on Luke Records to a great deal of controversy and promptly was certified gold by the RIAA. It includes the hits "We Want Some Pussy", "Throw the 'D'", and "Cuttin' It Up". Bob Rosenberg, a south Florida DJ who would later form the dance-pop group Will to Power, remixed and edited the song "Beat Box". In Florida, it was deemed obscene, and one store clerk was charged with felony "corruption of a minor" for selling it to a 14-year-old girl. The clerk was later acquitted.
Electro is a genre of electronic music and early hip hop directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines and funk. Records in the genre typically feature heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals, although if vocals are present they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. It palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie by being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.
Prodigy Present: The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One is a 1999 solo mix album by Liam Howlett of The Prodigy, initially produced for BBC Radio 1's mix show The Breezeblock.
In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece. A break is usually interpolated between sections of a song, to provide a sense of anticipation, signal the start of a new section, or create variety in the arrangement.
S. Frederick Small, better known as Daddy Freddy, is a Jamaican ragga vocalist.
Rock the House is the debut album from the hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. The album was released on April 7, 1987 in Europe and the United States, and was subsequently re-issued in 1988 in Europe and the United Kingdom. Three tracks from the album were released as singles: "The Magnificent Jazzy Jeff", "A Touch of Jazz" and "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble". When the album was released on CD in 1988, the rerecorded version of "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble", which was released as a single after He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper ran its course, replaced the original 1986 recording.The art work for the Album cover was done by a local Philadelphia Artist Charles Gossett.
The Demon Boyz were an English hip hop group formed in London by Demon D, Mike J and DJ Devastate. They began rapping in their early teens, performing with Twilight Soul Sound. Their big break came when they won a competition on a Dave Pearce rap show, their prize being to perform live on stage with Derek B, Faze One, and T La Rock at a Camden Palace gig. Derek B – aka Derek Boland, quasi-A&R man for Music of Life records – was so impressed with the group that he put them in touch with the company’s founder, Simon Harris.
Derek Boland, better known by his stage name Derek B, was a British rapper. His most commercially successful releases were "Goodgroove" and "Bad Young Brother" in 1988.
Asher D is an English rapper who was part of a successful partnership with reggae artist Daddy Freddy, known as the duo Asher D and Daddy Freddy. His name was later used by another English rapper.
"Planet Rock" is a song by the American hip hop artists Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force. The song was produced by Arthur Baker and released by Tommy Boy Records in 1982. The recording came together after DJ and producer Baker met with Bambaataa and the two bonded over the idea of creating a song about their mutual appreciation for the band Kraftwerk. Baker and Bambaataa had worked together previously on the song "Jazzy Sensation" and decided to compose a more electronic based version of the hip hop song, as opposed to the more disco-oriented work popular at the time. Along with musician John Robie, the group recorded the single at Intergalactic Studios in New York. Robie duplicated the sound on the record and had Bambaataa's rappers in the Soul Sonic Force rap over it. To create the raps, the lyricist of the group, Emcee G.L.O.B.E., had to develop a style he called "mc popping", which involved rapping off time, an unusual style at the time.
"Holla at Me" is the debut single by American musician DJ Khaled featuring American rappers Lil Wayne, Paul Wall, Fat Joe, Rick Ross, and Pitbull, released in 2006 from the former's debut studio album Listennn... the Album. Produced by Cool & Dre, it samples Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force's 1983 song "Looking for the Perfect Beat".
Paul Winley Records Inc. was a doo-wop record label founded in 1956 that, in 1979, became one of the earliest hip hop labels. It was situated on 125th Street, Harlem, New York City. Winley released doo-wop by The Paragons and The Jesters, and hip hop records by Paul Winley's daughters, Tanya and Paulette, produced by Winley's wife, Ann. The label can lay claim to a number of firsts: one of the earliest rock and roll compilations, one of the earliest breaks compilations, an early solo female rap artist and an early instance of social commentary in rap. Winley was also the first label to record one of hip hop's most important figures, Afrika Bambaataa.
Hip-hop or hip hop, also known as rap, and formerly known as disco rap, is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s by African Americans and Caribbean immigrants in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. Hip-hop music originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre consisting of stylized rhythmic music that often accompanies rapping, a rhythmic delivery of poetic speech. According to the professor Asante of African American studies at Temple University, "hip hop is something that blacks can unequivocally claim as their own". The music developed as part of the broader hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, breakdancing, and graffiti art. While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of the culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.
Lance Taylor, also known as Afrika Bambaataa, is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of hip hop culture. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the originators of breakbeat DJing.