 |
Overlord X (born Benjamin Balogun, [1] in Hackney) was one of the earliest British hip hop artists to receive national acclaim in the UK, with his most well known song still being his second single release, "14 Days in May" (Westside Records, 1988) about Edward Earl Johnson. He worked with DJ Sir Preme T as well as other members of the "X Posse". He runs a music and creative production company.
Overlord X first began rapping at the age of 14, before which he practised DJing – something which helped him in his later career to produce and record his own music for his songs. He first came to attention on one of John Peel's sessions, with three tracks recorded on 24 November 1988. He returned to the show on 2 August 1988, by now having joined Sir Preme T to record four further tracks.
Overlord X's first release was the song "Let There Be Rock" on the first of the Hard as Hell compilations in 1987. [2] This was followed by his break-through single, "14 Days in May" (Westside Records, released 21 March 1988) [3] [2] where he raged against capital punishment, and in particular the case of Edward Earl Johnson, who was executed on the grounds of a confession that he claimed was made under duress.
The record was a success, and brought X to the attention of Mango Records, who signed him to record some singles and an album as the X Possee, featuring many other artists who were part of Overlord X's crew. The album, Project X (Mango, 1989), introduced a new generation of rappers to the UK audience.
This album was quickly followed by X's solo debut album. However, at the time Westside Records refused to grant permission for "14 Days in May" to be used on the album, and so X had to record a sequel instead, called "14 Days in Hell". The album, Weapon Is My Lyric (Mango, 1989), [2] pioneered a new British hip hop, laying a blue print for a rock influenced hardcore style that was to dominate the scene for many years.[ citation needed ]
The album's success led to some strange ventures: one of the tracks, "Visa To Rock", was re-recorded by Overlord X with new lyrics relating to chess for a BBC documentary about the game fronted by a young Stephen Fry. A clip of the documentary, featuring Overlord X's re-recorded tune, was shown when Fry was a guest on Jonathan Ross' BBC chat show in 2005. His success also led to a long-running feud with fellow rapper MC Duke, which culminated in X recording the diss tune "Die Hard" about the rapper on his "You Oughta Get Rushed" (Mango, 1990) single. Overlord X then went on to perform for The Late Show in 1991, with huge success.
That single was taken from the follow-up album X Versus the World (Mango, 1990) [2] which features a distinctive cover and comic strip story by artist Joe Jusko. The album also gave prominence to X's alter egos, Sidekick and Lord V/Lord Vader – Sidekick was X with the pitch of his voice turned higher, and Lord V was him with the pitch turned down. The album was a critical and scene success, and Overlord X was working on a third album – Master of Menace (unreleased) when he decided he did not like the way the scene was heading, and left his record label.[ citation needed ]
Working under the name Tim Shade, Overlord X formed the Benz, who released singles between 1995 and 1997. [2] This led to trouble with Mercedes-Benz, who accused the group of attempting to infringe their trademark when they attempted to register a dissimilar trademark that used the name Benz. In 2000, the courts decided against the Mercedes Benz objection, and the company were forced to pay £935. [4] Benz released a number of records on the Hacktown Records (a sub-label of BMG group) and Hendricks Records record labels including the Top 40 hits "Urban City Girl", "Miss Parker" as well as "Boom Rock Soul". The band members were known as Tim Shade, Big Ben and Darkboy.
He started record producing in 1998 working with unsigned acts. One of the acts X worked with was called Cherise, and she went on to win the MOBOs best unsigned award with a track he produced called "2nd Best" that led her to sign an album deal with WEA/East West Records. Overlord X at this time was working with a keyboardist/engineer and producer and joined forces with Mike soul The duo combined a production team called The beatruners and produced numerous tracks together over three years. They were later known as Clubz Generation. During this time he also came across a young Chinese music promoter called Jessie Tsang. This was in 1999 long before she became CEO of Solar Records. She was hired as part of Overlord X's marketing team. X offered her a long term position in his company but Tsang left to join United Business Media. Tsang gives credit to Overlord X for "my first real introduction into the whole music business" in an interview in the August 2018 edition of Soul Survivors Magazine. [5]
Just before that, X put together the girl group Tommi, who released the single "What Part of No" which garnered industry attention and lead to their signing with Universal and then Sony. Their second single release "Like What" got to number 12 in the UK Singles Chart (Sony, 2003). [6] The band is still going with original members Bambi and Peekaboo and a new member called Juice. A solo singer called Flick has also joined the group which is now known as F.A.T. (Flick and Tommi). Overlord X is credited with writing, producing and remixing a number of songs for artists such as Big Brovaz, Martine McCutcheon, Craig David, Peter Andre, Michelle Gayle, Beverley Knight and Aaron Soul.[ citation needed ] He went on to sign with Zomba Publishing.
Overlord X:
With X-Posse:
Leslie Sebastian Charles, known professionally as Billy Ocean, is a Trinidadian-born British singer and songwriter. Between 1976 and 1988, he had a series of hit songs in the UK and internationally.
Dream Warriors were a Canadian hip hop duo from Toronto, Ontario, comprising King Lou and Capital Q. Described as "a pair of deft, intelligent rappers" by John Bush of AllMusic, they were major contributors to the jazz rap movement of the early 1990s. Their 1991 debut album, And Now the Legacy Begins, was cited by Bush as one of the finest alternative hip hop records of the golden era. Before the release of their second album Subliminal Simulation in 1994, the duo became a group with the addition of rapper Spek and DJ Luv. In 1996, they released a third album, The Master Plan, before the two new members left the group a year later. Though their subsequent releases did not garner similar commercial success as their debut, the duo released a well-received greatest hits album in 1999. Their final album, The Legacy Continues..., was released in 2002.
New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, new jack swing was most popular from the late 1980s to early 1990s.
Armand van Helden is an American DJ, record producer, remixer and songwriter from Boston. He is considered one of house music's most revered figures, with a career spanning three decades.
Michael Alec Anthony West, better known as Rebel MC and Congo Natty, is a British jungle producer, spiritual chanter and toaster. He has also gone by aliases including Conquering Lion, Blackstar, Tribe of Issachar, Lion of Judah, X Project and Ras Project.
Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9", is an American rapper. Best known for his association with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, they became acquainted in 1997 and formed the hip hop duo, Bad Meets Evil the following year. Their 2011 single, "Lighters" peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded the release of their debut extended play (EP), Hell: The Sequel (2011). The song and its parent EP, of which debuted atop the Billboard 200, remain Montgomery's most commercially successful recordings to date.
The Documentary is the commercial debut studio album by American rapper the Game. It was released on January 18, 2005, by Aftermath Entertainment, G-Unit Records, and Interscope Records. The record serves as his major-label debut, preceded by his independently released debut Untold Story in 2004. In 2001, while the Game was in hospital recovering from a shooting, he decided to pursue a career in music. He released the mixtape, "Q.B. 2 Compton" under his then record label "Get Low Recordz" in 2002, which was later discovered by Dr. Dre and led to him signing the Game to his label, Aftermath Entertainment. The album includes production from high-profile producers such as Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Scott Storch and Timbaland, among others, and guest appearances from 50 Cent, Eminem, Nate Dogg and Faith Evans, among others. This would be the Game's only album on Aftermath and G-Unit Records, as he left the label later in 2006 after a feud began between him and fellow G-Unit label-mate 50 Cent.
Duval Clear, known better by his stage name Masta Ace, is an American rapper and record producer from New York City. He appeared on the classic 1988 Juice Crew posse cut "The Symphony". He is noted for his distinct voice and rapping proficiency, and has influenced several MCs.
London Posse was a British hip hop group. According to The Daily Telegraph, they "finally gave British rap an identity of its own." London Posse member Bionic led the charge for UK and worldwide artists to use their own accents and languages rather than copy Americans and was the architect behind their biggest hit "Money Mad" introducing 'road style' to UK hip hop and mixing it with ragga/dancehall.
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. They won a competition on a Dave Pearce rap show, which brought them fame, and their prize was to perform live onstage with Derek B, Faze One, and T La Rock at a Camden Palace gig. Derek B was the A&R man for Music of Life. He was so impressed with the group that he put them in touch with the company’s founder, Simon Harris.
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.
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.
MC Duke was a British rapper from the East End of London, who recorded with DJ Leader 1. He was one of the pioneers of the early British hardcore sound and later went on to record as IC3.
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.
Rhythm King Records Ltd was a British independent record label, founded in the mid-1980s by Martin Heath, Adele Nozedar, DJ Jay Strongman and James Horrocks. It was based in Chiswick, London.
Benz were a band from Hackney containing B.I.G. Ben, Tim Shade, and Darkboy. Their name comes from their names all containing Ben. They entered the UK Singles Chart with "Boom Rock Soul", "Urban City Girl", "Miss Parker", "If I Remember", and "On A Sun-Day".
Raynford Avery Humphrey, better known by his stage name Preme, is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He first gained recognition for his guest appearances on the 2011 singles "Alone Again" by Alyssa Reid and "Invincible" by Hedley. The songs peaked at numbers 11 and nine respectively on the Canadian Hot 100. He signed with RCA Records to release his debut extended play Dear Summer EP (2014), which contained the singles "DnF", "Chickens" and "We Them Niggas".
Andrae Hugh Sutherland, known professionally as Popcaan, is a Jamaican dancehall singer.
About Time is the debut solo studio album released by British R&B singer Angel. The album was released in Ireland on 12 April 2013 and in the UK on 15 April via Island and Universal Republic.
Anthony Benedict Thompson, known professionally as Tony Thompson and Darkboy, is a British singer. He sung in Benz, who had two UK top 40 singles, sung on Phats & Small's second album This Time Around, including on "Change", which charted at No. 45 on the UK Singles Chart, and Four Story, who partook in Making Your Mind Up.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
