Us3 | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Years active | 1992–2025 |
| Labels | Blue Note Us3 |
| Past members | Geoff Wilkinson Mel Simpson Rahsaan Kelly Kobie Powell Tukka Yoot KCB Shabaam Sahdeeq Michelob Alison Crockett Reggi Wyns Mpho Skeef Akil Dasan Gaston Adeline Brook Yung Sene Oveous Maximus Akala |
| Website | us3 |
Us3 is a British jazz rap group founded by London-based producer Geoff Wilkinson in 1992.
The name was inspired by Us Three, a Horace Parlan album produced in 1960 by Alfred Lion, the founder of Blue Note Records. [1] Us3's debut album, Hand on the Torch , used samples from Blue Note songs produced by Lion.
In the early 1990s, London-based producer Geoff Wilkinson produced two recordings under the name Us3. The first was 1990's "Where Will We Be in the 21st Century", a limited-edition white label 12" release. It drew the attention of independent label Ninja Tune, resulting in NW1's 1991 12-inch single "The Band Played The Boogie", featuring UK rapper Born 2 B. [2]
Wilkinson established Us3 with production partner Mel Simpson. [2] One of the resulting demos, recorded in March 1992, was "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)", featuring UK trumpeter Gerard Presencer. [2] It sampled Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island". [2] Us3 went on hiatus 2014, during which Wilkinson went on to specialise in producing film and library music. [3]
In 2025, Us3 returned with a new studio album titled Soundtrack focused on instrumental works.
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [4] | AUS [5] | AUT [6] | GER [7] | NLD [8] | NZ [9] | SWI [10] | US [11] | US R&B/HH [12] | ||
| Hand on the Torch | 1993 | 40 | 51 | 11 | 29 | 81 | 28 | 21 | 31 | 21 |
| Broadway & 52nd | 1997 | 93 | 90 | 28 | 80 | 91 | 39 | 48 | — | 90 |
| An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place | 2001 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Questions | 2004 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Schizophonic | 2006 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Say What!? | 2007 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Stop. Think. Run. | 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lie, Cheat & Steal | 2011 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| The Third Way | 2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Soundtrack | 2025 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Title | Year | Peak positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [4] | AUS [13] | AUT [6] | BEL (FL) [13] | GER [7] | NLD [8] | NZ [9] | SWI [10] | US [14] | US R&B [15] | ||||
| "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" | 1992 | 76 | 32 | 3 | 24 | 22 | 18 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 21 | Hand on the Torch | |
| "Tukka Yoot's Riddim" | 1993 | 34 | — | 24 | — | 97 | — | 28 | 26 | — | — | ||
| "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" (UK reissue) | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "I Got It Goin' On" | 1994 | 52 | — | — | — | — | — | 39 | — | — | — | ||
| "Eleven Long Years" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Come on Everybody (Get Down)" | 1997 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 49 | — | — | Broadway & 52nd | |
| "I'm Thinking About Your Body" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "You Can't Hold Me Down" | 2001 | 94 | — | — | — | — | 98 | — | — | — | — | An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place | |
| "Get Out" | 2002 | 174 | — | — | — | — | 97 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Say You Belong to Me" | 2007 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Say What!? | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
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