Marley Marl

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Marley Marl
Marlon Williams aka Dj Marley Marl.jpg
Marley Marl in 1999
Background information
Birth nameMarlon Lu'Ree Williams [1]
Born (1962-09-30) September 30, 1962 (age 61)
New York City, U.S. [2]
Genres Hip hop
Occupation(s)
  • DJ
  • producer
  • rapper
  • music executive [3]
Discography Marley Marl production discography
Years active1983–present
Labels
Formerly of Juice Crew

Marlon Lu'Ree Williams (born September 30, 1962), better known by his stage name Marley Marl, is an American DJ, record producer, rapper and record label founder, primarily operating in hip hop music. [4] Marlon grew up in Queensbridge housing projects [5] located in Queens, New York. He performed in local talent shows during the early days of rap music, further fueling his interest.

Contents

He was also featured on Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full" from their debut album, which was also recorded in his studio. [6] He is credited with influencing a number of hip hop icons such as Biggie Smalls, RZA, DJ Premier, Madlib, and Pete Rock. [7] Producer Madlib stated in an interview that Marley was the first producer who inspired him to make beats. [8] Vibe magazine wrote that he, "forever changed the sound of hip-hop with his unique beat barrages." [9]

Early career

Marley's career started with an interest in electronica. [10] As a young intern at Unique Recording Studios in the early 1980s, he had an opportunity to experiment with very expensive samplers like the Fairlight CMI. [10] One day during a studio session with an artist named Captain Rock he discovered sampling by accident.

"I was actually trying to get a riff off of a record. I made a mistake and got the snare in there before the sound came. I was truncating the vocal part but the snare was playing with the beat — we was truncating while the beat was playing. Thank God the beat was playing, because it probably wouldn't have happened if the beat wasn't playing. So I was playing it and the snare sounded better than the snare that I had from the drum machine when I was popping it." [10]

A short time later pioneering hip-hop radio DJ Mr. Magic heard Marley Marl's remix of Malcolm McLaren's Buffalo Gals, leading to Marley becoming his DJ. [10] They eventually started the hip-hop collective the Juice Crew together in 1983. 1986 saw the foundation of Cold Chillin' Records, where Marley served as in-house producer for many projects. He earned $250,000 per year for his production work. [11] The label was also home to many Juice Crew artists.

Marley caught his big break in 1984, with artist Roxanne Shante's hit "Roxanne's Revenge". In a 2008 interview Shante noted how seriously he took recording despite his limited setup. "We'd be recording in his living room on a reel-to-reel and four-tracks. I really just wanted to go to the mall after one take, but Marley always made me do it again." [12]

Another significant early record was 1985's "Marley Marl Scratch" featuring MC Shan. The song was recorded on a four-track cassette recorder and Shan used a mic with a missing ball to record his lyrics. [13]

Several of his early records featured inventive use of the Roland TR-808 drum machine. On MC Shan's 1986 Pop Art single "The Bridge', which later appeared on his 1987 album Down By Law , Marley used the 808 pulse to trigger different samplers. [10] According to Biz Markie, the button on Marley's 808 stuck during the recording of his hit "Make the Music with Your Mouth, Biz", leading to sound heard on the record today. [14] Juice Crew member Big Daddy Kane praised his ability to pair 808 drum sounds with sampled drums. "Regardless of how clean or brand-new the record was that he was sampling, or light the production may have been, he always gave it a really gritty feel when he sampled it. He always put the 808 to it and gave it a heavy bottom and warm feel." [15]

In the late 1980s, the Juice Crew gained increased attention from mainstream publications. Spin magazine wrote, "they've produced some of the genre's toughest, most uncompromising music." [16] At the time Marley began a streak of producing entire albums for several Juice Crew members. He produced all of the tracks on Craig G's The Kingpin (1989), Big Daddy Kane's Long Live The Kane (1988), Biz Markie's Goin' Off (1988), Kool G Rap & DJ Polo's Road to the Riches (1989), MC Shan's Down By Law (1987) and Born to Be Wild (1988), and Roxanne Shante's Bad Sister (1989).

In 1988, he produced the Juice Crew posse cut "The Symphony" by using a Hal Jackson record from the WBLS record library as a sample source. [10]

Post-Juice Crew and Cold Chillin'

In 1996, Marley filed a suit against Cold Chillin' for unpaid royalties. [17]

In 2007 he produced the entire Hip Hop Lives album for former rival KRS-One.

Discography

Studio albums

Collaboration albums

Compilations

Marl was referenced on Biggie Smalls' track "Juicy" as being one of Smalls' early influences. [18]

Related Research Articles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roxanne Shante</span> American rapper (born 1969)

Lolita Shante Gooden, better known by her stage name Roxanne Shante, is an American rapper. She first gained attention through the Roxanne Wars and was part of the Juice Crew. The 2017 film Roxanne Roxanne is a dramatization of Shante's life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MC Shan</span> American rapper

Shawn Moltke better known by his stage name MC Shan, is an American hip hop and R&B recording artist.

The Bridge Wars was a hip hop music rivalry during the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, that arose from a dispute over the true birthplace of hip hop music and retaliation over the rejecting of a record for airplay. The Bridge Wars originally involved the South Bronx's Boogie Down Productions, led by KRS-One, and Marley Marl's Juice Crew, hailing from Queensbridge. KRS-One and Marley Marl have since officially retired the feud, with the release of their collaborative 2007 album Hip Hop Lives.

The Roxanne Wars were a well-known series of hip hop rivalries during the mid-1980s, yielding perhaps the most answer records in history. The dispute arose over a failed appearance at a radio promotional show. It was an iconic moment for hip-hop in that it was probably one of, if not the first ever ‘rap beef’ between two artists. There were two Roxannes in question, Roxanne Shanté and The Real Roxanne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juice Crew</span> American hip hop collective

The Juice Crew was an American hip hop collective made up largely of Queensbridge, New York–based artists in the mid-to-late 1980s. Founded by radio DJ Mr. Magic, and housed by Tyrone Williams' record label Cold Chillin' Records, the Juice Crew helped introduce New School artists MC Shan, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shante, Masta Ace, Tragedy, Craig G and Kool G Rap. The crew produced many answer records and engaged with numerous "beefs" – primarily with rival radio jock Kool DJ Red Alert and the South Bronx's Boogie Down Productions, as well as the "posse cut", "The Symphony".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tragedy Khadafi</span> American rapper and record producer (born 1971)

Percy Lee Chapman, known by his stage name Tragedy Khadafi, is an American rapper and record producer. Chapman hails from the Queensbridge Housing Projects in Queens, New York City, and helped spawn other hip hop artists such as Mobb Deep, Capone-N-Noreaga, Nas. He is documented to be the first to use the phrase "illmatic" in 1988 on a record called "The Rebel", from the Marley Marl album In Control, Volume 1, which was an inspiration and influence on fellow New York rapper Nas.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold Chillin' Records</span> Defunct American record label

Cold Chillin' Records was a record label that released music during the golden age of hip hop from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. A producer-and-crew label founded by manager Tyrone Williams and run by Len Fichtelberg, most of the label's releases were by members of the Juice Crew, a loosely knit group of artists centered on producer Marley Marl. In 1998, the label shut down, and the majority of its expansive catalog was bought by Massachusetts-based LandSpeed Records.

<i>Down by Law</i> (MC Shan album) 1987 studio album by MC Shan

Down by Law is the debut album by East Coast hip hop artist MC Shan. Released at the height of the Bridge Wars, a feud that erupted between Boogie Down Productions and the Juice Crew, responding to the Queensbridge anthem "The Bridge", this album created a blueprint within Hip-Hop music that was never seen before. The album contains the diss track, "Kill That Noise" in response to South Bronx. The album is produced by Marley Marl, and was distributed by Cold Chillin' Records independently, until a distribution deal was struck with Warner Bros. Records (1988), then the album was reissued with slight sample edits. It was the only Cold Chillin'/Warner Bros. album that was never initially released on CD by its distributor. The album was not released on that format until 1995, long after the 5-year distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records ended. By this time, Cold Chillin' distributed its material independently, mostly from its back catalog. This CD pressing would only be available for a limited time and went out of print for a few years. It was then re-released in 2001 as MC Shan: the Best of Cold Chillin', which featured all the tracks from Down by Law with a few additional non-album tracks. This version is now out of print as well. In 2007, it was re-released again by its new owner, Traffic Entertainment, in expanded form as a double-disc set with extended tracks, as well as bonus tracks.

<i>Born to Be Wild</i> (MC Shan album) 1988 studio album by MC Shan

Born to Be Wild is the second album released by Juice Crew member and East Coast rapper MC Shan. With the production work of Marley Marl, MC Shan directly attacked Boogie Down Productions with "Juice Crew Law" and ended the silence around their feud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kool DJ Red Alert</span> American DJ

Frederick Crute, known professionally as Kool DJ Red Alert, is an Antiguan-American disc jockey who rose to fame on WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM in New York City and is recognized as one of the founding fathers of hip hop music and culture. His weekly radio show airs on WBLS 107.5 FM from Monday to Saturday at 6pm EST.

"The Bridge Is Over" is a 1987 song by Boogie Down Productions from their debut album Criminal Minded, performed by rapper KRS-One and produced by DJ Scott LaRock and KRS-One. The song's intro samples "The Bridge" by MC Shan.

<i>In Control, Volume 1</i> 1988 studio album by Marley Marl

In Control, Volume 1 is the debut studio album by American hip hop record producer Marley Marl of the Juice Crew. It was released on September 20, 1988 through Cold Chillin' Records with distribution via Warner Bros. Records.

<i>Bad Sister</i> (album) 1989 studio album by Roxanne Shanté

Bad Sister is the debut album by Roxanne Shanté, released in 1989 on Cold Chillin' Records. The album peaked at No. 52 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

<i>Riches, Royalty, Respect</i> 2011 studio album by Kool G Rap

Riches, Royalty, Respect is the fourth solo album by American hip-hop recording artist Kool G Rap, released on May 31, 2011 by Fat Beats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Symphony (song)</span> 1988 single by Marley Marl featuring Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane

"The Symphony" is a rap song produced by Marley Marl featuring Juice Crew members Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, Craig G and Big Daddy Kane. The track appears on Marley Marl's 1988 Cold Chillin' Records release In Control, Volume 1. Rolling Stone ranked "The Symphony" the 48th greatest hip-hop song of all time, calling it "the first truly great posse cut".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">It's a Demo</span> 1986 single by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo

"It's a Demo" is the 1986 debut single by American hip hop duo Kool G Rap & DJ Polo. Originally a non-album single with "I'm Fly" as a B-side, a remix of the track was featured on the duo's 1989 album Road to the Riches and later on the compilation albums Killer Kuts (1994), The Best of Cold Chillin' (2000), Greatest Hits (2002) and Street Stories: The Best of Kool G Rap & DJ Polo (2013).

<i>In Control Volume II (For Your Steering Pleasure)</i> 1991 studio album by Marley Marl

In Control Volume II (For Your Steering Pleasure) is the second studio album by American hip hop record producer Marley Marl. It was released on October 1, 1991, via Cold Chillin' Records. Recording sessions took place at Marley's House Of Hits in Chestnut Ridge, New York. Production was handled by Marley Marl himself, with Benny Medina, Francesca Spero and Tyrone Williams serving as executive producers. It features guest appearances from Tragedy Khadafi, Big Daddy Kane, Craig G, Heavy D, Kool G Rap and Masta Ace, who contributed on In Control, Volume 1, as well as Big Money Wiz, Chubb Rock, Chuck D, Def Jef, Eclipse, Grand Puba, Kev-E-Kev & AK-B, King Tee, Little Daddy Shane, LL Cool J, MC Amazing, MC Cash, Mike Nice, Nexx Phase, Perfection, Portia Kirkland, Pure Cane Sugar, Rap Industry For Social Evolution and The Flex. Action, Biz Markie, MC Shan and Roxanne Shanté did not appear on this album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roxanne Shante discography</span>

The following is the discography of Roxanne Shante, an American rapper.

References

  1. ↑ "AMERICA EATS THE YOUNG". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  2. ↑ Steve Huey. "Marley Marl". AllMusic . Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  3. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "F.D.S #39 – THE ERIC B EPISODE – FULL EPISODE". YouTube. August 8, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  4. ↑ Colin Larkin, ed. (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 211. ISBN   0-7535-0252-6.
  5. ↑ Mao, Jeff "Chairman" (2014). "Marley Marl Lecture". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  6. ↑ Mao, Jeff "Chairman" (December 1997). "The Microphone God". Vibe. p. 134. Archived from the original on April 15, 2022 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ Biography, AllMusic
  8. ↑ Torres, Andre (November 19, 2013). "Madlib revived the crate-digging tradition before flipping the script and embracing live playing". Wax Poetics.
  9. ↑ Mao, Jeff "Chairman" (September 1998). "Props: The Juice Crew". Vibe. p. 312 – via Google Books.[ dead link ]
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Muhammad, Ali Shaheed; Kelley, Frannie (September 12, 2013). "Microphone Check: Marley Marl On The Bridge Wars, LL Cool J And Discovering Sampling". NPR. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  11. ↑ Kondo, Toshitaka (May 2005). "Karma: Marley Marl's Juice Crew ran rap in the '80s, but nothing lasts forever". Vibe. p. 56. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021 – via Google Books.
  12. ↑ Gonzales, Michael A. (2008). "Crew Deep: Marley Marl Forms the Indomitable Juice Crew". Vibe. p. 88 – via Google Books.[ dead link ]
  13. ↑ Merlis, Ben (2019). Goin' Off: The Story of the Juice Crew & Cold Chillin' Records (RPM Series Book 3). BMG Books. ISBN   978-1-947026-32-2.
  14. ↑ Coleman, Brian (2007). Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies. New York: Villard. p. 50. ISBN   978-0-8129-7775-2.
  15. ↑ Coleman, Brian (2007). Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies. New York: Villard. p. 38. ISBN   978-0-8129-7775-2.
  16. ↑ Leland, John (December 1988). "Singles". Spin. p. 112 – via Google Books.
  17. ↑ Coleman, Monyca D. (November 9, 1996). "Gossip". Indianapolis Recorder. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Hip Hop Awards 2023: Marley Marl Honored For His Contributions to Hip Hop". BET . October 10, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
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