Barely Breaking Even (BBE) is a British
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
started by two
DJs, Peter Adarkwah and Ben Jolly. The name BBE comes from
The Universal Robot Band
The Universal Robot Band was an American music group comprising Gregory Carmichael, Patrick Adams, Leroy Burgess, Gregory Tolbert and Woody Cunningham.
The band was formed by Patrick Adams and Greg Carmichael in 1976. Their debut single, "Dance ...
's 1982 track "Barely Breaking Even". It has two sublabels: Deep Funk, and Urban Theory. BBE is also notable for its ''Beat Generation'' series of LPs.
Current/former artists
*
BlackCoffee
*
Bombay Monkey
*
Dark Room Notes
Dark Room Notes were an Irish electro/ synthpop group.
The three founding members, Ronan Gaughan, Ruairi Ferrie and former drummer Ruairi Cavanagh originally hail from Menlo, County Galway. Later members Arran Murphy is from Wicklow, and Darrag ...
*
J Dilla
J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...
(deceased)
*
DJ Jazzy Jeff
Jeffrey Allen Townes (born January 22, 1965), known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff (or simply Jazz), is an American disc jockey (DJ) and music producer. He was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, alon ...
*
George Pajon
George Pajon Jr. (born April 10, 1969) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer.
Early life
George Pajon Jr. "attended private St. Matthias Elementary School, a Catholic K-8 school, in Huntington Park. Growing up in conservative ...
*
Keb Darge
Keb Darge (born 1957[dirty interviews archives ...](_blank)
*
Keith Harris
*
Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales
Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez (born July 5, 1970), also sometimes known as K-Dope, is an American record producer and disc jockey. He is one half of the classic house music Masters at Work musical production team with Little Louie Vega; and also releas ...
*
Lady Daisey
Daisey Traynham, known by the stage name Lady Daisey, is a Brooklyn born soul/funk singer. She spent her childhood touring with her parents’ band, and years later, settled in Jacksonville, Florida, where she met her husband/producer, Batsauce ...
*
Little Louie Vega
Luis Ferdinand Vega Jr. (born June 12, 1965), as known as "Little Louie" Vega, is an American DJ, record producer and Grammy Award winner remixer of Puerto Ricans in the United States, Puerto Rican ancestry. He is one half of the Masters at Work ...
*
Masters at Work
Masters at Work is the American garage house production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. The duo has produced music together under the names MAW, KenLou, Sole Fusion, Hardrive, and Nuyorican Soul. They have been r ...
*
Mike City
Mike City (born Michael Flowers) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for producing the singles "I Wish" for Carl Thomas, " Heard It All Before" for Sunshine Anderson, "Full Moon" for Brandy and "One Woman M ...
*
Mr Thing
Mr Thing is a British hip hop producer. He is a former member of the Scratch Perverts.Cordor, CyrilMr. Thing Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2011-06-19 He has worked with such artists as Yungun, Doc Brown and Devise. Mr Thing was also the winne ...
*
Pete Rock
Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...
*
Phantogram Phantogram may refer to:
*Phantogram (band)
*Phantogram (optical illusion)
Phantograms, also known as Phantaglyphs, Op-Ups, free-standing anaglyphs, levitated images, and book anaglyphs, are a form of optical illusion. Phantograms use perspectiv ...
*
Printz Board
Priese Prince Lamont "Printz" Board (born September 11, 1982) is an American record producer, songwriter, and singer best known for his work with Black Eyed Peas and being a member of the production group Bucky Johnson. In addition, Board has ...
*
Roy Ayers
Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Pol ...
*
Shawn Lee
*
*
DJ Spinna
Vincent E. Williamsbetter known by his stage name DJ Spinna, is an American hip hop and deep house producer from Brooklyn. According to Allmusic, he has "remained strictly an underground artist despite his astonishing talent."
Life and career
Spi ...
*
Spoek Mathambo
Nthato Mokgata (born 14 May 1985), known by his stage name Spoek Mathambo, is a South African artist, producer, singer-songwriter and rapper. Mathambo rose to fame in the late 2000s with his fusion of a wide array of musical influences. He is kno ...
*
TY
*
DJ Vadim
Vadim Alexandrovich Peare (russian: Вадим Александрович Пир, Vadim Aleksandrovich Pir ...
*
Paul Weller
Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...
*
will.i.am
William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas.
...
Discography
Albums
*1999:
Keb Darge
Keb Darge (born 1957[dirty interviews archives ...](_blank)
- ''Funk Spectrum: Real Funk for Real People''
*2003:
Pete Rock
Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...
- ''
Lost & Found: Hip Hop Underground Soul Classics''
*2004:
The Foreign Exchange
The Foreign Exchange is an R&B/ electronica/ hip hop duo consisting of the American rapper/singer Phonte and the Dutch record producer Nicolay.
Musical career
The pair initially made contact via message boards on Okayplayer.com and soon ...
- ''
Connected
Connected may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Connected'' (2008 film), a Hong Kong remake of the American movie ''Cellular''
* '' Connected: An Autoblogography About Love, Death & Technology'', a 2011 documentary film
* ''Connected'' (2015 TV ...
''
*2004:
Pete Rock
Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...
- ''
Soul Survivor II
''Soul Survivor II'' is a studio album by hip hop producer Pete Rock, released in 2004. The album features guest appearances from a large number of hip hop artists, including Pharoahe Monch, Little Brother, RZA, GZA, Talib Kweli, Dead Prez, ...
''
*2005: Ski Oakenfull - ''Rising Son''
*2005:
Pete Rock
Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...
- ''
The Surviving Elements: From Soul Survivor II Sessions''
*2005:
D'Nell - ''1st Magic''
*2005:
Symbolyc One
Larry Darnell Griffin Jr. (born August 3, 1976), professionally known as Symbolyc One or S1, is an American record producer from Waco, Texas. He founded the group Strange Fruit Project and is signed to Kanye West's Very GOOD Beats as a producer ...
&
Illmind
Ramon Ibanga, Jr. (born August 28, 1980), known professionally as Illmind (often stylized as !llmind), is an American record producer, songwriter, and educator. As of 2012, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Illmind has co-written and produced hip ...
- ''The Art of Onemind''
*2006:
Shawn Lee - ''Soul Visa''
*2006:
Nicolay - ''Here''
*2009:
Notes to Self - ''A Shot in the Dark''
*2010:
Ty - ''
Special Kind of Fool''
*2010: Bara Bröst - ''Elephancycle''
*2010: Spoek Mathambo - ''Mshini Wam''
*2012:
Newban - ''Newban and Newban 2''
*2014:
Shawn Lee - ''Golden Age Against the Machine''
*2015: Dalindèo - ''Kallio''
*2016: Dalindèo - ''Slavic Souls''
*2017: Mike City - ''The Feel Good Agenda, Vol. 1''
''Beat Generation'' series
*2001:
J Dilla
J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...
- ''
Welcome 2 Detroit
:''This is an article about the J Dilla album. For the Trick-Trick song of the same name, see Welcome 2 Detroit (song).''
''Welcome 2 Detroit'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist J Dilla, released on February 26, 2 ...
''
*2001:
Pete Rock
Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...
- ''
Petestrumentals
''PeteStrumentals'' is the second studio album from hip hop producer/rapper Pete Rock. The album is an Instrumental hip hop album and the second installment of BBE Records ''Beat Generation'' series, following Jay Dee's '' Welcome to Detroit' ...
''
*2001:
will.i.am
William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas.
...
- ''
Lost Change
''Lost Change'' is the debut studio album released by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am. It was released on September 1, 2001 by Atlantic Records, and includes the song "I Am", co-written with Koliyah White. The album was supported by the releas ...
''
*2001:
Marley Marl
Marlon 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. Marlon grew up in Queensbridge housing projects ...
- ''
Re-Entry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the entr ...
''
*2002:
DJ Jazzy Jeff
Jeffrey Allen Townes (born January 22, 1965), known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff (or simply Jazz), is an American disc jockey (DJ) and music producer. He was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, alon ...
- ''
The Magnificent''
*2002:
King Britt
King Britt (born 1968) is an American educator, DJ and record producer from Philadelphia.
Biography
Britt is a 1986 graduate of Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1987, he started working at Tower Records, as a buyer for th ...
- ''Adventures in Lo-Fi''
*2003: Larry Gold - ''Presents Don Cello and Friends''
*2003:
DJ Spinna
Vincent E. Williamsbetter known by his stage name DJ Spinna, is an American hip hop and deep house producer from Brooklyn. According to Allmusic, he has "remained strictly an underground artist despite his astonishing talent."
Life and career
Spi ...
- ''
Here to There''
*2004: ''The Beat Generation Sampler''
*2006:
J Dilla
J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...
- ''
The Shining''
*2007:
DJ Jazzy Jeff
Jeffrey Allen Townes (born January 22, 1965), known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff (or simply Jazz), is an American disc jockey (DJ) and music producer. He was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, alon ...
- ''
The Return of the Magnificent
''The Return of the Magnificent'' is the second studio album by DJ Jazzy Jeff. It was released via BBE and Rapster Records in 2007. It is the official follow-up to '' The Magnificent'' (2002). It includes guest appearances from CL Smooth, Big D ...
''
*2008:
Madlib
Otis Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. He is widely known for his collaborations with MF DOOM (as Madvillain), J Dilla (as Jaylib), and Fr ...
- ''
WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip''
References
External links
BBE Music*
Label Focus: BBE Music{{Authority control
British record labels
Hip hop record labels
British hip hop record labels
Electronic music record labels