Caveman was a

British hip hop British hip hop, also known as UK hip hop or UK rap, is a genre of music, and a culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. It is generally classified as one of a number of styles of R&B/Hip-Hop. Britis ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

originally from

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, England, consisting of MCM, the Principal, and Diamond J. They were the first

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

hip hop group to be signed to a major

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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 ...

Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label. H ...

History

The group's first releases were the twelve inch

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"Victory" (Profile, 1990) and "Fry You Like Fish" (Profile, 1990), and the ''I'm Ready EP'' (Profile, 1990). This established their

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

-based style of hip hop, influenced by U.S.

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, the ...

such as

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2 ...

. The

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

"I'm Ready", however, was based on Jimi Hendrix's, " Crosstown Traffic" and showed early on a liking for the harder style that they adopted for later releases. "I'm Ready" was a popular song, and still regularly turns up on hip hop compilation albums today. Their debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

, ''Positive Reaction'' was released by Profile in 1990. The following year, the group released ''The Victory EP'' (Profile, 1991) and then took a break from recording. They returned with ''The Whole Nine Yards...And Then Some'' in 1992. Shortly after the release of the album, the group decided to go their separate ways. MCM had a short-lived solo career, releasing some twelve inches and guesting on other artists' tracks - such as Dodge City Productions' "Understand This" from their ''Steppin' Up and Out'' (

4th & Broadway 4th & B'way Records (pronounced and spelled out completely as Fourth and Broadway Records in the UK) is a US-based subsidiary of Island Records that specialised in street-oriented music such as hip hop. Established in 1984, it was the flagsh ...

, 1993) album. The Principal went on to produce other artist's tracks, such as a remix of

Run-D.M.C. Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

's "Ooh, What'cha Gonna Do?" from their '' Down with the King'' (Profile, 1993) album. Diamond J went on to provide scratches for Maxim's ''Hell's Kitchen'' (XL Recordings, 2000) album. Almost 20 years after the last Caveman album, front man MCM incorporated the name Caveman on his first solo studio album '' The Gospel: The Missing Gems of MCM Caveman'' (I-innovate UK, 2011). The double album included several unreleased tracks from the 1990s.

Discography

Chart singles

*"I'm Ready" (1991) - UK #65

Chart albums

*'' Positive Reaction'' (1991) - UK #43 *''The Whole Nine Yards And Then Some'' (1992)

References

External links

Discog's MCM page

Discog's Caveman page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caveman English hip hop groups Profile Records artists