DJ Sharkey (born Jonathan Kneath on 25 July 1974 in Plymouth, England) is a British

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

and

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

. As of September 2011 he is semi-retired from music production and performance. Sharkey has performed in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, and Japan.

Career

Sharkey initially became known as an MC at "hardcore rave" events in Britain in 1993. In 1995, he moved into music production, teaming up with DJ Hixxy to release the track "Toytown", which proved one of the most significant signature tunes of the UK's

happy hardcore Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or " hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990 ...

style in the 1990s. This led both Sharkey and Hixxy to being signed by the UK's leading dance music label, React Music, and the pair released '' Bonkers'', the first in a series of albums which has become the best-selling hardcore compilation series of all time. "Revolutions", a release on React, reached 53 in the UK charts, and Sharkey consequently released the album ''Hard Life'' in 1998. Sharkey also produced mixes for '' Bonkers 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16'', and '' 17''. Volumes '' 4'' and '' 5'' achieved silver sales status in the UK with '' Bonkers 3'' reaching gold status. In 2001, Sharkey made his first appearance on the Eurodance compilation ''

Dancemania ''Dancemania'' is a series of remix compilation albums by i-DANCE. The series deals primarily with dance music, especially Eurodance. Despite many of its tracks being made by various musicians from all over the world and mainly from the European ...

'' series, at '' Speed 6'', along with Hixxy. He was also invited to mix on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

in 2003, performing John Peel's ''Essential Mix''.

Retirement

In January 2011, Sharkey announced his retirement from Hardcore and Freeform. He completed a final tour, playing in various countries around the world, and then officially retired in September 2011. While Sharkey has previously stated that he has completely retired, his current status is under speculation. There was a few instances of DJ Sharkey performing in 2015.And in September 2021 he was MCing at the Rave Escape in mansfiled. As of 2021 he has started his own show Bonkers Beat on the online radio station Beat 106 Scotland on Friday nights

References

External links

Releases
* DJ Sharkey a
Discogs

Sharkey on Last FM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharkey, Dj English DJs English record producers Happy hardcore musicians 1975 births Living people UK hardcore musicians Musicians from Plymouth, Devon