Anthony Alexander Campbell, better known by his stage name Dobie, is a British

alternative hip hop Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confor ...

musician and producer. His nickname came about due to his resemblance to the character Dobie in the TV detective series Kodak.

Early career

Campbell worked as a skateboarder and photographer in the early 1980s. As a photographer, he photographed the skaters in

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

, and the breakdancers in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

in the early 1980s. His musical career began in 1989, when he began working on NSO Force Organization tracks for the genre-spanning label

Vinyl Solution Vinyl Solution was a record label of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the offshoot of an independent London-based record store based at 231 Portobello Road (now known as Intoxica Records). The label signed many unconventional acts in a number of unc ...

. Soon afterward, he met

Soul II Soul Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their two major hits; 1989's UK number five and US number eleven " Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four " Back to ...

, after which

Jazzie B Trevor Beresford Romeo OBE, (born 26 January 1963) better known as Jazzie B, is a British DJ and music producer. He is the founder of Soul II Soul. Life and career Jazzie was born in London UK to parents of Antiguan descent in Hornsey, Londo ...

recruited him to produce tracks on their debut album '' Club Classics Vol. One''. He has also remixed albums by

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

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Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...

, and Tricky, as well as the

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song "How's Life in London".

Solo career

Campbell's first solo release was an eponymous EP on Howie B.'s Pussyfoot Records in 1995. His first full-length album was ''The Sound of One Hand Clapping'', released in 1998, also on Pussyfoot. It was followed by a remixed version of the album, ''The Sound of One Hand Clapping Version 2.5'', in 2004 on

BBE Records Barely Breaking Even (BBE) is a British record label started by two DJs, Peter Adarkwah and Ben Jolly. The name BBE comes from The Universal Robot Band's 1982 track "Barely Breaking Even". It has two sublabels: Deep Funk, and Urban Theory. B ...

. He then released two EPs in 2012: ''Nothing to Fear'' and ''...But Fear Itself'', both on Big Dada Records. His official second album was 2013's '' We Will Not Harm You'', which was also released by Big Dada.

Personal life

Due to Campbell's shy nature,

Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brown ...

has described Campbell as "the

Ghost Dog ''Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'' is a 1999 internationally co-produced martial arts crime thriller drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. Forest Whitaker stars as the title character, the mysterious "Ghost Dog", a hitman in the e ...

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

Discography

Studio albums

*''The Sound of One Hand Clapping'' (Pussyfoot, 1998) *''The Sound of One Hand Clapping Version 2.5'' (BBE, 2004) *'' We Will Not Harm You'' (Big Dada, 2013)

EPs

*''The Dobie E.P.'' (Pussyfoot, 1995) *''Nothing to Fear'' (Big Dada, 2012) *''...But Fear Itself'' (Big Data, 2012)

References

{{Authority control Barely Breaking Even artists Living people Big Dada artists English hip hop musicians English record producers Alternative hip hop musicians People from Stoke Newington English electronic musicians Year of birth missing (living people)