Hijack were a British
hip hop group, hailing from
Brixton,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, featuring Kamanchi Sly, DJ Supreme, DJ Undercover, Ulysses, Agent Fritz and Agent Clueso.
Their first
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 ...
, "Style Wars" (
Music of Life
Music of Life is a British independent hip hop and dance music label formed in 1986 by two influential DJ remixers Froggy and Simon Harris, managed by Chris France. Following several successful productions, one of which reached No. 3 in the U ...
, 1988) caught the attention of the
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 ...
community.
Their next release, "Hold No Hostage"/"Doomsday of Rap" (Music of Life, 1989) became an underground
hit
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
across Europe, bringing them to the attention of
West Coast rapper
Ice-T.
Overview
Ice-T signed the group to his own
Rhyme Syndicate 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 ...
, and they
recorded and released the single "The Badman is Robbin'" (Rhyme Syndicate, 1989). The track reached #56 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
The group's 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 ...
, ''The Horns of Jericho'' (Rhyme Syndicate, 1991), was recorded around the same time.
Hijack also released the single "Style Wars - Style Warriors Revenge" back on the Music of Life label while they were waiting for their album to be released but
Warner (who had a distribution deal with Rhyme Syndicate) did not release the album in the
United States
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 ...
.
''The Horns of Jericho'' (1991-1994)
In 1991, ''The Horns of Jericho'' was released,
but not in the U.S. The group released the single "Daddy Rich" which was popular in the UK. The music video for "Daddy Rich" was shot in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
Breakup
Because Warner Brothers did not release the album to the US market, Hijack soon parted company with the label then later split due to musical differences and went their separate ways. DJ Supreme founded Backbone Records, whilst Kamanchi Sly and DJ Undercover founded Reservoir Records and recorded as Mr Pink and Mr Blonde for a short period. Sly also appeared on
Nicolas Dresti's singles "Tha Wildstyle" and "Tha Horns of Jericho". Nicolas assumed the name of DJ Supreme in 1996 which he used until 1998. Kamanchi Sly changed his name to Unknown MC and had
chart success with his brother, DJ Pied Piper.
DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies
DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies were a UK garage collaboration between producer and DJ Pied Piper and the emcees MC DT (responsible for the line "we're loving it, loving it, loving it"), Melody, Sharky P and the Unknown MC (Kamanc ...
' single "
Do You Really Like It?
"Do You Really Like It?" is a song by UK garage music group DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies. The single went to number one on the UK Singles Chart in June 2001. The song has sold over 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom according to ...
" (Relentless Records, 2001) reached number one in the UK.
Since then, Kamanchi Sly released two
EPs in 2004. DJ Supreme attended the Scratchcon 2000 seminar in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, which was hosted by
DJ Qbert
Richard Quitevis (born October 7, 1969) known by his stage name DJ Qbert or Qbert, is an American turntablist and composer. He was awarded America's Best DJ in 2010, was DMC USA Champion 1991 (solo) and achieved titles as DMC World Champion in ...
. Supreme is an active
DJ on the
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
circuit and continues to work in
record production. His most recent project included the making of his semi-biographical
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
, ''The Turntable Trixters'', which chronicles the history of Hijack. The film was recently screened by the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
and a
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
is available.
Hijack have re-formed and released a single in 2016 under Reservoir Records entitled "Doing What We Wonna Do". Alongside this, Kamanchi Sly has also released some solo music via his channel on YouTube.
Discography
* ''Style Wars'' (Music of Life Records, 1988)
* ''Hold No Hostage / Doomsday of Rap'' (Music of Life Records, 1989)
* ''The Badman Is Robbin'' (Rhyme Syndicate Records, 1990)
* ''Style Warriors Revenge'' (Music of Life Records, 1990)
* ''Daddy Rich'' (Rhyme Syndicate Records, 1991)
* ''The Horns of Jericho'' (Rhyme Syndicate Records, 1991)
* ''The Original Horns of Jericho / Instrumental Movie Soundtrack'' (Reservoir Records, 1997)
* ''The Horns of Jericho 25th Anniversary Release'' (BackBone Records, 2015)
References
External links
*
*
Allmusic.com - Discography
{{Authority control
English hip hop groups
Musical groups from London