Mantronix was an influential 1980s
hip hop and
music group from New York City. The band was formed by
DJ Kurtis Mantronik
Kurtis el Khaleel (born Graham Curtis el Khaleel, September 4, 1965), known by the stage name Kurtis Mantronik, is a Jamaican-born hip hop and electronic-music artist, DJ, remixer, and producer. He was the leader, DJ, and keyboardist of the inf ...
(Kurtis el Khaleel) and
rapper MC Tee
Touré Embden (born September 3, 1964), known by the stage name MC Tee, is a Jamaican American emcee and co-founder (with DJ Kurtis Mantronik) of the 1980s old school hip hop and electro funk group Mantronix.
Early years
MC Tee was born in ...
(Touré Embden). The group is primarily remembered for its pioneering blend of
old school hip hop
Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contem ...
,
electronic, and
club music. They underwent several
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
and line-up changes during its seven-year existence between 1984 and 1991, and released five albums beginning with their 1985 debut ''
Mantronix: The Album''.
History
Early years: 1984–1988
Kurtis Mantronik
Kurtis el Khaleel (born Graham Curtis el Khaleel, September 4, 1965), known by the stage name Kurtis Mantronik, is a Jamaican-born hip hop and electronic-music artist, DJ, remixer, and producer. He was the leader, DJ, and keyboardist of the inf ...
(Kurtis el Khaleel), a Jamaican-American
émigré, began experimenting with
in the early 1980s, inspired by early electro tracks like "
Riot in Lagos" (1980) by
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...
's
Ryuichi Sakamoto. In 1984, while working as the in-store
DJ for Downtown Records in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, Kurtis Mantronik met
MC Tee
Touré Embden (born September 3, 1964), known by the stage name MC Tee, is a Jamaican American emcee and co-founder (with DJ Kurtis Mantronik) of the 1980s old school hip hop and electro funk group Mantronix.
Early years
MC Tee was born in ...
, a Haitian-born,
Flatbush, Brooklyn-based
rapper (and regular record store customer).
The duo soon made a demo, "Fresh Is The Word," and eventually signed with William Socolov's
Sleeping Bag Records
Sleeping Bag Records is a defunct New York City-based independent record label founded by musician Arthur Russell and entrepreneur Will Socolov. It was active between 1981 and 1992, and specialized in dance music and hip hop.
Background and ...
.
''Mantronix: the Album''
Mantronix's debut single, "Fresh Is the Word," was a club hit in 1985, reaching No. 16 on ''
Billboard Magazine's''
Hot Dance Singles Sales chart, and was featured on ''
Mantronix: The Album'' which was released the same year.
Mantronix's efforts on ''Mantronix: the Album'' and its effect on early hip hop and electronic music is perhaps best summed up by music critic Omar Willey's observation in 2000:
The influence of ''Mantronix: The Album'' is seen among other
artists through the
sampling of "Needle to the Groove" by
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...
in the single "
Where It's At" from the 1996 album, ''
Odelay'' ("''we've got two turntables and a microphone''..."), as well as, "Fresh Is The Word" by the
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...
in the single "
Jimmy James" from the 1992 album, ''
Check Your Head'' ("''for all the Blacks, Puerto Ricans, and the White people too''...") The Beastie Boys later sampled "Bassline" for the song "3 the Hard Way" on their 2004 album ''
To the 5 Boroughs''.
''Music Madness''
Mantronix's second album, ''
Music Madness
''Music Madness'' is the second album by old school hip hop and electro funk group Mantronix. ''Music Madness'' was the final Mantronix album released on the independent Sleeping Bag Records label. The hip hop album features club-oriented product ...
'', was released in 1986.
While MC Tee's
rhyming style on the album continued in the traditional
b-boy
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...
fashion of the times, Mantronik's club-oriented production and mixing in ''Music Madness'' tended to attract more
electronic dance music and electro funk aficionados than hardcore hip-hop fans.
During this period, while Mantronix was signed to Sleeping Bag Records, Mantronik was employed by the label in their
A&R Department,
while also producing other artists and groups, including
Just-Ice
Joseph Williams Jr. (born June 22, 1965), better known by the stage name Just-Ice, is an American rapper from New York City.
A former bouncer at punk clubs, Williams was the first of the New York rappers to embrace gangsta rap, and when he bur ...
,
T La Rock
Terrence "Terry" Ronnie Keaton known by the stage name T La Rock, (born September 16, 1961) is an American old-school emcee best known for his collaboration with Def Jam Recordings co-founder Rick Rubin and the 1984 single "It's Yours."
Biogr ...
,
Nocera, and
Joyce Sims.
''In Full Effect''
![Rapp Extravaganza - July 12, 1987 (ticket)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Rapp_Extravaganza_-_July_12%2C_1987_%28ticket%29.jpg)
Mantronix signed with
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
in 1987, in what was one of the first 7-figure deals for a hip-hop group, and released ''
In Full Effect
''In Full Effect'' is the third album by the hip hop-electro funk group Mantronix, released in 1988. It was the first Mantronix album released on Capitol Records. ''In Full Effect'' was the highest charting hip-hop album for Mantronix, reaching # ...
'' in 1988,
which, according to the liner notes, was the first album to be
mastered from
DAT instead of reel-to-reel tape. The album continued in and expanded on the hip-hop/electro funk/dance music vein of its predecessor, eventually reaching No. 18 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...
chart, Mantronix's highest showing for an album.
''In Full Effect'' marked the last Mantronix album with rapper
MC Tee
Touré Embden (born September 3, 1964), known by the stage name MC Tee, is a Jamaican American emcee and co-founder (with DJ Kurtis Mantronik) of the 1980s old school hip hop and electro funk group Mantronix.
Early years
MC Tee was born in ...
, who left the group to enlist in the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
.
Mantronix's 1988 track "King of the Beats" was one of the first songs to sample the
Amen break
The Amen break is a drum break that has been widely sampled in popular music. It comes from the 1969 track "Amen, Brother" by the soul group the Winstons, released as the B-side of the 1969 single "Color Him Father". The drum break lasts about se ...
. "King of the Beats" itself became one of the most sampled songs in music history, having been sampled more than 200 times, rivaling that of "Amen, Brother" itself.
Later era: 1989–1991
''This Should Move Ya''
Following the departure of MC Tee, rapper
Bryce "Luvah" Wilson and Mantronik's cousin, D.J. D., joined the group.
Mantronik met Wilson, a fellow Sleeping Bag Records label mate, while doing production work for Wilson's aborted solo project.
The album spawned two top-10 hits on the
British 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 ...
, "
Got to Have Your Love
"Got to Have Your Love" is a song by American hip hop and Electro (music), electro funk group Mantronix, featuring vocals from American recording artist Wondress Hutchinson, Wondress. It was released by Capitol Records in December 1989 as the l ...
" at No. 4, and "Take Your Time (featuring vocalist
Wondress)" at No. 10. In the United States, the album reached No. 61 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...
chart.
In a 1991 interview, Kurtis Mantronik commented on the commercial success of "Got to Have Your Love":
''The Incredible Sound Machine''
Mantronix's final release, with vocalist
Jade Trini replacing D.J. D, was ''
The Incredible Sound Machine
''The Incredible Sound Machine'' is the fifth and final studio album by old school hip hop/electro funk group Mantronix, and the third Mantronix album released on Capitol Records. ''The Incredible Sound Machine'' featured new member, vocalist ...
'' in 1991.
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
-nominated
neo soul
Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...
singer/songwriter
Angie Stone co-wrote seven of the eleven tracks that appeared on ''The Incredible Sound Machine''. ''The Incredible Sound Machine'', which tended to favor
R&B,
new jack swing
New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing was mos ...
, and
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
over hip hop, was considered both a critical and commercial disappointment.
Shortly after a European tour and promotion related to the release of ''The Incredible Sound Machine'', the group disbanded, and Mantronik left the music industry altogether for seven years.
Kurtis Mantronik
Kurtis el Khaleel (born Graham Curtis el Khaleel, September 4, 1965), known by the stage name Kurtis Mantronik, is a Jamaican-born hip hop and electronic-music artist, DJ, remixer, and producer. He was the leader, DJ, and keyboardist of the inf ...
resurfaced in Europe in the late 1990s, producing
house- and
techno-music artists, and remains active in pop-oriented
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
.
Discography
Albums
Compilation albums
Singles
References
Further reading
*
External links
Mantronix at soulmovement.nl*
AllMusic.com Biography – Mantronixbr>
Discogs Profile – MantronixAngie Stone 2016 Interview at Soulinterviews.com
{{Authority control
1984 establishments in New York City
1991 disestablishments in New York (state)
Electronic music groups from New York (state)
American hip hop groups
Electronic music duos
Musical groups established in 1984
Musical groups disestablished in 1991
Musicians from New York City
American electro musicians
Capitol Records artists
Sleeping Bag Records artists
Virgin Records artists