Mattafix were an English electronic duo, consisting of vocalist

Marlon Roudette Marlon Roudette is a British singer, songwriter and producer. He is the former front man for the duo Mattafix, who had their first number 1, "Big City Life", in 2006. After the group split, Roudette embarked on a solo career with two number one ...

and producer and keyboardist Preetesh Hirji. Their sound was a fusion of hip hop, R&B,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

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 major ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. Known for their 2005 hit single "

Big City Life "Big City Life" is a song by English electronic music duo Mattafix. With a chorus is sung in Jamaican Patois, "Big City Life" was released in August 2005 as the second single from Mattafix's debut album, '' Signs of a Struggle'' (2005). The singl ...

", they won the

Sopot International Song Festival The Sopot International Song Festival or Sopot Festival (later called ''Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix'', ''Sopot Top of the Top Festival'' from 2012–13 and ''Polsat Sopot Festival'' in 2014) is an annual international song contest held in So ...

in 2006.

Biography

Marlon Rosegold McVey-Roudette was born in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and is the son of

Cameron McVey Cameron Andrew McVey (born 11 March 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and music producer. He worked with the bands Massive Attack, Portishead, All Saints, Sugababes/Mutya Keisha Siobhan and his wife Neneh Cherry. He is the father of Ma ...

, a British music producer, and Vonnie Roudette, a designer and artist from

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

. As a young child, he moved with his mother and sister to St. Vincent, where he began his music career before returning to London when he was 18. Preetesh Hirji was born in London of dual-

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n parentage and grew up in the heart of West London, where he started at Eastcote Studios on Kensal Road.

''Signs of a Struggle'' (2005–2006)

Mattafix released their first single, " 11.30 (Dirtiest Trick in Town)", as a limited edition on Buddhist Punk Records on 13 January 2005. However, the song never charted. Their second single, "

", was released by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

on 8 August 2005. It was a considerable hit, managing number 15 in their native

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and number 1 in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It also had considerable success in other countries, including top-20 positions in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It can also be heard on the soundtrack to the hit video game '' 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany'', designed by

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

. "Big City Life" also received multiple popular remixes over the ensuing decades, including notable remixes by LEEX,

Luude Christian Benson, known professionally as Luude, is an Australian electronic dance music producer. He is best known for his 2021 cover of "Down Under". He is also half of Australian electronic duo Choomba. Life and career Christian Benson wa ...

, and Sam Jonsson; the Luude remix, released in 2022, has amassed 15.8 million streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

alone (compared to 118.4 million Spotify streams for the original) as of August 2022. '' Signs of a Struggle'' received positive reviews and had success in Europe where the band toured extensively throughout 2006–08. ''Signs of a Struggle'' was a

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

feature album in April 2006. The duo toured with the likes of Jem and

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

on their UK tours to promote the album, and have also opened for

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

, in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, before a crowd of more than 100,000 people. Their fourth single, " To & Fro", was released on 13 March 2006. The single was released as a download only in the

''Rhythm & Hymns'' (2007–2009)

On 7 September 2007, Mattafix released "

Living Darfur "Living Darfur" (also known as "Living") is the first single from Mattafix's album ''Rhythm and Hymns'', released in 2007. The beginning of the song sounds similar to a part of Madonna (entertainer), Madonna's song "Mother and Father (Madonna son ...

", the first single taken from their second album '' Rhythm & Hymns''. It was available as a download only. The single was released physically on 22 October 2007. The video features

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Americ ...

in the intro. The track was featured as part of the Save Darfur Campaign. Working alongside humanitarian agencies operating in the region, the band filmed a video for the song in the refugee camps in the region. The video became extremely popular on YouTube and to date is the only music video by an international group to be filmed in a war zone. Speaking in June 2008 to English R&B writer Pete Lewis of ''

Blues & Soul ''Blues & Soul'' is a British music magazine, established in 1967 by John Abbey. ''The Independent'' has noted ''Blues & Soul'' as being the equal of magazines such as ''NME'' and '' Q''. ''Billboard'' magazine has called ''Blues & Soul'' "a r ...

'', Roudette explained the musical background to ''Rhythms & Hymns'': "With this album I wanted to bring through more aspects of the live show, which is something maybe the first album lacked. You know, we do go out with a seven or eight-piece band, and that has become a big part of the Mattafix sound. So, in addition to keeping the hardcore element and programmed beats from last time round, with ''Rhythms & Hymns'' we've also used a lot of live drums. Also, we've added quite a lot of influences that we got from the road. Particularly in places like

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, where we played a couple of great shows." The album was released on 23 November 2007 in most European countries. In

, it was released on 17 November 2007. Mattafix remixed

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

's song " Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)". Their remix appears on her iTunes Remix EP; however, it is not on the UK version.

Separation and Roudette solo career (2010–present)

In April 2010, Marlon Roudette made a video appearance where he spoke about recording and making the record in his home-based studio. However, via Facebook, it was announced that Roudette and Hirji had gone separate ways, due to their different new ideas for future projects, which has brought abundant attention to fans. He is yet to come up with his new artist name; whether to stay with the name Mattafix, or choose a new stage name; perhaps his own. "Mattafix presents...Marlon..." was a quote from a late 2010 YouTube video, as an updated possibility for his album title and/or stage name. Marlon Roudette has confirmed that the new album is "not a radical shift but definitely different. More instrumentation and more in depth musical compositions." Marlon Roudette has stated that the album is pretty much completed, but the album is still being "fine tuned". His first solo album ''

Matter Fixed ''Matter Fixed'' is the first album by the English singer, Marlon Roudette, released on 2 September 2011. The name is a reference to the project he was involved with before starting solo, a duo with Preetesh Hirji called Mattafix. Singles On 17 ...

'' was released on 2 September 2011. His sophomore effort, ''

Electric Soul ''Electric Soul'' is the second studio album by the British/Vincentian musician Marlon Roudette. It was released in Germany on 8 August 2014 via Universal Music. The album entered the charts in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. It includes the ...

'', was released on 8 August 2014.

Awards and nominations

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Eska Music Awards Eska Music Awards (EMA) is a Polish awards ceremony for national and international music launched in 2002 by Radio Eska. The awards were last presented in 2017. Amongst the award winners are Jamelia, Alexis Jordan, t.A.T.u., 3 Doors Down, The Ras ...

, 2006 , "

" , Best International Hit , , , - !scope="row" rowspan=2,

Hungarian Music Awards The Hungarian Music Awards have been given to artists in the field of Hungarian music since 1992. The award categories are similar to Grammy Awards in the United States and Brit Awards in the United Kingdom. The awards were known as the ''Golden ...

, 2006 , rowspan=2, '' Signs of a Struggle'' , Best Foreign Rap or Hip-Hop Album , , , - , 2007 , Best Foreign Dance Album , ,

Discography

Albums

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AUT AUT may refer to the following. Locations *Austria (ISO 3166-1 country code) *Agongointo-Zoungoudo Underground Town, Benin *Aktio–Preveza Undersea Tunnel, Greece *Airstrip on Atauro Island, East Timor (IATA airport code) Organizations *Arriva ...

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BEL BEL can be an abbreviation for: * The ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code for Belgium * ''BEL'' or bell character in the C0 control code set * Belarusian language, in the ISO 639-2 and SIL country code lists * Bharat Electronics Limited, an Indian stat ...

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FRA A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;", GER
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ITA Ita or ITA may refer to : Places and jurisdictions * ITA, ISO 3166-1 country code for Italy * Ita (Africa), an ancient city and former bishopric in Roman Mauretania, presently a Latin Catholic titular see * Itá, Paraguay People * Ita (prin ...

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;", POL ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;",

SWI SWI may refer to: Places: * Switzerland (this is not the ISO 3166-1 code, which is CHE) * Swindon railway station (National Rail code SWI), serving Swindon, Wiltshire, United Kingdom In science and technology: * SWI-Prolog, a free implementatio ...

, - ! scope="row", '' Signs of a Struggle'' , * Released: 31 October 2005 * Label:

* Formats: CD, digital download , 159 , , 56 , , 10 , , 60 , , 62 , , 75 , , 35 , , 12 , , 64 , , 15 , - ! scope="row", '' Rhythm & Hymns'' , * Released: 19 November 2007 * Label: EMI * Formats: CD, digital download , — , , — , , — , , 69 , , 92 , , 48 , , 73 , , 17 , , 87 , , 22

Singles

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, - , rowspan="3", 2005 ! scope="row", "11.30 (Dirtiest Trick in Town)" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , rowspan="5", '' Signs of a Struggle'' , - ! scope="row", "

" , 15 , , 19 , , 1 , , 12 , , 17 , , 1 , , 1 , , 3 , , 1 , , 1 , , - ! scope="row", " Passer By" , 79 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , - , rowspan="2", 2006 ! scope="row", " To & Fro" , — , , — , , — , , 56 , , — , , 73 , , 56 , , — , , — , , 56 , , - ! scope="row", " Cool Down the Pace" , — , , — , , 52 , , — , , — , , 82 , , 25 , , — , , — , , 63 , , - , 2007 ! scope="row", "

" , — , , — , , 21 , , 50 , , 50 , , 32 , , 2 , , — , , — , , 13 , , rowspan="2", '' Rhythm & Hymns'' , - , 2008 ! scope="row", "

Things Have Changed "Things Have Changed" is a song from the film ''Wonder Boys'', written and performed by Bob Dylan and released as a single on May 1, 2000, that won both the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. ...

" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , - , 2022 ! scope="row", "

"
, 8 , , 55 , , 19 , , — , , — , , 67 , , — , , — , , 2 , , — , * BPI: Gold *

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

: Gold ,

Music videos

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/ref>

References

External links

http://www.mattafix.com/ Official website (archived)
{{Authority control Sopot International Song Festival winners English electronic music duos English hip hop groups Hip hop duos Musical groups established in 2005 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Dancehall groups