Touré Embden, known by the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

MC Tee, is a Haitian-American emcee and co-founder (with 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 musician, DJ, remixer, and producer. He was the leader, DJ, and keyboardist of the influent ...

) of the 1980s

old school hip hop Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) (also known as disco-rap) is the earliest commercially recorded Hip-hop, hip hop music and the original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any ...

and

electro funk Electro (also known as electro-funk, and sometimes referred to as electro-pop)
Gl ...

group

Mantronix Mantronix was an influential 1980s hip hop and electro (music), electro funk music group from New York City. The band was formed by Disc jockey#Hip Hop DJs, DJ Kurtis Mantronik (Kurtis el Khaleel) and rapper MC Tee (Touré Embden). The group is ...

Mantronix emcee

In 1984, Brooklyn native MC Tee met

at Downtown Records in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, where MC Tee was a regular customer, and Mantronik worked as the in-store DJ. The duo soon made a demo, formed the group Mantronix, and eventually signed with

Sleeping Bag Records Sleeping Bag Records was a New York City-based independent record label founded by musician Arthur Russell (musician), Arthur Russell and entrepreneur Will Socolov. It was active between 1981 and 1992, and specialized in dance music and hip hop. ...

. MC Tee co-wrote Mantronix's debut single, "Fresh is the Word," a club hit in 1985, reaching #16 on the

Hot Dance Singles Sales The Dance Singles Sales was a record chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine listing each week's best-selling dance singles in the United States. Its previous names include Hot Dance/Disco 12-inch Singles Sales (1985–1987), Hot Dance Mu ...

chart. "Fresh is the Word" was featured on Mantronix's debut album, '' Mantronix: The Album'', which was released the same year. Mantronix's second album, '' Music Madness'', was released in 1986. While MC Tee's rhyming style on the album continued in the traditional

b-boy A b-boy is a person devoted to breaking or break dancing. B Boy may also refer to: Music * "B-Boy", a song by Tech N9ne featuring Big Scoob, Bumpy Knuckles, Kutt Calhoun, and Skatterman from the album '' K.O.D.'', 2009 * "B Boy" (song) by Meek ...

fashion of the times, Mantronik's club oriented production and mixing in ''Music Madness'' tended to attract more

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

and

electro funk Electro (also known as electro-funk, and sometimes referred to as electro-pop)
Gl ...

aficionados than

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

fans. In 1987, Mantronix signed with Capitol/

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

and released '' In Full Effect'' the following year (1988). MC Tee abruptly left Mantronix shortly after the release of ''In Full Effect'' to enlist in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. In a 1997 interview with

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV as 24-hour music video and entertainment pay television network officially launched on 1 August 1987 as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initia ...

, Kurtis Mantronik commented on the departure of MC Tee from Mantronix: Mantronix continued for two more albums following MC Tee's departure, 1990's '' This Should Move Ya'' and 1991's ''

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 J ...

'', with Bryce "Luvah" Wilson replacing MC Tee, before the group finally disbanded in 1991.

Sentence

Touré Embden was arrested and subsequently convicted of child molestation and given a 15 Year term in 2003. He served six years and was released in 2009.

References

External links

AllMusic.com Biography - MC Tee AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Discogs.com Profile - MC Tee
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tee, MC 1964 births Living people American rappers of Jamaican descent Jamaican emigrants to the United States Jamaican rappers Mantronix members Rappers from Brooklyn United States Air Force airmen 21st-century American rappers Sleeping Bag Records artists