Joe Christie, better known as Braintax, is a British rapper and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. Christie had also recorded or appeared under the pseudonyms Brando Flux and Joey Brains. All of his releases were on his own record label, Low Life Records. Originally Braintax was a duo, consisting of Christie and DJ Test who also contributed vocals and production. Test departed following the 1997 release of the ''Future Years'' EP and Christie retained the Braintax name; it has since become synonymous with him as a solo artist. On the track "Monsoon Funk" on ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

'', Christie explained Braintax means "we can all get busy if we use our brains." Braintax's lyrics have made multiple references to

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

healthy eating A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy. A he ...

, the state of

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

, and

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

. On

Mr. Scruff Andrew Carthy (born 10 February 1972), known professionally as Mr. Scruff, is an English record producer and DJ. He lives in Stretford, Greater Manchester and studied fine art at the Psalter Lane campus of Sheffield Hallam University. Before ...

's 2002 album ''

Trouser Jazz ''Trouser Jazz'' is the third studio album by English disc jockey Andrew Carthy, under the alias, Mr. Scruff. It was released on 16 September 2002 on Ninja Tune. In 2010 it was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies ...

'', Braintax was featured on the song "Vibrate". In 2008, Braintax suddenly announced his retirement with the release of his final album titled ''My Last And Best Album'' and also the end of Low Life Records.

Discography

Albums

* ''

Biro Funk ''Biro Funk'' is the debut studio album by Braintax, released on Low Life Records in 2001. By the time of the album's release, Braintax was a solo artist - Joseph Christie. Prior to the release of Biro Funk, Braintax had released a number of EPs ...

'' (2001) * ''

'' (2006) * ''

My Last and Best Album My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Marke ...

'' (2008)

Singles and EPs

* ''Fat Head'' EP (1992) * ''Future Years'' EP (1997) * ''

The Travel Show ''The Travel Show'' is an Extended play, EP by British hip hop, British rapper Braintax, was released through Low Life Records in 1999. The EP was never released on compact disc, CD; however, it can be purchased on the Internet as a digital down ...

'' EP (1999) * '' Hard Working EP'' (2000) * "Don't Drag Me In" (2001) * "Riviera Hustle" (2002) * "Godnose" (2002) * ''Chapter Seven – Verse Two EP "Out the Bunker"'' (2003) * "D90 Rules" (2006) * "Run the Yards" (2006) * "Syriana Style" (2006)

Low Life Records

Low Life Records was an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

from London established in 1992, promoting and releasing

UK hip hop UK rap, also known as British hip hop or UK hip hop or British rap, is a music genre and culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. The development of UK rap was shaped by a distinct set of regional inf ...

music.

History

Low Life was owned by Braintax. The label's signed artists included many UK hip hop artists such as; Braintax himself,

Task Force A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many ...

Skinnyman Skinnyman (born Alexander Graham Holland, 9 November 1974) is a British rapping, rapper who was born in Chapeltown, West Yorkshire, Chapeltown Leeds, Yorkshire and moved to Finsbury Park (area), Finsbury Park, London at a young age. He is best ...

Jehst William G. Shields (born 21 August 1979), better known by his stage name Jehst, is an English Rapping, rapper and co-founder of hip hop label YNR Productions. Biography Born in Kent in 1979, Jehst spent his early childhood in Crowborough in Su ...

, Harry Love,

Verb T Thomas Conning (born 11 January 1981), better known by the stage name Verb T is a UK hip-hop artist based in London. Biography Verb T has released 10 albums and six EPs as well as numerous singles. His first release was the 12-track EP ''Ba ...

, Mystro, Asaviour,

Dubbledge Dubbledge is an English rapper based in Watford. He first gained interest with the track ''The Internet Song'', which was distributed online. He has appeared on releases by UK hip hop artists including Foreign Beggars, Micall Parknsun, Brainta ...

, Micall Parknsun &

Rodney P Rodney Panton, also known as Rodney P (born in Balham, London, 12 December 1969) is an English MC, as well as a radio and television personality who first gained attention via the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s. A former member of UK hip-hop gro ...

. Low Life released around 70 records, including 12" singles, EPs and LPs.

Cessation

Low Life came to an abrupt end in 2008 when Braintax announced his retirement and release of his last record; 'My Last and Best Album'. This came as a shock and disappointment to many

fans. According to various sources, many of the artists signed to Low Life felt as if they had been ripped off/underpaid by Braintax – however Braintax stated in an interview, "There's been too much stress, mainly the large amount of bullshit you have to contend with when you run a record label. If you're not ripping people off then you're busy not trying hard enough to sell records that no one wants to buy."

References

External links

Braintax Interview on ukhh.com

Braintax Discography on discogs.com
{{Authority control English male rappers Living people Musicians from Leeds Year of birth missing (living people)