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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Kurtis Mantronik|image = |caption =|image_size =|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Kurtis el Khaleel|alias =|birth_date = birth date and age|1965|9|4|death_date =|origin = Jamaica |instrument = Turntablism|Turntable Synthesizer Electronic keyboard|Keyboard Drum machine Macintosh computer|Macintosh MIDI keyboard Music sequencer|Sequencer |genre = Electro (music)|Electro funk Hip hop music|Hip-hop House music|House Big beat Freestyle music|Latin freestyle |occupation =|years_active = 1984–1991 1998–present|label = Sleeping Bag Records (Mantronix) Capitol Records|Capitol / EMI|EMIRecords (Mantronix) Oxygen Music Works Southern Fried Records Eye Industries |associated_acts = Mantronix T La Rock Just-Ice Nocera (singer)|Maria Nocera Joyce Sims EPMD |website =|current_members =|past_members =|notable_instruments = Drum Machine Synthesizer Music sequencer|Sequencer MIDI keyboard Macintosh Kurtis el Khaleel (lang-ar|????) (b. September 4, 1965, Jamaica ), known by the stage name Kurtis Mantronik , is an United States|American Hip hop music|hip-hop , electro music|electro funk , and electronic dance music|dance music artist, disc jockey|DJ , remix er, and record producer|producer . Mantronik was the former leader, DJ, and Electronic keyboard|keyboardist of the influential 1980s hip hop and electro-funk group Mantronix . Currently, Mantronik lives in England|Britain , where he has produced and remix ed House music|house and techno music song|tracks by artists such as Junior Senior , Kylie Minogue , Fatboy Slim , The Chemical Brothers , Michael Gray (DJ)|Michael Gray , Victoria Beckham , Liberty X , and Mim (vocalist)|Mim .cite web|url= http://www.cheebadesign.com/legends/articleX.html|accessdate=2006-11-04|author=|title=When Recorded hip-hop was in its infancy, one man was responsible for really pushing the sonic envelope. It's been far from plain sailing since, but the Mantronix legacy will run forever|publisher=cheebadesign.com (original article printed in Hip Hop Connection Magazine )|date=2002-07
Main|Mantronix While working as the in-store Disc jockey|DJ for Downtown Records in Manhattan , Mantronik met Haiti an-born, Brooklyn -based rapping|emcee MC Tee ( né Touré Embden) in 1984. The duo soon made a Demo (music)|demo , and eventually signed with William Socolov's Sleeping Bag Records .
Mantronix: The Album
Mantronix's debut single, "Fresh Is The Word," was a club hit in 1985, reaching #16 on '' Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Magazine's Hot Dance Singles Sales chart, and was featured on Mantronix: The Album|The Album , which was released the same year. His efforts on The Album'' and his impact on early hip-hop and electronic music is perhaps best summed up by music critic Omar Willey's observation in 2000:cquote|Featuring 'Fresh is the Word' and the new tracks 'Bassline' and 'Mega-Mix,' Mantronix defined the new sound of Electro (music)|electro-funk . Mantronik used a polyrhythmic style, similar to West African log drumming, but instead of acoustic drums, the rhythm would be carried by the combination of electronic drums, synthesizer, vocoder, or synthesized voice over a bass line completely played on the synth. No samples of James Brown here. This was truly electronic music: spare, funky and immensely danceable, an homage and simultaneous extension of old-school hip hop's electronic template that had started with Planet Rock (song)|'Planet Rock' in 1982. The feeling of Afrika Bambaataa , Grandmaster Flash , Kraftwerk , and Neu! were all combined in Mantronik's music. It was a neat tie between old-school and new jack, and Mantronix had the field to itself.cite web|last=Willey|first=Omar|url= http://www.cheebadesign.com/legends/articleQ.html|title=Do You Like...Mantronix? |work=|publisher=cheebadesign.com|accessdate=March 30, 2007
Music Madness
Mantronix's second album, Music Madness , was released in 1986. While MC Tee 's rapping|rhyming style on the album continued in the traditional b-boy 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.cite web|url=Allmusic|class=album|id=r74559|pure_url=yes|accessdate=2006-10-18|author=Henderson, Alex|title=Allmusic Music Madness Review|publisher=AllMusic.com|date=
A& R career with Sleeping Bag Records
From 1984 to 1986, during the same period Mantronix as a group was signed to Sleeping Bag Records , Mantronik was also individually employed by the label in its A& R Department, where he signed hip-hop group EPMD to its first recording contract with sister label Fresh Records . In addition to being an A& R representative for the label, Mantronik also Record producer|produced recordings for other Sleeping Bag and Fresh Records associated artists and groups, including rapping|emcees KRS-One , Just-Ice , and T La Rock ; Freestyle music|freestyle singer|vocalist Nocera (singer)|Nocera ; and Rhythm and blues|R& B singer-songwriter Joyce Sims .
In Full Effect
Mantronix signed with Capitol Records|Capitol / EMI|EMI Records in 1987, and released In Full Effect in 1988, which continued in and expanded on the hip-hop/electro funk/dance music vein of its predecessor, eventually reaching #18 on the Hot R& B/Hip-Hop Songs|Top R& B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, Mantronix's highest showing for an album.cite web|url=Allmusic|class=album|id=r12395|pure_url=yes|accessdate=2006-10-18|author=Wynn, Ron|title=Allmusic In Full Effect Review|publisher=AllMusic.com|date= In Full Effect marked the last Mantronix album with emcee MC Tee , who left the group to enlist in the United States Air Force .
This Should Move Ya
Following the departure of MC Tee, emcee Bryce Wilson|Bryce "Luvah" Wilson and Mantronik's cousin DJ Dee|D.J. D joined Mantronix for 1990's This Should Move Ya . Mantronik met Wilson, a fellow Sleeping Bag Records label mate, while doing production for Wilson's aborted solo project.cite web|last=Jones|first=Phillip|url= http://www.cheebadesign.com/legends/articleE.html|title=Messin' With Mantronix|work=|publisher=cheebadesign.com|accessdate=March 30, 2007
The album spawned two top-10 hits on the UK Singles Chart|British singles chart , " Got to Have Your Love " at #4, and "Take Your Time (featuring vocalist Wondress Hutchinson|Wondress )" at #10. In the United States, the album reached #61 on the Hot R& B/Hip-Hop Songs|Top R& B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.cite web|url=Allmusic|class=album|id=r12394|pure_url=yes|accessdate=2006-10-18|author=Wynn, Ron|title=Allmusic This Should Move Ya Review|publisher=AllMusic.com|date= In a 1991 interview, Mantronik commented on the commercial success of "Got to Have Your Love":cquote|When I did "Got to Have Your Love," I did it for a reason: I did it because I wanted to get a song on the radio.
The Incredible Sound Machine
Mantronix's final release, with singing|vocalist Jade Trini Goring|Jade Trini replacing D.J. D, was The Incredible Sound Machine in 1991.cite web|url=Allmusic|class=album|id=r12391|pure_url=yes|accessdate=2006-10-18|author=Henderson, Alex|title=Allmusic The Incredible Sound Machine Review|publisher=AllMusic.com|date= The Incredible Sound Machine , which favored R& B , new jack swing , and dance music over hip hop, was considered both a critical and commercial disappointment.
Shortly after a Europe an 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.
Solo career (1998–Present)
Mantronik dropped out of the music industry after the breakup of Mantronix in 1991. According to a July, 2002 interview with Hip Hop Connection magazine:
cquote|I dropped out of the scene from 1991 to about '98. I stopped making music because I was burned out. I had to deal with some legal issues and it all took its toll on me. I started doing all this stuff when I was 17—I was working for the label (Sleeping Bag Records) day-in-day-out and I had no time for myself. Sometimes I'd stay in the studio for two or three days and sleep on the studio floor because I didn't want to lose the settings on the console ... By the time we'd come out of that place we were green& #33; I began to resent it and eventually started backing off from a lot of stuff. Then new jack swing|new jack started coming in and house started to take over.
I Sing The Body Electro
Mantronik moved from New York and resurfaced in England|Britain in the late 1990s in music|1990s , producing his first solo album, the well-received I Sing the Body Electro (which featured female MC Traylude ), in 1998.cite web|url=Allmusic|class=album|id=r374530|pure_url=yes|accessdate=2006-11-04|author=Bush, John|title=Allmusic I Sing the Body Electro Review|publisher=AllMusic.com|date=
Allmusic Music critic|critic John Bush noted:cquote| I Sing the Body Electro is that rare exception to the rule that influential artists should never attempt a ten-years-later comeback trying the same style their current inheritors have made commercial. Mantronik's production methods are completely up to date (and then some), resulting in an album that perfectly balances old-school sampladelic hip-hop with the breakbeat-energized dance music of the late '90s.cite web|last=Bush|first=John|url=Allmusic|class=album|id=r374530|pure_url=yes|title=Allmusic I Sing the Body Electro Review|format=|work=|publisher=AllMusic.com|accessdate=March 30, 2007
Remixing and production career
Since 1998, Mantronik has produced and remix ed tracks for popular music|pop , House music|house-music , and Techno music|techno-music artists and groups such as Kylie Minogue , Junior Senior , Fatboy Slim , the Chemical Brothers , Victoria Beckham , Michael Gray (DJ)|Michael Gray , Liberty X (which, in 2002, Cover version|covered Mantronix 's " Got to Have Your Love " from Mantronix's 1990 This Should Move Ya album), and Mim (vocalist)|Mim (the featured vocalist on Mantronik's 2003 Extended play|EP release How Did You Know ). He was enlisted for two remixes of the title track of the Shirley Bassey remix album Diamonds Are Forever (soundtrack)|Diamonds Are Forever in 2000.
In addition to record production, Mantronik produced music for the Dance Dance Revolution and TrickStyle video game series.
Mantronik was most recently signed to London -based record label and artist management company Eye Industries and remains active in pop-oriented electronic music .
Discography
Solo Albums
Album information
I Sing the Body Electro
Released: September 1, 1998
Chart positions:
RIAA certification : N/A
Singles: "Push Yer Hands Up," "Mad," "King of the Beat (v3.0)," "Bass Machine Re-tuned"
Singles: "Fresh is the Word," "Bassline," "Needle to the Groove," "Ladies"
Music Madness
Released: 1986
Chart positions: #27 Top R& B/Hip-Hop Albums
RIAA certification : N/A
Singles: "Who Is It? " "Scream," "We Control the Dice"
In Full Effect
Released: 1988
Chart positions: #18 Top R& B/Hip-Hop Albums
RIAA certification : N/A
Singles: "Simple Simon," "Join Me, Please...," "Do You Like...Mantronik? "
This Should Move Ya
Released: 1990
Chart positions: #61 Top R& B/Hip-Hop Albums
RIAA certification : Gold
Singles: " Got to Have Your Love ," "Take Your Time (featuring Wondress Hutchinson|Wondress )", "King of the Beats"
The Incredible Sound Machine
Released: 1991
Chart positions:
RIAA certification : N/A
Singles: "Step to Me," "If You Could Read My Mind"
References
Reflist
External links
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p189527|pure_url=yes AllMusic.com Biography - Kurtis Mantronik
http://www.cheebadesign.com/legends/ The King of the Beats Kurtis Mantronik - Fan Site
Mantronix Persondata | NAME =Matronik, Kurtis | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =1965-09-04 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Jamaica | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Matronik, Kurtis Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American record producers Category:American dance musicians Category:American electronic musicians Category:American people of Syrian descent Category:American people of Jamaican descent Category:British dance musicians Category:British electronic musicians Category:Video game musicians Category:British record producers Category:Jamaican emigrants to Canada Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States Category:Club DJs Category:Hip hop DJs Category:American freestyle musicians Category:Hip hop record producers Category:Mantronix members Category:Musicians from London Category:Musicians from New York City Category:Remixers Category:Big beat musicians
