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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 influential 1980s hip hop and electro-funk group Mantronix. He currently lives in South Africa where he has produced and remixed house and techno music tracks by artists such as India, Junior Senior, Kylie Minogue, Fatboy Slim, the Chemical Brothers, Michael Gray, Victoria Beckham, Liberty X, S Club, and Mim. Mantronik was influential in the development of hip hop music: notably, he laid the foundations for Southern hip hop genres such as Miami bass and trap music, and helped popularize the Amen break.
Mantronik was born in Jamaica to a Syrian father and a Jamaican mother. He emigrated to Sherwood Park, Alberta Canada with his family at the age of 7, before eventually settling in New York City. It was around this time that his interest in electro music began when he heard "Riot in Lagos" (1980) by Yellow Magic Orchestra's Ryuichi Sakamoto on the radio, inspiring him to experiment with electro music a few years later.
While working as the in-store DJ for Downtown Records in Manhattan, Mantronik met Jamaica-born, Brooklyn-based emcee MC Tee (né Touré Embden) in 1984. The duo soon made a demo, and eventually signed with William Socolov's Sleeping Bag Records.
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 The Album, which was released the same year. Mantronik's 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:
Featuring 'Fresh is the Word' and the new tracks 'Bassline' and 'Mega-Mix,' Mantronix defined the new sound of 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' 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].
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 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.
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 produced recordings for other Sleeping Bag and Fresh Records associated artists and groups, including emcees KRS-One, Just-Ice, and T La Rock; freestyle vocalist Nocera; and R&B singer-songwriter Joyce Sims. During this time he remixed "Vertigo (Do The Demolition)" for Duran Duran, which was released on its 1987 US album Master Mixes.
The origins of trap music's beats have been traced back to the work of Kurtis Mantronik during this era. The earliest song to be identified as an early form of trap music is Mantronik's single "Bass Machine" (1986), featuring rap vocals by T La Rock. Mantronik's backing track for the song featured key trap elements, including Roland TR-808 bass, hi-hats, triplet snares and pitching down. Mantronik's work, particularly "Bass Machine" (1986), was also pivotal to the development of Southern hip hop's Miami bass genre.
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 influential 1980s hip hop and electro-funk group Mantronix. He currently lives in South Africa where he has produced and remixed house and techno music tracks by artists such as India, Junior Senior, Kylie Minogue, Fatboy Slim, the Chemical Brothers, Michael Gray, Victoria Beckham, Liberty X, S Club, and Mim. Mantronik was influential in the development of hip hop music: notably, he laid the foundations for Southern hip hop genres such as Miami bass and trap music, and helped popularize the Amen break.
Mantronik was born in Jamaica to a Syrian father and a Jamaican mother. He emigrated to Sherwood Park, Alberta Canada with his family at the age of 7, before eventually settling in New York City. It was around this time that his interest in electro music began when he heard "Riot in Lagos" (1980) by Yellow Magic Orchestra's Ryuichi Sakamoto on the radio, inspiring him to experiment with electro music a few years later.
While working as the in-store DJ for Downtown Records in Manhattan, Mantronik met Jamaica-born, Brooklyn-based emcee MC Tee (né Touré Embden) in 1984. The duo soon made a demo, and eventually signed with William Socolov's Sleeping Bag Records.
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 The Album, which was released the same year. Mantronik's 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:
Featuring 'Fresh is the Word' and the new tracks 'Bassline' and 'Mega-Mix,' Mantronix defined the new sound of 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' 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].
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 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.
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 produced recordings for other Sleeping Bag and Fresh Records associated artists and groups, including emcees KRS-One, Just-Ice, and T La Rock; freestyle vocalist Nocera; and R&B singer-songwriter Joyce Sims. During this time he remixed "Vertigo (Do The Demolition)" for Duran Duran, which was released on its 1987 US album Master Mixes.
The origins of trap music's beats have been traced back to the work of Kurtis Mantronik during this era. The earliest song to be identified as an early form of trap music is Mantronik's single "Bass Machine" (1986), featuring rap vocals by T La Rock. Mantronik's backing track for the song featured key trap elements, including Roland TR-808 bass, hi-hats, triplet snares and pitching down. Mantronik's work, particularly "Bass Machine" (1986), was also pivotal to the development of Southern hip hop's Miami bass genre.