Old School British rapper Derek B dies at 44.
Monday 16 November 2009
13:41
Labels: Hip Hop , Old School Hip Hop , Old School Rap , Old School Rapper , On line , Rap , Rapshack
Labels: Hip Hop , Old School Hip Hop , Old School Rap , Old School Rapper , On line , Rap , Rapshack
British rapper Derek B dies at 44
British rapper Derek B, one of the first UK hip-hop stars to enjoy chart success and an influence on future urban artists, has died aged 44. According to reports Derek Boland, a.k.a Derek B suffered a heart attack.
He started his musical career DJing in a mobile unit around London, before joining local pirate radio stations such as Kiss FM and LWR and finally starting his own station, WBLS (not to be confused with the radio station of the same name in New York).
He joined Simon Harris' Music of Life as the closest thing they had to an A&R man. Boland stepped in to record a track called "Rock the Beat" he co-produced the track with Simon Harris, when a planned compilation of U.S. hip hop called Def Beats 1 (Music of Life, 1986) ran short of tracks. Simon Harris also rapped on it under the pseudonym EZQ and also did his own DJing under the Derek B name.
Derek B also had UK top 20 hits with “Good Groove” and “Bad Young Brother” in 1988 and co-wrote the “Anfield Rap” for Liverpool Football Club and a recorded an album called “Bullet From a Gun”. His hits saw him become one of the first British hip-hop stars to appear on programmes like Top of the Pops, yet he received criticism for rapping under an assumed American accent, something which was popular in the early days of British Hip Hop.
"He was one of the first artists that I saw get to such a level through rap, and be on Top of the Pops, be on children's programmes, be on the world stage.
"He was one of the ones to do it first, when it was thoroughly unacceptable from the mainstream perspective. At the time, he was absolutely groundbreaking. He definitely broke the door down." London rapper Ty.
Quotes BBC
Derek Boland - R.I.P
http://www.rapshack.co.uk
British rapper Derek B, one of the first UK hip-hop stars to enjoy chart success and an influence on future urban artists, has died aged 44. According to reports Derek Boland, a.k.a Derek B suffered a heart attack.
He started his musical career DJing in a mobile unit around London, before joining local pirate radio stations such as Kiss FM and LWR and finally starting his own station, WBLS (not to be confused with the radio station of the same name in New York).
He joined Simon Harris' Music of Life as the closest thing they had to an A&R man. Boland stepped in to record a track called "Rock the Beat" he co-produced the track with Simon Harris, when a planned compilation of U.S. hip hop called Def Beats 1 (Music of Life, 1986) ran short of tracks. Simon Harris also rapped on it under the pseudonym EZQ and also did his own DJing under the Derek B name.
Derek B also had UK top 20 hits with “Good Groove” and “Bad Young Brother” in 1988 and co-wrote the “Anfield Rap” for Liverpool Football Club and a recorded an album called “Bullet From a Gun”. His hits saw him become one of the first British hip-hop stars to appear on programmes like Top of the Pops, yet he received criticism for rapping under an assumed American accent, something which was popular in the early days of British Hip Hop.
"He was one of the first artists that I saw get to such a level through rap, and be on Top of the Pops, be on children's programmes, be on the world stage.
"He was one of the ones to do it first, when it was thoroughly unacceptable from the mainstream perspective. At the time, he was absolutely groundbreaking. He definitely broke the door down." London rapper Ty.
Quotes BBC
Derek Boland - R.I.P
http://www.rapshack.co.uk
0 Response to "Old School British rapper Derek B dies at 44."
Post a Comment