Just you Mark my words
Mark the 45 King's name may not be familiar, but his CV should be: the prolific hip-hop producer and beat-maker has lent his musical talents to almost every top artist in the field since the 1980s, including Eminem, Eric B & Rakim, GangStarr, Jay-Z, Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa and even Madonna.
Where is he now? 'Working on independent projects on my own, with anyone who I believe in but isn't mainstream,' he says.
In today's commercialised hip-hop industry, retreating from the limelight isn't a bad thing, and the man who broke through with the 1987 single The 900 Number is focusing on helping others enter the industry that became his life after he taught himself to DJ when he was 12. 'One main thing to learn is that hip-hop music is such an up and down business,' he says from his New Jersey home.
After the success of producing Queen Latifah's groundbreaking All Hail the Queen (1989) album, the 45 King made his mark the next decade with Jay-Z's Hard Knock Life (1998) and Eminem's Grammy award-winning Stan (2000). He has produced so many solo albums and singles that he says he can't remember how many. But - as he tells his proteges - the chances of getting a No1 are much lower these days. 'Hip-hop has lost its authenticity and is a business now,' he says. He should know. Having grown up with rap pioneers Funky 4, releasing his first production work for MC Marky Fresh in 1984, signing to Tuff City Records in 1987 and producing for Queen Latifah, he's a key part of hip-hop history. As the All Music Guide says, the horn line in The 900 Number 'is forever ingrained in the collective hip-hop psyche'. The 45 King won't reveal his age, saying he's 'timeless'. But by most accounts he's in his early 40s.
His current resurgence parallels the growing interest in hip-hop's old-school artists and. Success is all about who you know, he says - from artists to DJs, lawyers and managers. 'Living in the Bronx, hip-hop and DJ-ing was something that was always around me,' says 45 King, who was born Mark James. 'Kid Capri was my friend, and we both became the neigh-bourhood DJs.'
Kid Capri introduced him to Jay-Z. 'Kid was playing one of my breakbeat records at a Jay-Z concert intermission. They heard it backstage and, next thing, I was working on a song, threw in an Annie [the Broadway musical] sample, and it became a No1 single.'
The 45 King's personal discography - with titles such as Funky Beats, Just Beats, The Lost Breakbeats, Breakamania and Breakapalooza - reveals his passion in life. 'I just love the breakbeat [instrumental 'breaks' in funk tracks that are sampled and looped together],' he says. 'I find breaks fascinating. It's very authentic to use breakbeats in hip-hop, because that's where it all started. It's a hip-hop sensation that constantly amazes me.'
He says he's also impressed by the technological advancement of production equipment since he started. 'Back in 1983, I had a drum machine and equipment the size of washing machines,' he says. 'Now, I work off a laptop and what it can do is just ridiculous by comparison.'
These days, the 45 King's haven is his home studio. The act of so-called crate digging - rifling through old records for beats and soundbites - is still a daily ritual and his stage moniker pays tribute to his mastery of this art: sampling from old 45rpm vinyl records.
For his debut Hong Kong gig tomorrow, he plans to drop some favourites, and promises 'nothing but the best breaks and classic hip-hop'.
The 45 King, tomorrow, 10pm, the Edge, G/F Centrium, 60 Wyndham St, Central, $120 (advance), $200 (door). Inquiries: 2523 6690
