Derek B.

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Derek B , a native of Derek Boland (born January 15, 1965 in London , † November 15, 2009 ibid) was a British rapper and the most commercially successful national hip-hop artist during his lifetime.

Life

Boland started playing records as a mobile disco jockey at the age of 15. Due to his interest in the London pirate channels, Derek B joined the LWR and Kiss FM channels and later founded their own pirate channel WBLS with a friend. This increased the popularity of the DJ in London. The DJ Froggy, who was working at BBC Radio 1 at the time, taught Derek B various techniques of working as a DJ. Derek B then began to put records at parties.

In 1987 Derek B joined the Music of Life label, founded in 1986 by Chris France, Simon Harris and DJ Froggy . For a compilation of the label, which was released under the title Def Beats 1 , Derek B recorded the song Rock The Beat under the name DJ Derek B & MC EZQ . Boland took on both the role of DJ and rapper. Rock the beat was later released again as 12 ".

Derek B then released the singles Get Down and Good Groove . Good Groove was able to reach number 16 on the British singles chart. Boland achieved through his success an increased radio presence and appeared as one of the first hip-hop artists in the show Top of the Pops . By the time Derek B had his first successes, the UK didn't have a hip-hop infrastructure. In the pre-existing scene, Boland's success met with rejection. This can be attributed, among other things, to the fact that the musician used both the vocabulary and the slang of the New York rappers.

Boland brought hip hop musicians MC Duke, Demon Boyz and Hijack to the label through his work at Music of Life . Hijack was later signed by Ice-T . Derek B subsequently works as a producer and remixer for Eric B. & Rakim , Cookie Crew and Big Daddy Kane, among others .

Following the success of Good Groove , Derek B was signed to Russell Simmons ' management company Rush Artist Management . In 1988 Boland released the album Bullet from a gun via Tuff Audio . This became his most successful record. It entered the US charts and was able to achieve gold status in the UK.

Boland went on a world tour with Run DMC and Public Enemy and supported LL Cool J , Fat Boys and Salt'N'Pepa at concerts . In June 1988 he performed at the Nelson Mandela - Tribute Concert on, among others, Eric Clapton , Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder . There he presented the piece of music Free Mandela in the sold out Wembley Stadium and in front of a large number of television viewers .

On the morning of November 15, 2009, Boland died of a heart attack .

Discography

Singles
  • 1987: Get Down
  • 1988: Goodgroove (UK # 16)
  • 1988: Bad Young Brother (UK # 16)
  • 1988: We Got the Juice (UK # 56)
Albums
  • 1988: Bullet from a gun

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g December issue of Juice (2007), page 93
  2. ↑ Derek B is dead. (No longer available online.) In: Rap.de. November 16, 2009, archived from the original on February 12, 2010 ; accessed on May 7, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / rap.de
  3. ↑ Derek B in the Official UK Charts (English)
personal data
SURNAME Derek B.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Boland, Derek (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British rapper
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 2009
Place of death London