Friday 20 August 2010

MANTRONIX: WHO IS IT?


One of the biggest questions in hip hop, (well, in my mind at least) is whatever happened to MC Tee, the voice of the golden electro years of Mantronix. Kurtis Mantronik himself, of course, has gone on to dabble as a remixer and producer in various genres, notably electro house.

The pair reportedly met when Kurtis was working in a Manhattan record store, and Tee was one of his regular customers. They made a demo, 'Fresh Is The Word', and got a deal with Sleeping Bag Records. A slew of slamming electro bangers ensued, including 'Bassline', 'Ladies' and 'Needle To The Groove', (which would hav to be called 'Laser To The MPEG file' if it were remade today',) before the pair parted ways.

There were very few official Mantronix videos. This one is a performance on Channel 4's The Tube of 1986's 'Who Is It', as good an example as any of the classic Mantronix sound.

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