Ultramagnetic MCs

The Ultramagnetic MC's are a rap group whose members are Kool Keith, Ced Gee, TR Love, Moe Love and later Tim Dog. A former member was Rooney Roon but he got kicked out. Their work was associated with unorthodox sampling, polysyllabic rhymes, and bizarre lyrical imagery.

History

The group formed in 1984. Their worldwide buzz started with "Ego Trippin'", their 12" single on Next Plateau Records in 1986 which was the first rap song to feature the infamous "Synthetic Substitution" drum break sample. The song is still considered a Hip Hop classic. Their next single was "Funky/Mentally Mad", one of the most sought after 12" singles of their career. Funky was based on a Joe Cocker piano sample later used as the basis for Dr. Dre and Tupac's California Love. It was released in 1987. This led to the release of their first album.

The Ultramagnetic MC's released a new school classic in 1988, Critical Beatdown, introducing many new sampling techniques. Many believe that without the group's primary producer, Ced Gee, the golden era of sampling may have looked very different. Ced, while uncredited, also produced the majority of Boogie Down Productions' seminal Criminal Minded. These albums are among the first to use "chopped" samples, rearranged and edited to change context. Both albums also feature many James Brown samples, which became very prominent in Hip Hop in ensuing years. However, Ultramagnetic MC's disappeared after that for several years, breaking up temporarily in 1990. They returned on Mercury Records in 1992, with the album Funk Your Head Up. The album received a muted response, in part because many tracks had been given a commercial sheen, having been remixed by outside producers at the label's insistence. Alternate mixes of this album's songs have appeared on later compilations. The song Poppa Large, remixed by Da Beatminerz became a hit and remains a staple of Kool Keith's live show. The song's video featured Keith in a straightjacket, his bald head encased in a birdcage.

1993's The Four Horsemen was considered extremely strange though still brilliant, offering a darker, jazzier sound. It featured guest production and vocals by Godfather Don, who produced solo Kool Keith sessions in 1992 during another brief Ultramagnetic breakup. Some of those tracks appear on The Four Horsemen, and also on The Cenobites LP. The former was the last official album the Ultramagnetic MC's released until their 2007 reunion.

There were many semi-legitimate and compilation albums to follow, the most official of which was Next Plateau's The B-Sides Companion. Ced Gee and Moe Love both provided demo material to Tuff City for a series of four albums which were released without Kool Keith's consent. A live album, Brooklyn To Brixton, was announced but abandoned.

The Ultramagnetic MC's launched the career of self-proclaimed "Bronx Nigga" Tim Dog who brought out the very successful single "Fuck Compton". As a reaction to Ced and Moe's involvement in the Tuff City releases, Kool Keith and Tim Dog reunited on the album Big Time, released under the name Ultra in 1997. Kool Keith went on to record many solo CDs, including several under aliases such as Dr. Octagon, Dr. Dooom and Mr. Nogatco. His abstract rhymes and syncopated, off-beat delivery influenced many rappers, including Pharoahe Monch from Organized Konfusion and Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan.

In 2001, Ultramagnetic MC's released a single, "Make It Rain/Mix It Down" which whetted fans' appetites for a reunion album. In a December 9, 2005 interview on Houston's Late Nite Snax radio show, Kool Keith confirmed rumours that the Ultramagnetic MC's had reformed and recorded a new album. Founding Ultramagnetic MCs member Ced Gee has set up Factshen Records. A new Ultramagnetic MCs LP, Back to the Future—The Bronx Kings Are Back, was scheduled to be released in 2006 but was later named The Best Kept Secret and released January 2007. Although the album's cover features the original line-up of Kool Keith, Ced Gee, Moe Love and TR Love, TR (along with Tim Dog) is notably absent. Instead, guest verses are provided by newcomers like Grafiq Malachi Sebek. However, Tim Dog and TR Love have each recently released songs featuring Ultramagnetic under their own names.

Trivia

In 2004 Critical Beatdown appeared on popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on Classic hip hop radio station Playback FM.
"Poppa Large" from "Funk Your Head Up" is featured in EA Games "Def Jam: Fight For NY."
Two tracks have been sampled by The Prodigy. These were "Critical Beatdown" for the song "Out Of Space" and "Give The Drummer Some" for the song "Smack My Bitch Up". Interestingly, Kool Keith supplied the lyrics for the song "Diesel Power" on the Prodigy album Fat of the Land.
One line from "Ease Back", "Biters around" was scratched in the song "Biterphobia" by Soul Intent.
"Break North", a track from Critical Beatdown, samples Star Wars.

Discography

Albums

Singles

1984 - "To Give You Love"/"Make You Shake"
1986 - "Ego Trippin'"/"Ego Bits"/"Funky Potion"
1987 - "Traveling At The Speed of Thought (Original)"/"M.C.'s Ultra (Part Two)"
1987 - "Mentally Mad"/"Funky"
1988 - "Watch Me Now"/"Feelin' It"
1988 - "Ease Back"/"Kool Keith Housing Things"
1989 - "Give The Drummer Some"/"Moe Luv Theme"
1989 - "Traveling At The Speed Of Thought (Remixes/LP Version)"/"A Chorus Line" (featuring Tim Dog)
1991 - "Make It Happen"/"A Chorus Line (Pt. II)"
1992 - "Poppa Large (East Coast Remix)/(West Coast Remix)"
1993 - "Two Brothers With Checks (San Francisco Harvey)"/"One Two,One Two"
1993 - "Raise It Up (featuring Godfather Don)"/"The Saga Of Dandy,The Devil And Day (Black Baseball)"
1994 - "I'm F**kin' Flippin"
1997 - "Watch Your Back"
2001 - "Make It Rain"/"Mix It Down"
2006 - "Mechanism Nice (Born Twice)"/"Nottz"

Other appearances

1987 - "Red Alert Goes Berzerk"
1994 - "Wild Pitch Classics"

External links