El-P
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| El-P | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jaime Meline |
| Also known as | El-Producto |
| Born | March 4, 1975 |
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York City, United States |
| Genre(s) | Rap/Hip-hop Underground Rap Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper, Producer |
| Years active | 1993-present |
| Label(s) | Definitive Jux Thirsty Ear Rawkus Official Recordings |
| Associated acts | Company Flow |
| Website | Def-Jux Biography |
El-P aka El-Producto (born Jaime Meline) has been one of the most important and substantial forces in the development of the current underground rap scene. In the last 10+ years, he has been responsible for one of the most influential underground rap groups (Company Flow), argueably the most important underground rap label (Definitive Jux), an undeniably individual production style and a powerful voice for progressing the genre he embraced.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
As a teenager, Meline was a rebellious New York City teenager who, after being expelled from two different high schools within a year opted to get his GED and enlist in musical engineering school. In 1993, he joined forces with DJ Mr. Len and later Bigg Jus to form one of the most influential rap groups in underground rap even to this day, Company Flow. Meline's DIY attitude and entrepreneurial spirit was present from the beginning as he created Official Recordings to release Company Flow's first 12", Juvenile Technics. The group wouldn't need this outlet for too long though, as burgeoning NYC label Rawkus added them to an empty roster that would soon be home to young hip-hop luminaries Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Pharoahe Monche among others. The relationship with Rawkus would last for only a few years after they would be dropped for creative disputes, and later Company Flow would separate on good terms. Though anticlimactic, the years of touring and networking would deem essential for El-P as it developed the relationships that would help form Definitive Jux.
In late 2000, Meline's next project would take center stage, an underground hip-hop label based out of the heart of New York City known simply as Def Jux (later changed to Definitive Jux because of legal issues). El-P would momentarily take a backseat to his young roster of up and coming emcees out of the north-east. He would be able to use a few unreleased Comany Flow tracks to help get the ball rolling before unleashing Mr. Lif, Aesop Rock and Cannibal Ox on the rap world. The Cannibal Ox album was especially essential for El-P because it established his individual production style. A brash combination of lo-fi industrial beats, metallic synths, jazzy undertones and an unheralded creative control of the sine wave that stems from The Bomb Squad, Public Enemy's production team. He would not take center stage again until 2002 when his first solo full length, Fantastic Damage, dropped onto unsuspecting music patrons. El-P returned to the mic louder and even more confrontational, though the subject of his songs strayed away from typical mainstream rap albums, instead rapping about science fiction, social anxieties and obscure pop culture references with an amazingly dense rhyme style and a quick delivery. His production style continued to progress into more abstract and creative realms. The album was a success and El-P's name was back in hip-hop circles as a musician rather than just for Def Jux.
Throughout 2003, he continued to produce and appear on similar artists' albums as a guest emcee, but it was not until 2004 before any new material of his own was released. Early in the year, El-P released an unlikely pure jazz album, High Water on progressive jazz imprint Thirsty Ear. The full-length which received mixed reviews was part of jazz pianist Matthew Shipp's Blue Series and teamed Jamie Meline with Shipp, bassist William Parker and others. While El-P's music up to this point has always contained very jazzy undertones, this was definitely a new platform to explore. Not everyone reacted with positive remarks, but the outing was definitely essential for the his progression as a musician. The second half of the year saw the release of a collection of unreleased tracks from the vaults of El-P's always expanding back catalogue. Collecting the Kid contained mostly instrumental tracks, but it is an important insight into the future of his music as he begins to divert his concentration from being confrontational to settling into a groove and letting the track develop on its own.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Fantastic Damage 2002 (Def Jux)
- El-P Presents Cannibal Oxtrumentals 2002 (Def Jux)
- Fandam Plus 2002 (Def Jux)
- High Water 2004 (Thirsty Ear)
- Collecting the Kid 2004 (Def Jux)
[edit] EPs
[edit] Singles
- Deep Space 9mm (single) 1999 (Def Jux)
- Stepfather Factory (single) 2001 (Def Jux)
- Urban Renewal: Deadlight/Train Buffer (single) 2002 (Chocolate Industries)
- Fantastic Damage: Instrumentals & Remixes (single) 2002 (Def Jux)
- El-P Presents Sunrise Over Brklyn (single) 2003 (Thirsty Ear)
[edit] Appears On
[edit] As Producer
- Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein 2001 (Def Jux)
[edit] As Guest Artist
- Handsome Boy Modeling School - Megaton B-Boy 2000 feat. El-P and Alec Empire on So...How's Your Girl? 1999 (Tommy Boy)
- Latyrx - Looking Over a City feat. El-P on Quannum Spectrum 1999 (Quannum)
- Masterminds - Seven feat. Mr. Complex, J-Treds, J-Live, El-P, Shabaam Saheeq on Underground Railroad 2000 (Ground Control)
- Cannibal Ox - Ridiculoid feat. El-P 2001 (Def Jux)
- Techno Animal - We Can Build You feat. Vast Aire and El-P on Brotherhood of the Bomb 2001 (Matador)
- Mr. Lif - A Glimpse at the Struggle feat. El-P, Nasa and Fakts One & Post Mortem feat. Akrobatik, El-P and Jean Grae on I Phantom 2002 (Def Jux)
- Vast Aire - Dr. Hell No and the Praying Mantus feat. El-P on Def Jux Presents 2 2002 (Def Jux)
- Murs - The Dance feat. El-P on The End of the Beginning 2003 (Def Jux)
- The Weathermen - Missy Done Justice feat. Camu Tao and El-P on The Conspiracy 2003 (Eastern Conference)
- Aceyalone - City of Shit feat. El-P on Love & Hate 2003 (Red Urban)
- Aesop Rock - We're Famous feat. El-P on Bazooka Tooth 2003 (Def Jux)
- C-Rayz Walz - Firstwordsworse feat. El-P on Year of the Beast 2005 (Def Jux)
- Prefuse 73 - Hide Ya Face feat. Ghostface and El-P on Surrounded by Silence 2005 (WARP)
- Cage - Left it to Us feat. Tame 1, Y@K Ballz, Aesop Rock and El-P on Hell's Winter 2005 (Def Jux)
- Aesop Rock - Rickety Rackety feat. Camu Tao and El-P on Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives EP 2005 (Def Jux)
- Adam Freeland - Constellation Recall feat. El-P and Stephanie Vézina on Back to Mine 2005 (DMC)
[edit] Remixes
- Constellation (Heavenly Bodies) feat. Stephanie Vézina (Remix of Charlie Parker) on Bird Up 2003 (Savoy Jazz)
- Hide Ya Face (El-P Remix) on Hide Ya Face (single) 2005 (WARP)
[edit] Compilations
- Def Jux Presents 2 - Stepfather Factory 2002 (Def Jux)
- Urban Renwal Program - Deadlight 2002 (Chocolate Industries)
- Constant Elevation - Day After the Day After 2002 (Astralwerks)
- Revenge of the Robots - Stepfather Factory 2003 (Palm)
- Bird Up - Constellation (Heavenly Bodies) feat. Stephanie Vézina (Remix of Charlie Parker) 2003 (Savoy Jazz)
- Side of Counterflow - Revolutions per Minute Pt. 2 feat. Slug 2004 (Counterflow)
- Def Jux Presents 3 - WMR feat. Camu Tao, Oxycontin, Pt. 2 feat. Cage, Deep Space 9mm, Stepfather Factory 2004 (Def Jux)
[edit] Splits
- Shards of Pol Pottery split single with Alec Empire 2001 (Digital Hardcore)
[edit] Soundtracks
- Deep Space 9mm on The Last Minute 2002 (Palm Pictures)
