LOTEK
Drink Triples LIVE
General Info
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Genre: Hip Hop / Reggae / Roots Music
Location Birmingham,London,Melbourne,Sydney, UK
Profile Views: 99574
Last Login: 3/18/2012
Member Since 7/10/2005
Website http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmxvdGVrLmNj
Record Label Counterclockwise Entertainment / Lotek Productions
Type of Label Indie
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Bio
.. .......... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ........ .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... LOTEK is a Jamaican-English born Music Producer and Reggae/Hiphop Artist, who has contributed greatly to the sounds of Big Dada artists including Lotek Hifi, Roots Manuva and the 2009 Mercury Award winning artist, Speech Debelle. .... Lotek's music production career started soon after his chance meeting with Roots Manuva's then manager, Jeremy Tuson (known as Tuse). Tuse was running a label called Sound of Money Records, and was a small independent label specialising in soulful reggae and UK hip hop. His artists on the roster included reggae singer Wayne Paul, Black Twang and Rodney Smith AKA Roots Manuva, who had just released his first single, Next Type of Motion. .... This chance meeting resulted in Lotek re-working a Tuse beat for a Roots Manuva track. Manuva loved what he heard and the pair continued to work together (a few years later this work would appear on Brand New Second Hand). Lotek then went on to work on both of Manuva’s follow up albums, Run Come Save Me (which was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in the UK) and Awfully Deep; Lotek also served as the musical director on the Roots Manuva, Run Come Save Me Tour. .... Cementing himself as part of the Big Dada stable, Lotek went on to remix, produce, write and engineer many other Big Dada releases. He subsequently created his own project for Big Dada – Lotek Hifi. As part of this group he went on to release three singles and two albums before eventually deciding to work on solo projects. Such projects included writing the music for the multi-million-unit-selling PS2 game, Getaway 2 – Black Monday and opening Plan B Studios in Birmingham UK. During this time Lotek also won a BBC Urban Music Bursary Award and used part of the prize money to travel to Eastern Europe and Australia to tour, write and record. .... Lotek is one of the main driving forces behind the emotive, acoustic hiphop sound of emerging UK Artist, Speech Debelle. The album "Speech Therapy" which he recorded with Debelle in Australia, is one of the most anticipated UK Hiphop albums of 2009. (See Bigdada.com for more details). .... Taking influence from reggae, Lotek explores the evolution of hip hop by way of the Reggae Sound System culture. He looks to Jamaica for inspiration and takes pride in continuing the tradition of UK artists working with, and interpreting, the sounds of Jamaica. This direction is more than evident in the sound and feel of his forthcoming album, Rebel HiFi. .. -
Members
...... "Control Alt Delete" Promo Video (Directed By Dropbear) .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... "Start Anew" Promo Video...... .. .. .. .. .. .... ....Lotek In Russia (A1 TV feature)...... ............ .. .. .. .. .. .. -
Influences
The Specials, 2 Tone Records, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Dexys Midnight Runners, Chas & Dave, Fun Boy Three, LKJ, Burning Spear, Prince Buster, Madness, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer,Ini Kamoze, Sizzla, Turbulence, Prince, Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Queen, Stravinsky, Shostakovic....Mento Music. -
Sounds Like
.......... .. ............ .... ..Wayne Lotek DISCOGRAPHY .. ............ ......"Brand New Second Hand".. The Classic debut LP from ..Roots Manuva...... .. ............ ......"Run Come Save Me".. The Mercury Prize Nominated Album by ..Roots Manuva...... .. ............ ......"Vitalistics".. The Debut Solo LP From UK Hip Hop Veteran ..HKB FiNN...... .. ............ ......"Extra Yard".. Compilation featuring Various Artists from ..Big Dada Recordings...... .. ............ ......"Lotek HiFI".. The Mini LP from my own group ..Lotek HiFi...... .. ............ ......"Getaway 2 : Black Monday".. The Playstaion 2 Game with in game music by ..Lotek Productions...... .. ............ ......"Awfully Deep".. The 3rd LP from ..Roots Manuva...... .. ............ ......"Breakupdown".. The Groundbreaking LP by ..Ghislain Poirier...... .. ............ ......"Live From The Breadline".. The Production LP by ..Part 2...... .. ............ ......"Mixed Blessings".. The Debut LP from ..Lotek HiFi...... .. ............ ......"Alternately Deep".. The 4th LP from ..Roots Manuva...... .. ............ ......"Codes Over Colours".. The 2nd Solo LP From ..Plutonic Lab...... .. ............ ......"Interview With A Madman".. The LP From the legendary ..Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read...... .. .. .......... ......"Exit Strategy".. The New LP From ..Astronomy Class...... .. .. ...... ......"Under Raps".. The 2nd LP From ..Down Under Beats Crew...... .. ...... ......"Fanta Vista".. The Long Awaited Debut LP From ..Nylon Rhythm Machine...... .. ...... ......"A Symbol and a Sound".. The Critically Acclaimed Debut LP From ..Unity Gain Theory...... .. ...... ......"Don't Take It Percynal".. The Debut EP From ..Percy Filth...... .. ...... ......"Go".. The Limited Edition Lotek LP featuring artists from Eastern Europe released on ..2-99 Records...... .. ...... ......"Ishu".. The Self-Titled Debut EP .... .. ............ ......"Control Alt Delete".. The Forthcoming Single from the Lotek Lp "Rebel HiFi".... .. ............ ......"Counter Clockwise".. Coming Soon(ish) .........
LOTEK live on Triple J
"The Rudest Dude" music video
Who is LOTEK?
It is this extensive background knowledge that gives Lotek the tools, but it’s his approach to music that makes his own music something to take notice of. Mixing old-skool ragamuffin skanks with a British wit, Soundsystem meet MC and are washed in the grime of London. The mixture of live instrumentation that isn’t afraid to include a complete horn sound, with phat beats and heavy bass sees Lotek grinding a sinuous Caribbean feel amongst a traditionalist hip hop approach. It’s as much live punch as it is synth extract – pushing genre boundaries that have been for too long taken as gospel.
Lotek is music of passion. Son of a Jamaican mother and an English father, Lotek set forth on his musical journey at just 15, leaving home and moving to London to study sound engineering. He quickly began to make a name for himself – working with the likes of Seal, Leftfield, Take That and Peter Andre at Rollover Studios in West London. A chance meeting with Jeremy ‘Tuse’ Tuson broke him into the Big Dada stable, which quickly had him producing tracks for Mercury-Prize nominated Roots Manuva. It’s here that his interest in his own music peaked, leading Lotek to form Lotek Hifi with Wayne Paul and Aurelius– going on to release two albums on the Big Dada label.
During this time he also wrote the music for the multi-million-unit-selling Playstation 2 game, Getaway 2: Black Monday. However a change of scenery and a desire to work solo beckoned, Lotek moving to Melbourne, Australia and setting up his new studio Counter Clockwise. In Australia Lotek has gone about working with the finest musician and producers in Australia, including Plutonic Labs and Astronomy Class, as well as working on his own music when finding the spare time. In 2007 at his previous studio in Melbourne’s inner-west, Lotek took on the task of recording, producing and constructing the debut album for Big Dada labelmate Speech Debelle. Little known in the UK and around the world at the time, the ensuing album Speech Therapy has taken the industry by storm – built on the solid platform provided by Lotek.
What does the press say about LOTEK?
“This is something special... the future of British Hip Hop” The Sun, UK “Melding tradition with modern production ethics, subtle invention, theatrical drama and bass savvy booms to penetrate your being.” DJ Magazine, UK
“Adventure into leftfield, futuristic hip hop, complete with spine-chilling electronic melodies and otherworldly sci-fi bleeps, Creative hip hop at its best.” New Nation, UK
“An emcee in his own right, Lotek’s beats blend in well and accommodate Speech’s voice to a metronomic tee. He has the ability to drive assurance and adrenaline into quiet keys and soft trebles. Lotek’s biggest skill though, is in his pacing – he doesn’t just make a beat, he produces for an artist and you can tell in how the instrumentals never upstage the MC, but instead seem tailor-made for Debelle’s understated flow and miniature-rist approach to putting pen to pad.” Speakerbox, RSA
“What's more, the music on her debut, craftily produced in the main by Wayne Lotek, is acoustic, jazz-inspired and, on songs like Spinning, quite beautiful; not something that can be said too often about debut UK hip-hop albums.” The Guardian, UK
