Fade
The Beat Strangler
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Beats. It’s what we all live for, what we as beatmakers and producers breathe every single day, trying our best to create that one hit, one head nodder.
DJ Mark the 45 King is one of those guys. He is well known in the Hip Hop arena as a beatmaker that produces hits. Or is it a producer that makes beats? Either way, he’s been around for quite a while and he still puts out great beats.
This is his retrospective.
When In Doubt, Dial The 900 Number
It all started in 1987 when this crazy hype track called “The 900 Number” was first played and anyone who heard it went nuts. With a dope drum track and those unforgettable horns, to this day it’s a beat that can be played at any club and people will dance. That’s how good it is.
Around the same time, it was Tuff City Records that had a lot of interest in the 45 King, so they offered him a contract to do production. From that, he was able to bring in his Flavor Unit crew (Lakim Shabazz, Chill Rob G, Queen Latifah, Apache, etc.) and start producing for them on their albums. “All Hail The Queen” by Queen Latifah was arguably the 45 King’s greatest work, as he did a lot of production on it. The great thing about it was that Latifah was signed to Tommy Boy Records, so that meant the 45 King’s popularity grew, and he was able to produce a lot of songs for other Flavor Unit artists as they also got signed to Tommy Boy.
As time went by, “The 900 Number” was still being played, as well as sampled, but it wasn’t until 1996 when DJ Kool took a part of that beat and made “Let Me Clear My Throat”, which became a huge hit. With Kool’s call and response vocals over the beat, music fans ate it up. Plus it also brought the 45 King back into the spotlight.
Annie Opened The Door But Stan Moved Mountains
It was 1998 and Jay Z was all over the place (as he is today) because of the success of his Reasonable Doubt LP. To come out with a big hit, he needed someone with talent to get behind the boards and make something special.
Enter the 45 King.
He went and sampled from the movie “Annie” to produce “Hard Knock Life” on Jay Z’s “Volume 2 Hard Knock Life” album. That single alone was a huge hit and everyone love it (including myself – I bought the 12″), which only continued the 45 King’s success in the production game.
But it was in 2000, with the success of Eminem’s career, that the 45 King truly had the chance to shine. On Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP”, there was that one track that clearly stood out from the rest – “Stan”. What’s funny is when I first heard that song, I automatically knew it was the 45 King that produced it because of the way the drums and bass sounded. More on that later.
Everyone knows that “Stan” was crazy popular and it clearly put Eminem on the map, but once again it was the 45 King that was happily chilling in the background making the beats.
The Breakbeats
You may have already known everything that I just mentioned, but it’s really the breakbeats that make the 45 King stand out. Do yourself a favor and try to track down as many of his breakbeats as you can, as they are all equally dope.
In 1996, I picked up “Grooves For A Quiet Storm” on vinyl, went home and just loved it. Every single beat was so smooth that I went back to the store a few days later and bought a second copy and kept it sealed. That’s how good those beats were.
Since then, I have always tried my best to find any of his breakbeat records to add to my collection, but of course, it’s hard nowadays. However, he has released many of them so I still have hope!
The thing you must remember about the 45 King is that first of all, he’s a DJ. To me, this is why he knows what needs to go into producing a dope beat and making people nod their heads. Remember when I said I knew right away he produced “Stan”? That’s because he has a distinct sound, which is really important when producing (think of DJ Premier). The main thing that stands out are his drums and the way he creates his basslines. They’re just simple, yet dope. Combine that with other sounds, and it’s no wonder he’s able to make lots of beats that are awesome.
In Closing…
Throughout his career, DJ Mark the 45 King has produced for countless artists, made tons of beats, and has stayed true to his own style of Hip Hop beats.
I hope he still drops some new material on us because he has a great sound that will always be needed in Hip Hop.
Learn More About DJ Mark the 45 King
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