Marley Marl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Marley Marl | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Marlon Williams | |
| Origin | Queensbridge, New York City, New York | |
| Genre(s) | Hip hop | |
| Years active | 1985–present | |
| Label(s) | Cold Chillin' Records | |
Marlon Williams (born September 30, 1962 in Queens, New York City), better known as Marley Marl, is an influential hip-hop producer. He was the house producer of the Juice Crew, which included (in addition to him): Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shanté, Kool G Rap, MC Shan (his cousin) and Masta Ace, and produced songs for outside artists including King Tee and LL Cool J. He was also an important figure in the careers of Eric B. & Rakim, producing their first hits "My Melody" and "Eric B Is President", mixing James Brown samples and synthetic beats in a fashion previously unheard of.
Marley Marl was one of the pioneers of sampling in hip-hop. He debuted as an electro producer, but his records became more sample heavy, as can be seen by comparing the MC Shan LPs Down By Law (1987) and Born to be Wild (1988). The rhythms became less electronic, with drum machines becoming less prominent. Marl started his career working for Tuff City records. He debuted with his own track called "DJ Cuttin" in 1985, released under the pseudonym NYC Cutter. In 1994 Marley Marl was referenced on Biggie Smalls' track "Juicy" as being one of his early influences. He still works today and his music has had influences on RZA, DJ Premier as well as Pete Rock, who is also a longtime friend.
He and KRS-One will Be releasing Hip-Hop Lives in May 2007 which Marley Marl will be the executive producer of the album. It all happened with one phone call," Marley Marl told AllHipHop.com during a March 2006 interview. "They called me and he jumped on the phone and told me it would be spectacular for Hip-Hop...My reason for doing this is to show these kids that Hip-Hop beefs are not that serious."
Contents |
- In Control Volume 1 (1988)
- In Control Volume II - for your steering pleasure (1991)
- Hip Hop Dictionary (2000)
- Re-entry (2001)
- Hip-Hop Lives (2007) (with KRS-One)
- House of Hits (1995)
- Best of Cold Chillin' (2001)
Coincendently the name of Marlon Wayans character on the tv show The Wayans Bros. is actually Marley Marl's real name Marlon Williams.
- Juice Crew
- The Symphony
