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Biz Markie
Background information
Birth name	Marcel Theo Hall
Also known as	The Diabolical Biz Markie, The Markie Kidd
Born	(1964-04-08) April 8, 1964 (age 48) Harlem, New York
Origin	Long Island, New York
Genres	Hip hop, comedy music
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actor, producer
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Cold Chillin'/Warner Bros., Tommy Boy Entertainment
Associated acts	Juice Crew, Beastie Boys, Digital Underground
Website	www.bizmarkie.com

Marcel Theo Hall (born April 8, 1964,^[1] Harlem, New York) better known by his stage name, Biz Markie, is an American rapper, beatboxer, DJ, comedian, singer, reality television personality, and commercial spokesperson. He is best known for his single "Just a Friend", an American Top 10 hit in 1989. In 2008, "Just a Friend" made #100 on VH1's list of the 100 greatest hip hop songs of all time.

Markie has been called "the Clown Prince of Hip Hop."^[2][3]

Life and career[link]

Biz Markie's career began on Long Island, New York ^[4] in the early 1980s, where he established his reputation for beat-boxing and rapping. MC Shan and Roxanne Shante were part of Marley Marl's Cold Chillin' Records, and Biz beatboxed on Shante's underground hit "Def Fresh Crew" (1986). This lent credibility to his recording career and put Cold Chillin' on the map. In the same year, Biz Markie's debut single, "Make the Music With Your Mouth, Biz", was released on Prism Records. He released his debut album, Goin' Off, which attracted a fair amount of attention, largely due to the lead single, "Make the Music With Your Mouth, Biz". The album also featured the underground hit singles "Nobody Beats The Biz", "The Vapors" and "Pickin' Boogers".^[5]

I Need a Haircut sales were already low when Markie was served a lawsuit by Gilbert O'Sullivan, who claimed that the album's Alone Again featured an unauthorized sample from his hit "Alone Again (Naturally)". O'Sullivan's claim was upheld in a landmark ruling, Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records, Inc.,^[6] that altered the landscape of hip-hop, finding that all samples must be cleared with the original artist before being used. In accordance with the ruling, Warner Bros., the parent company of Cold Chillin', had to pull I Need a Haircut from circulation, and all companies had to clear samples with the samples' creators before releasing the records. This development reflected the increasing popularity of hip-hop and the financial stakes over which releases were set. Biz responded in 1993 with the mischievously titled All Samples Cleared!, but his career had been hurt by the publicity emanating from the lawsuit, and the record suffered accordingly. For the remainder of the decade, he occasionally made television appearances, including guest appearances on In Living Color (including as contestant Damian "Foosball" Franklin in the recurring game show sketch "The Dirty Dozens" and as Marlon Cain in "Ed Bacon: Guidance Counselor") and in a 1996 freestyle rap commercial on MTV2. He also made numerous guest appearances with the Beastie Boys, "Check Your Head" (1992), "Ill Communication" (1994), "Hello Nasty" (1998), and their anthology The Sounds of Science (1999). He also rapped on the song "Schizo Jam", on Don Byron's 1998 release, "Nu Blaxploitation" (Blue Note/Capitol) and worked with Canibus on the first track on the Office Space soundtrack (1999). He also rapped on the track "So Fresh" alongside Slick Rick on Will Smith's 1999 album "Willennium".

In 1996, he appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly, alongside Wu-Tang Clan, Coolio, and Fat Joe, among others. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as a masterpiece by The Source magazine.

In 1997 he appeared on the Rolling Stones' song Anybody Seen My Baby? on their album Bridges to Babylon. His part was shortened on some radio versions.

In 1999 he appeared on Len's song Beautiful Day on their album You Can't Stop the Bum Rush.

In 2002, he appeared as an alien in Men in Black II with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, essentially playing an alien parody of himself, whose native language sounded exactly like beatboxing. Between 2002 and 2003 he appeared in episode 5 of the TV series Fastlane playing himself as a nightclub DJ. In 2003 he appeared in the international television series titled Kung Faux performing a series of voice over characters featured in a variety of episodes. In 2004, his song The Vapors appeared on the soundtrack of Rockstar's popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which featured an old school hip hop radio station, Playback FM. In 2005, Biz detoured from his recording duties to appear on the first season of the television show Celebrity Fit Club which challenged celebrities to lose weight by a combination of diet and exercise. Biz Markie lost more weight than anybody else in the competition. That year, he was also in an episode of The Andy Milonakis Show.

Biz Markie was a cast member on Nick Cannon's Wild 'n Out, seasons 1 and 3. Biz also does the beatboxing segment, Biz's Beat of the Day on the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!.

Biz Markie began 2008 opening for Chris Rock's "No Apologies" tour. Biz Markie's act includes spinning records ranging from old school hip hop to Lynyrd Skynyrd and then performing "Just a Friend".^[7] Biz Markie's playlist includes the following: "Children's Story" by Slick Rick, "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang, "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, "Holiday" by Madonna, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!, "It Takes Two" by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, "The Breaks" by Kurtis Blow and "Robot Rock" by Daft Punk.

In December 2009, Biz Markie appeared in a RadioShack commercial, repeating the line: "Oh Snap! Guess what I saw!" from his song "Just A Friend".^[8] That same year saw his debut with Andy Milonakis in television commercials for the commercial Internet service, Tune Up.^[9]

In 2010, Biz Markie appeared on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, providing commentary throughout the series. Biz Markie himself was not included on the list. On November 9, 2010, Biz appeared on The Aquabats! new EP, Radio Down! in the title track. On November 11, 2010, Biz sat in with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and performed "Just a Friend" with actor Jeff Goldblum.^[10]

Biz Markie also appeared in the Adventure Time season two episode Slow Love,^[11] which aired on November 15, 2010.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 1988: Goin' Off
• 1989: The Biz Never Sleeps
• 1991: I Need a Haircut
• 1993: All Samples Cleared!
• 2003: Weekend Warrior

Compilations[link]

• 1994: Biz's Baddest Beats
• 1996: Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks
• 1998: On the Turntable
• 2000: On the Turntable 2
• 2002: Greatest Hits
• 2006: Make the Music with Your Mouth, Biz
• 2009: Ultimate Diabolical^[12]
• 2009: "Yo Gabba Gabba Music is Awesome!"
• 2010: The Aquabats Radio Down!

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Biz Markie

• Biz Markie Official Website
• In-depth Biz Markie Interview
• VH-1 Biography
• Biz Markie at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2011)

John W. Bowman, Jr., better known by his stage name DJ Kool is an American rapper who, in the late 1990s, produced several popular rap singles. Born in 1959 in Washington, D.C., his influence from his years of working the go-go and rap circuits became apparent in his music. During the early- to mid-1980s, Kool worked as a warm-up DJ for Rare Essence, until he was picked up by CLR Records.

In 1996, he recorded his most successful track, "Let Me Clear My Throat," which was released on American Recordings. The track peaked at #8 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1997.^[1] The song prominently featured a sample of "The 900 Number" by DJ Mark the 45 King, (that song featured a sample from Marva Whitney's "Unwind Yourself",^[2] repeated over a breakbeat for six minutes). The song also began by sampling "Hollywood Swinging" by Kool and the Gang. The song is a recognizable dance floor-filler, and the track remains popular to this day^[update]. DJ Kool was featured on Mýa's 2006 single "Ayo!" from her 2008 album Liberation. He was also featured on two tracks on Will Smith's 2005 album Lost and Found.

On November 21, 2009, he performed at halftime of a Denver Nuggets basketball game.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• The Music Ain't Loud Enuff (1990)
• 20 Minute Workout (1992)
• Let Me Clear My Throat (1996)

Singles[link]

• "Let Me Clear My Throat" (1996)

Guest Appearances[link]

• "Be A Man" by "Macho Man" Randy Savage (2003)
• "Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get in da Club)" by Redman (2001)
• " We Won't" by Will Smith (2005)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Yahoo Biography
• Musicmatch guide
• Fansite
• DJ Kool Video interview with Money Train & Thenkman
• DJ Kool Video interview with DJ Tutor

This article on an American disc jockey is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2008)

J-Live
Background information
Birth name	Jean-Jacques Cadet
Born	New York, U.S.A.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	rapper
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Triple Threat Productions
Website	j-livemusic.com

J-Live (also known as Justice Allah, legal name Jean-Jacques Cadet) is an MC, DJ, and producer from New York.

[edit] Early career and The Best Part

J-Live first appeared on the underground hip-hop scene in 1995, when he was a freshman English major at the University at Albany, The State University of New York. His first single "Longevity" appeared on Mark Farina's Mushroom Jazz CD, and follow-up singles "Braggin' Writes" and "Hush the Crowd" garnered widespread attention, getting him printed in the "Unsigned Hype" section of The Source. This led to a record contract with Raw Shack Records. His first album, The Best Part, recorded from 1995 to 1999, featured production by Prince Paul, DJ Premier, and Pete Rock. Due to problems with his record label, J-Live left the label and the album was shelved. He moved to Payday Records, but when Payday's parent company London Records was bought from Universal Music Group by WEA, the album was again shelved. In 2001, copies surfaced as bootlegs and several were of such high quality it was rumored that J-Live himself was behind them. By the fall of 2001, The Best Part was finally officially released after five years of label problems. It was released on Triple Threat Productions, J-Live's own record label.

[edit] All of the Above to Then What Happened?

In 2002 his second album, All of the Above was released on the label, Coup D'état. It featured production by DJ Spinna, Usef Dinero, P Smoova and J-Live himself. In 2003 J-Live simultaneously released two EPs, Always Has Been and Always Will Be. Always Has Been was a collection of J-Live's six early singles which did not appear on any of his albums. Always Will Be consisted of 8 new songs. Both EPs were released on the label, Triple Threat Productions. His third LP, The Hear After was released in 2005 on the label, Penalty (Ryko), and was followed in 2007 with another EP, Reveal the Secret, and in 2008 with an LP entitled Then What Happened?, both from BBE Records.

Personal life[link]

After completion of his English degree from SUNY Albany, J-Live became a middle school English teacher in Brownsville and Bushwick, Brooklyn. He later left teaching for the full time pursuit of his hip-hop career. J-Live is currently living in Philadelphia, PA. He is married and has three children. He is of Haitian descent. J-Live is a member of The Nation of Gods and Earths.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• The Best Part (2001)
• All of the Above (2002)
• Always Has Been [EP] (2003)
• Always Will Be [EP] (2003)
• The Hear After (2005)
• Reveal The Secret [EP] (2007)
• Then What Happened? (May 2008)
• Undivided Attention [EP] (Nov 2010)
• S.P.T.A. (Said Person of That Ability) (2011)

Appearances[link]

• 31 February by The Nextmen
• Azucar (Remix) by Soulive
• Boogie by Oddisee, also featuring Asheru
• Bosoms by Wordsworth, also featuring Soulive
• Brand Nu Live by DJ Nu-Mark
• Break It Down by DJ Jazzy Jeff
• Get It, Got It by DJ Jazzy Jeff
• Give It Up with R.A. the Rugged Man on Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture
• Great Live Caper by J. Rawls
• Hip Hop Romper Room Pt. 1 by Vakill
• Hip Hop Romper Room Pt. 2 by Vakill
• I Say Peace by Dela
• O! (9.11) by Da Beatminerz
• Practice by DJ Jazzy Jeff
• Rules of Engagement by 7L & Esoteric
• Selector by the Lifesavas
• She Said What? by Quantic Soul Orchestra
• Sub-Level by Rob Swift
• The City by Dela, also featuring Surreal
• The Last Sunshine by Pigeon John
• The Truth by Handsome Boy Modeling School
• The Formula by Apathy (rapper)
• Time Difference by Homecut
• Trackrunners by Asheru & Blue Black of Unspoken Heard
• Vacation by Jazz Liberatorz
• What's crazy? by Oddisee, also featuring Stik Figa
• Whatyawando? by El Da Sensei
• Observe the sound by Apathy (rapper)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: J-Live

• Official website
• J-Live - Reveal the Secret EP Review