Mantronix

Mantronix was an influential 1980s hip hop and electro funk music group from. New York City The band was founded by DJ Kurtis Mantronik (Kurtis el Khaleel) and rapper MC Tee (Touré Embden). They underwent several genre and line-up changes during its seven year existence between 1984–91. From old school hip hop and electro-funk to house music, but the group is primarily remembered for its original, heavily synthesized blend of old school hip-hop and electro funk.

History

Early years: 1984–1988

Kurtis Mantronik (Kurtis el Khaleel), a Jamaican-Canadian émigré, began experimenting with electro music in the early 1980s, inspired by early electro tracks like "Riot in Lagos" (1980) by Yellow Magic Orchestra's Ryuichi Sakamoto. In 1984, while working as the in-store DJ for Downtown Records in Manhattan, Kurtis Mantronik met MC Tee, a Haitian-born, Flatbush, Brooklyn-based rapper (and regular record store customer). The duo soon made a demo, "Fresh Is The Word," and eventually signed with William Socolov's Sleeping Bag Records.

MC Tee

Touré Embden (born 1966), known by the stage name MC Tee, is a Haitian-American emcee and co-founder (with DJ Kurtis Mantronik) of the 1980s old school hip hop and electro funk group Mantronix.

Early years

MC Tee was born in Haiti, emigrated with his family to the United States, and eventually settled in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York.

Mantronix emcee

In 1984, Brooklyn native MC Tee met Kurtis Mantronik at Downtown Records in Manhattan, where MC Tee was a regular customer, and Mantronik worked as the in-store DJ. The duo soon made a demo, formed the group Mantronix, and eventually signed with Sleeping Bag Records.

MC Tee co-wrote Mantronix's debut single, "Fresh is the Word," a club hit in 1985, reaching #16 on the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart. "Fresh is the Word" was featured on Mantronix's debut album, Mantronix: The Album, which was released the same year.

Mantronix's second album, Music Madness, was released in 1986. While MC Tee's rhyming style on the album continued in the traditional b-boy fashion of the times, Mantronik's club oriented production and mixing in Music Madness tended to attract more dance music and electro funk aficionados than hardcore, old school hip hop fans.