1200 Techniques
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1200 Techniques
- Genres: Rap
Biography
Although Australia had an underground hip-hop scene starting in the late '80s, it wasn't until 2001 that it began to be recognized by the mainstream of Australian music. 1200 Techniques were an important part of that moment, with charting singles, appearances on TV shows like John Safran's Music Jamboree, and a sound that contained an eclectic blend of rock, dance, and funk influences to win over those Australians unconvinced their country had a place as a producer of quality hip-hop music.Founder DJ Peril had been a part of Melbourne's hip-hop scene for years when, in 1997, he first saw MC Kabba performing in a local pub and was inspired to form a crew. Kabba brought along his brother and songwriting partner Nfamas, mostly famous for his role in a series of biscuit commercials. The group was rounded out with another brother, this time Peril's. Up until then Kemstar had been playing rock guitar with the band Quarter2Nine. It was his hard-hitting riff that became the focus for their first song, "Hard as Hell." They named themselves after the Technics SL-1200 turntables Peril was a master of and released it as a single, with an accompanying film clip that cast them as a gang straight out of The Warriors.
While working on the songs that would eventually form their first album, Kabba decided to leave the country and move to the U.K., leaving Nfamas as the group's lead MC. Now a trio, they recorded a 2001 EP called Infinite Styles and followed it a year later with the album Choose One. The crossover success of Choose One was unprecedented, winning ARIA awards for the album in the Best Independent Release category and for the video of its first single, "Karma," which made it into the chart Top 40. In 2002 they were awarded the Best Hip-Hop Act award at the national Dance Music Awards, humbly stating that they felt they didn't deserve it when there were so many other talented acts in the scene who hadn't achieved a similar level of success.
In 2004 they released their second album, Consistency Theory, and proved themselves worthy of their widespread acclaim. Again they managed to make the charts and tour the festival circuit. A year later they put the group on hiatus to pursue solo work. DJ Peril and Nfamas (renamed N'fa) released their own albums, and Kemstar joined the Jack to record songs for the soundtrack to Thunderstruck, an AC/DC tribute film. ~ Jody Macgregor, Rovi
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1200 Techniques
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| 1200 Techniques | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Years active | 1997–2005 |
| Labels | Rubber/Sony |
| Website | http://www.1200techniques.net |
| Members | |
| DJ Peril: Turntablist, percussion Nfamas (N'Fa Forster-Jones) : Vocals Kemstar: Guitar |
|
| Past members | |
| Kabba | |
1200 Techniques were an Australian hip hop group. They formed in 1997 and released two LPs before going on hiatus in 2005.[citation needed]
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Contents
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Biography
The group was formed in 1997, starting out as DJ Peril and brothers Nfamas and Kabba, soon after Peril's brother Kemstar joined and together they wrote many of the tracks that appeared on the debut single "Hard As Hell" and the group's debut album Choose One. DJ Peril & Kemstar's involvement in the hip hop scene dates back to the early 1980s as pre-teens.[citation needed] DJ Peril being a founding member of one of Melbourne's first ever hip hop crews The Island Boys,[citation needed] Peril also DJ'd in a number of different bands.[citation needed] In 1998, Kabba moved to England. Live shows by the group added a human drummer to the line-up.
Their 1998 song "Hard as Hell" received airplay on Triple J.[citation needed] 2001 saw the release of the Infinite Styles EP. Their debut album, Choose One, was released in 2002 on Rubber Records (distributed by Sony Records). The first single from this album was "Karma", which reached the top 40 of the Australia ARIAnet singles chart—peaking at #36[1]—and took the 2002 ARIA Award for Best Video and Best Independent Release.[2] Choose One peaked at #20 on the Australian album chart.[3]
Their 2004 release Consistency Theory included the singles "Eye of the Storm" and "Where Ur At?". The former received some airplay on mainstream radio,[citation needed] while the latter reached the top 40 singles chart, peaking at #35.[4] Following the album's release, the group appeared at the Big Day Out festival in early 2004. Consistency Theory peaked at #38 on the album chart.[5]
Solo careers
Nfamas and DJ Peril have branched out into solo careers. DJ Peril released a solo album, King of the Beats", which includes the single "It's About to Blow", and "Rock Ya Baby" which features singer Rahsaan Patterson. DJ Peril is currently signed to the Street Elite record label. Nfamas also released a solo album as N'fa called Cause An Effect in 2006.[6] Both of the album's video clips were directed by his friend Heath Ledger, the title track Cause An Effect and Seduction is Evil (She's Hot).[7] Kemstar played guitar with the Australian supergroup The Jack (with members of You Am I, Grinspoon, The Living End, Spiderbait, and Sender) for the Thunderstruck soundtrack, performing on the songs "Crash & Burn" and "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)".
Discography
Albums
- Choose One (2002, Rubber Records) - #20 Australian album chart
- Consistency Theory (2004) - #38 Australian album chart
Singles and EPs
- Infinite Styles EP (2001)
- "Karma" (2002) - #36 Australian singles chart
- "Eye of the Storm" (2003) - #84 Australia[8]
- "Where Ur At" (2003) - #35 Australia
- Fork in the Road (2004) - #55 Australia[9]
DVDs
- One Time Live (2003)
External links
References
- ^ "Karma" at Australian-charts.com
- ^ 1200 Techniques at the ARIA Music Awards website
- ^ Choose One at Australian-charts.com
- ^ "Where Ur At" at Australian-charts.com
- ^ Consistency Theory at Australian-charts.com
- ^ inthemix.com.au Album Review: N'fa: Cause An Effect
- ^ Cause an Effect Songfacts
- ^ The ARIA Report, 28 July 2003.
- ^ The ARIA Report, 16 August 2004.
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