1200 Techniques

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1200 Techniques
Origin Flag of Australia Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genre(s) Hip hop
Years active 1997–2005
Label(s) Rubber/Sony
Website http://www.1200techniques.net
Members
DJ Peril: Turntablist, percussion
Nfamas (N'Fa Forster-Jones) : Vocals
Kemstar: Guitar
Former 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]

Contents

[edit] 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 1980's 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]

[edit] Solo careers

Nfamas and DJ Peril have branched out into solo careers, with Nfamas renaming himself N'fa and releasing two singles "Left Right Left" and "Cause an Effect", the music video of the latter being directed by Heath Ledger.[6] An album, also titled Cause an Effect, includes a third single "Seduction Is Evil (She's Hot)"; the video for which was again directed by Ledger.[citation needed]

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.

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)".

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles and EPs

  • Infinite Styles EP (2001)
  • "Karma" (2002) - #36 Australian singles chart
  • "Eye of the Storm" (2003) - #84 Australia[7]
  • "Where Ur At" (2003) - #35 Australia
  • "Fork in the Road" (2004) - #55 Australia[8]

[edit] DVDs

  • One Time Live (2003)

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Karma" at Australian-charts.com
  2. ^ 1200 Techniques at the ARIA Music Awards website
  3. ^ Choose One at Australian-charts.com
  4. ^ "Where Ur At" at Australian-charts.com
  5. ^ Consistency Theory at Australian-charts.com
  6. ^ Review of Cause an Effect at thescene.com.au
  7. ^ The ARIA Report, July 28, 2003.
  8. ^ The ARIA Report, August 16, 2004.