| Bomfunk MC's | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Finland |
| Genres | Electro / Hip hop / Breakbeat |
| Years active | 1998–2005 (on hiatus) |
| Past members | |
| Raymond Ebanks (B.O.W) Ari Toikka (A.T) Ville Mäkinen (Mr Wily) Riku Pentti (DJ Infekto) Okke Komulainen |
|
The Bomfunk MC's are a Breakbeat, hip hop and electro group formed in 1998 in Finland. The group's front man is the Finnish rapper B.O. Dubb (formerly known as B.O.W., born Raymond Ebanks) and the main producer is Jaakko "JS16" Salovaara.
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The debut release was the 1999's album In Stereo (Sony Music) with the singles "Freestyler", "Uprocking Beats" and "B-Boys & Flygirls", all big hits in Finland. The success led to the release of "Freestyler" in Scandinavia and Germany. "Uprocking Beats" reached #1 position on Finnish Dance charts.[1] In Stereo sold over 600,000 units.[2]
By 2000, "Freestyler" had become a big hit in Europe and it was the year's biggest-selling single in Europe. The single reached number one in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany, and number two in the UK. Also in 2000, they won Best Nordic Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Nevertheless, the single did spark a little controversy. The line "Who the fuck is Alice, is she from Buckingham Palace?" was censored on the UK radio version, and the video featured a lot of product placement by Sony.
In 2002, the group released the album Burnin' Sneakers, spawning the singles "Super Electric", "Live Your Life" featuring Max'C, and "(Crack it!) Something Goin' On" with Jessica Folcker. This album gained less attention internationally, though selling well in Finland. "Something Goin' On" reached the German top 10.
In September 2005, DJ Gismo decided to leave the band (shortly afterwards joining the band Stonedeep), and was promptly replaced by Riku Pentti (DJ) and Okke Komulainen ("Hypnotic" featuring Elena Mady). Half of the album was produced by JS16, and the other half by The Skillsters Plus One.
"Reverse Psychology" and its singles did not garner much attention outside the Nordic countries. Both of the singles reached the German top 100, but did not chart elsewhere in Western Europe. Even fan reception was extremely mixed. A lot of fans still saw DJ Gismo as one half of the face of the band, despite DJ Gismo not being involved in the production of the bands music except for providing scratches (the remixes of Bomfunk-tracks carrying his name were produced by the band's producer, JS16).
The eastern European market is/was rife with bootlegs of Bomfunk MC's records, with many regularly surfacing on eBay. In the early 2000s, this became somewhat of a standing joke among fans.
Despite being on a major label at the time, Bomfunk MC's music has been extremely hard to find in most record stores across the globe since 2001. Also, the Bomfunk MC's website was notorious among fans of the band for its lack of updates. As of 2011, both the official Bomfunk MC's website and the band's largest fansite appear to be offline, with many smaller fansites having disappeared as well. The official page was back online briefly in Russian in 2010.
As of 2011, nothing is known of the current situation of the band, or if the band is indeed still active or not. Many of the band's collaborators have dedicated themselves to other (musical) projects or activities or faded into obscurity. The bands' main producer and mentor, JS16, is still musically active as a solo artist; 2007 saw the release of his first solo track in over half a decade, "Rosegarden" (which achieved significant club play) and as half of the successful dance act Dallas Superstars. He is also a successful remixer.
Despite their apparent hiatus or split, the song "Freestyler" still remains popular, being used as background music or being played alongside other dance songs of the same era in clubs. The hit was also performed, albeit in an unusual manner (accompanied a dombura, a traditional Central Asian musical instrument), during the auditions for SuperStar KZt,[3] the Kazakh version of Pop Idol. The video of the audition has become a viral video of sorts, even spawning remixes, although nothing points back at the original performing artists.
Hans Gruber has said that "They are legends within the electro and breakbeat scene. It's a shame they faded into oblivion. When will Bomfunk MC return?."
Ismo Lappalainen aka DJ Gismo (DJ, left in 2005) Andy Barton a.k.a Skeeta (Dance and MC) (left in 2008)
Two of the Bomfunk MC's songs have been inserted into the PlayStation game: Firebugs. These two songs were 'We R Atomic', and 'Put Ya Hands Up', both from the album 'Burnin' Sneakers'.