Bomfunk MC's

The Bomfunk MC's were a Finnish breakbeat hip hop group that was active between 1998 and 2005. The group's front man was the Finnish rapper B.O. Dubb (born Raymond Ebanks, and formerly known as "B.O.W."), and the main producer was Jaakko "JS16" Salovaara.

History

The band's debut release was the 1999 album In Stereo (Sony Music), which contained the singles "Freestyler", "Uprocking Beats", and "B-Boys & Flygirls", all of which were popular in Finland. "Uprocking Beats" reached the #1 position on the Finnish Dance charts.^[1] In Stereo sold over 600,000 units.^[2]

The album's success led to the release of "Freestyler" in Scandinavia and Germany; by 2000, "Freestyler" was popular throughout Europe, becoming the region's highest-selling single for that year. The single also reached the #1 position in Turkey,Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany, and was #2 in the United Kingdom. However, the single led to a minor controversy: the line, "Who the fuck is Alice, is she from Buckingham Palace?", was censored for the UK radio version, and the video featured an intensive amount of product placement for the Sony company.

The Bomfunk MC's won the 2000 Best Nordic Act award at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

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 it sold well in Finland. "Something Goin' On" reached the German top 10.

In September 2002, DJ Gismo decided to leave the band (shortly afterwards joining the band Stonedeep), and was promptly replaced by Riku Pentti (DJ) and Okke Komulainen (keyboards). After they joined, Bomfunk MC's released a special remix of "Back to Back".

In 2004, the album Reverse Psychology was released through Universal Music, preceded by the single "No Way in Hell". In the autumn of that year, they released another single from that album, "Hypnotic" featuring Elena Mady. Half of the album was produced by JS16, and the other half by Pennti, Komulainen, and Mäkinen, who called themselves 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. Fan reception was 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 band's music, except for providing scratches; the remixes of Bomfunk tracks carrying his name were produced by the band's producer, JS16.^{[citation needed]}

Despite being on a major label at the time, Bomfunk MC's music has been 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.^{[citation needed]} As of 2014, 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 2014, nothing is known of the current situation of the band, or even if the band is still active. Many of the band's collaborators have dedicated themselves to other musical projects or activities or faded into obscurity. The band's 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). He is also a successful remixer and forms half of the successful dance act Dallas Superstars.

Legacy

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 by a dombura, a traditional Central Asian musical instrument), during the auditions for SuperStar KZ,^[3] the Kazakh version of Pop Idol. The video of the audition has become a viral video of sorts, even spawning remixes, although no credit was given to the original performing artists.

Members

• Raymond Ebanks aka B.O.W. aka B.O. Dubb (MC)
• Ari Toikka aka A.T. (drums)
• Ville Mäkinen aka Mr Wily (bass/keyboards)
• Riku Pentti aka DJ Infekto (DJ, keyboards)
• Okke Komulainen (keyboards)

Former members

• Ismo Lappalainen aka DJ Gismo (DJ, left in 2005)
• Marlo Snellman aka Marlo (DJ, left in 2002)
• Andy Barton a.k.a. Skeeta (dance and MC) (left in 2008)

Discography

Albums

Singles

Videos

• Uprocking Beats 1998
• B-Boys & Fly Girls 1999
• Freestyler 1999
• B-Boys & Fly Girls Y2K Mix 2000
• Uprocking Beats JS 16 Radio Mix 2000
• Super Electric 2001
• Live Your Life 2002
• (Crack It!) Something Goin' On 2002
• Back To Back 2002
• No Way In Hell 2004
• Hypnotic 2005

In popular culture

Two of Bomfunk MC's songs have been featured in the PlayStation racing game; Firebugs. They were "We R Atomic", and "Put Ya Hands Up". Both songs are from the album Burnin' Sneakers.

See also

• List of best-selling music artists in Finland
• Finnish hip hop

References

External links

• Bomfunk MC's discography at Discogs
• Bomfunk MC's on Myspace