Expansions Festival: ULTRAMAGNETIC MC'S

Expansions Festival presents Ultramagnetic MC's with special guests at 229 in central London. The New York group, formed in the Bronx, is known to hip hop listeners for its sample-based production.

Ultramagnetic MC's were formed in the Bronx, New York, in 1984 by Kool Keith, Ced Gee, TR Love and Moe Love. Their debut single, 'Ego Trippin'', appeared on Next Plateau Records and is credited as the first track to sample Melvin Bliss's 'Synthetic Substitution', a drum break that has since been sampled extensively.

Their 1988 debut album, Critical Beatdown, was produced by Ced Gee, who had also produced Boogie Down Productions'Criminal Minded. Its tracks include 'Ease Back', 'Give the Drummer Some', 'Travelling at the Speed of Thought'and 'Watch Me Now'. Later records are Funk Your Head Up (1992), which contained 'Poppa Large', and The Four Horsemen (1993). After a break, the group released The Best Kept Secret in 2007, their first studio album in fourteen years.

This evening forms part of the Expansions Festival, with Ultramagnetic MC's joined by special guests. It takes place at 229, a concert venue on Great Portland Street in central London. Kool Keith has also recorded solo under the names Dr. Octagon, Dr. Dooom and Black Elvis.