Flavor Mix #289 5/6 19h00

Andrew Mayer Cohen aka Mayer Hawthorne grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Because as a child he was scared of going to the hair-dresser, his parents found an unlikely solution: He would get a record every time he got his hair cut. As a result he already had accumulated a not so small record collection at a young age. When it came to making the transition from being just a music fan to becoming an artist in his own right, he came up with the name DJ Haircut. As one third of the rap group "Now On" he first made a name on the hip hop scene. Meanwhile, inspired by his soul heroes Curtis Mayfield, Barry White, Isaac Hayes and Smokey Robinson, Mayer began recording soul music on the side in his bedroom. Initially not planning to release these songs, he bumped into Stones Throw Records owner Peanut Butter Wolf at summer party and played him some records. Soon after he signed a record deal and moved to Los Angeles. In 2008, his debut single "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out" which was released as a special heart-shaped record already made a lot of soul fans take notice of the new soul singer. The following self-produced album "A Strange Arrangement" came out last year and garnered lots of fans. Among them Eminem, Mos Def and De La Soul who recently all ordered beats by him.

Mayer Hawthorne on Myspace: myspace.com/mayerhawthorne

The Bronx duo emerged in 1996 with their single "Coolie High". Stepping on the scene with a unique music and fashion style heavily influenced by the blaxploitation era of the 70's Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede conquered the hearts of rap fans worldwide. In 1997 Camp Lo's debut album "Uptown Saturday Night" was released on Profile Records. Today, the album containing the popular singles "Luchini" and "Black Nostaljack" is considered a hip hop masterpiece. The bulk of it was produced by Ski, the beatmaker behind such Jay-Z classics as "Dead Presidents", "Feelin' It" and "Who You Wit". After their label Profile was sold to Arista, Camp Lo disappeared for some years. Lately the duo has released lots of new material. Their latest album "Another Heist" came out last year on their Soul Fever imprint.

Camp Lo Website: camplo.net

Aside from Bob Marley, Shaggy is Jamaica's most successful musician ever. His big affinity to pop-music was the biggest guarantor for his achievements. His first singles „Mample“ and „Big Up“ have been recorded at the end of the 80s after his immigration to the USA. The two sounded a lot more like Reggae-Dancehall than his bestsellers „It Wasn’t Me“, „Angel“, „Hey Sexy Lady“ and „Feel the Rush“. The singer with the remarkable voice has released credible dancehall songs during his entire career, but most of them have only become famous in Jamaica. Shaggy, whose real name is Orville Richard Burrell, grew up in a poor family. Maybe one of the reasons he was going to the US Army for several years. He even served in Kuwait during the Second Gulf War in 1991. Two years later, Shaggy made his breakthrough with his single „Oh Carolina“. Since then, he has steadily produced hits. Actually, Shaggy has got his nickname from the english verb „to shag“ which is used as a colloquial expression for having sex. Also, he was always called „Shaggy“ because of his hair when he was a child.

Shaggy website: shaggyonline.com

Diylan Mills alias Dizzee Rascal was brought up by his mother, a native of Ghana, in a poor neighbourhood of London. With only 15 years he attempted MCing on a pirate radio station in London. With friend and rapper Wiley he founded the Roll Deep Crew. They have developed the grime sound- a mixture of drum'n'bass, dancehall, 2step and hip hop. Three times Dizzee was excluded from school. On his fourth school, his music teacher showed him a music software whereby Dizzee created his first beats and tracks. His song "I Luv You“ which was about teenage-pregnancy helped him to get famous all over the UK in 2003.

Dizzee was honored with a "Mercury Music Prize“ for his first album "Boy In Da Corner“. With just 19 years he was the youngest prize winner ever. After releasing his second album "Showtime“ and first top-ten-success with the single "Stand Up Tall“ he created his own imprint Dirtee Stank.

In 2007 his third album „Maths and English“ was published, in autumn of 2009 the record "Tongue n’ Cheek“. All three single of this album has become huge hits, "Bonkers“ his collaboration with house producer Armand van Helden in particular.