'Hijack' were a
hip hop group from
Brixton in
London, featuring
Kamanchi Sly,
DJ Supreme,
DJ Undercover,
Ulysses,
Agent Fritz and
Agent Clueso. Their first single, "Style Wars" (
Music of Life,
1988 caught the attention of the
British hip hop community and laid much of the ground work for what was to come from the scene over the next few years. Their next release, "Hold No Hostage/Doomsday of Rap" (Music of Life,
1989) became an underground hit across Europe, bringing them to the attention of
West Coast rapper
Ice T.
Ice T signed the group to his own
Rhyme Syndicate Records label, and they recorded and released the single "The Badman is Robbin'" (Rhyme Syndicate Records, 1989). The group's debut album - ''The Horns of Jericho'' (Rhyme Syndicate Records,
1991) - was recorded around the same time, but
Warner Brothers (who had a distribution deal with Rhyme Syndicate Records) deemed Hijack's British
hardcore hip hop style and British accents too different for US audiences. Hence, the album was never released in the US, although the company released the album to the foreign market to great critical acclaim.
Following this upset, the group split up and went their separate ways. DJ Supreme founded
Backbone Records, whilst Kamanchi Sly and DJ Undercover founded
Reservoir Records and recorded as Mr Pink and Mr Blond for a short while, before Kamanchi Sly changed his name to Unknown MC and had chart success with his brother DJ Pied Piper as
DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies. Their single "Do You Really Like It" (??,
2001) reach number 1 in the UK charts.
Since then, Kamanchi Sly has come back to the
British hip hop scene, releasing two EPs in
2004 and with an album - ''The Holy Grail'' - due from
Catalyst Recordings in
2005.
DJ Supreme has become recognised for his innovations in scratching by the Turntablist community worldwide, this was highlighted by his attendance to the
Scratchcon 2000 seminar in San Fransico. Hosted by
DJ Qbert, Supreme was invited to speak about his work alongside other world class scratch DJs.
Supreme is actively DJing on the European club circuit and continues to work in music production today. His most recent projects include the making of his Semi-bio documentary film
The Turntable Trixters which chronicles the history of Hijack. The film was recently screen by the
British Film Institute and billed as an urban arts classic.
Discography
'Hijack'
★ ''The Horns of Jericho'' (Rhyme Syndicate Records, 1991)
★ ''The Original Horns of Jericho / Instrumental Movie Soundtrack'' (Reservoir Records,
1997)
'DJ Supreme'
★ ''Stolen Beats and Ripped Off Scratches'' (Music of Life,
1992)
★ ''Stylewars 2002'' (BMG, Germany,
2002)
★ ''Hiphop.ch The Jam Mix CD'' (Muve Recordings, Switzerland
2004)
★ ''Turntable Trixters HIJACK 1986-92' DVD'' (Aman Music,
2005)
'Kamanchi Sly'
★ ''The Holy Grail'' (Catalyst Recordings, 2005 - forthcoming)
External links
★
The Unofficial Hijack website
★
DJ Supreme Official Website
★
DJ Supreme Official Myspace Profile
★
The original UK Hip Hop History
★
Snippet about DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies
★
Interview with DJ Supreme from Hijack