MARLEY MARL

'Marlon Williams' (born September 30 1962 in Queens, New York City), better known as 'Marley Marl', is an influential hip-hop producer. He was the house producer of the Juice Crew, known for The Bridge Wars, a feud with Boogie Down Productions seen as the first hip hop beef. The Juice Crew included: Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shanté, Kool G Rap, MC Shan (his cousin) and Masta Ace, and produced songs for outside artists including King Tee and LL Cool J. He was also an important figure in the careers of Eric B. & Rakim, producing their first hits "My Melody" and "Eric B Is President", mixing James Brown samples and synthetic beats in a fashion previously unheard of.

Contents

Overview

Discography

Albums

Compilations

External links

Overview

Marley Marl was one of the pioneers of sampling in hip-hop. He debuted as an electro producer, but his records became more sample heavy, as can be seen by comparing the MC Shan LPs ''Down By Law'' (1987) and ''Born to be Wild'' (1988). The rhythms became less electronic, with drum machines becoming less prominent. Marl started his career working for Tuff City records. He debuted with his own track called "DJ Cuttin" in 1985, released under the pseudonym NYC Cutter. In 1994 Marley Marl was referenced on Biggie Smalls' track "Juicy" as being one of his early influences. He still works today and his music has had influences on RZA, DJ Premier as well as Pete Rock, who is also a longtime friend.
He and KRS-One released Hip-Hop Lives in May 2007 which Marley Marl as the executive producer. It all happened with one phone call," Marley Marl told AllHipHop.com during a March 2006 interview. "They called me and he jumped on the phone and told me it would be spectacular for Hip Hop...My reason for doing this is to show these kids that Hip Hop beefs are not that serious."
On June 5th, 2007, Marley Marl suffered a heart attack. He was released from the hospital a few days later on the 8th. According to an interview in the Source, he blamed the heart attack on stress brought on by his worries about being a good father.

Discography

Albums

★ ''In Control Volume 1'' (1988)

★ ''In Control Volume II - for your steering pleasure'' (1991)

★ ''Hip Hop Dictionary'' (2000)

★ ''Re-entry'' (2001)

★ ''Hip-Hop Lives'' (2007) (with KRS-One)

Compilations

★ ''House of Hits'' (1995)

★ ''Best of Cold Chillin''' (2001)

External links

★ All Music Guide biography

★ Globaldarkness biography