Kaliphz
Encyclopedia
Kaliphz were a British hip hop
crew formed in Rochdale
by 2-Phaan (real name Mush Khan) and Jabba da Hype. They began as part of the breakdancing scene in the early 1980s, before branching out into spoken word and rap
as other members joined the group
. The group had a constantly shifting membership, and various name changes reflected this. They are most well known for a subsequent pop
career as Kaleef, during which they recorded
a record
with Prince Naseem Hamed
and also cover version
of The Stranglers
' "Golden Brown
".
(a working class town in Greater Manchester
) by the British Asian
s 2-Phaan and Jabba da Hype. Inspired by a performance of the Rock Steady Crew
they saw in 1982, the duo
formed a breakdance and graffiti
crew called Dizzy Footwork, Dizzy footwork were formed and inspired by the Original Members of Dizzy Footwork Crew Mush, Zulf, and Peps childhood friends from the Wardleworth area of Rochdale. Kaliphz were ultimately born out of Dizzy footwork. Mush and Jabba also began to do rap based politically charged spoken word
performances under the name Nu Konshus Kaliphz. They were joined by Poet Saquib, Chok the Phunky Polak, DJ XL, and Sniffa Dog NAD to form the first line up of what became the Kaliphz.
In 1993, the production
team of Martin Price and Neale Johnson aka 'FunkRegulators' arranged for the group to be signed to London Records
, where they recorded a track
for the soundtrack
to the film
Shopping
. They began recording their debut album, during which they were joined by Leeds
-based rapper Wiz (aka Oddball, real name Paul Edmeade) who had recently departed the group Breaking the Illusion. The album
, Seven Deadly Sins (Payday/FFRR, 1995) featured a strong political and anti-racist stance, and received moderate critical acclaim, but London Records were not satisfied with its sales.
Following this, London's A&R
man Pete Tong
suggested them to Jive Records
, who paired the group with the record producer
Pete Waterman
. Under Waterman's influence, and record label
pressure, the group changed their name again to Kaleef and moved their musical style in a more pop direction. This led to the recording of their second album, 53rd State of Mind (Jive, 1997). Unhappy with the directions they were moving in, the group split shortly after the release of their second album.
The band appeared in the UK Singles Chart
with (as Kaliphz) "Walk Like A Champion" (Payday/FFRR, 1995) featuring boxer Prince Naseem Hamed, and (as Kaleef) "Golden Brown" (Jive, 1997) - a re-working of The Stranglers' song about drug use.
As Kaleef:
British hip hop
British hip hop is a genre of music, and a culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. It is generally classified as one of a number of styles of urban music...
crew formed in Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
by 2-Phaan (real name Mush Khan) and Jabba da Hype. They began as part of the breakdancing scene in the early 1980s, before branching out into spoken word and rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
as other members joined the group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
. The group had a constantly shifting membership, and various name changes reflected this. They are most well known for a subsequent pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
career as Kaleef, during which they recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
a record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
with Prince Naseem Hamed
Naseem Hamed
Naseem Hamed is an English former professional boxer.He is the former WBO, WBC, IBF, & Lineal featherweight champion, and European bantamweight champion....
and also cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
' "Golden Brown
Golden Brown
"Golden Brown" is a song by the English rock band The Stranglers. It was released as a 7" single in December 1981 in the US and in January 1982 in the UK, on Liberty...
".
History
Kaliphz were formed in RochdaleRochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
(a working class town in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
) by the British Asian
British Asian
British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...
s 2-Phaan and Jabba da Hype. Inspired by a performance of the Rock Steady Crew
Rock Steady Crew
Rock Steady Crew is a b-boying crew and hip hop group that was established in the Bronx, New York City in 1977. The group was initially formed by b-boys named Jimmy D and Jojo. In subsequent years, Rock Steady Crew became a franchise name for groups in other locations. The Manhattan branch was...
they saw in 1982, the duo
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
formed a breakdance and graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
crew called Dizzy Footwork, Dizzy footwork were formed and inspired by the Original Members of Dizzy Footwork Crew Mush, Zulf, and Peps childhood friends from the Wardleworth area of Rochdale. Kaliphz were ultimately born out of Dizzy footwork. Mush and Jabba also began to do rap based politically charged spoken word
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
performances under the name Nu Konshus Kaliphz. They were joined by Poet Saquib, Chok the Phunky Polak, DJ XL, and Sniffa Dog NAD to form the first line up of what became the Kaliphz.
In 1993, the production
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
team of Martin Price and Neale Johnson aka 'FunkRegulators' arranged for the group to be signed to London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
, where they recorded a track
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
for the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Shopping
Shopping (film)
Shopping is a 1994 film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson about a group of British teenagers who indulge in joyriding and ramraiding...
. They began recording their debut album, during which they were joined by Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
-based rapper Wiz (aka Oddball, real name Paul Edmeade) who had recently departed the group Breaking the Illusion. The album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Seven Deadly Sins (Payday/FFRR, 1995) featured a strong political and anti-racist stance, and received moderate critical acclaim, but London Records were not satisfied with its sales.
Following this, London's A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
man Pete Tong
Pete Tong
Peter "Pete" Tong is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is known worldwide by fans of electronic music for hosting programmes such as Essential Mix and Essential Selection on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for his record label FFRR Records, and for...
suggested them to Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
, who paired the group with the record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Pete Waterman
Pete Waterman
Peter Alan Waterman OBE is an English record producer, occasional songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman songwriting team he wrote and produced many hit singles...
. Under Waterman's influence, and record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
pressure, the group changed their name again to Kaleef and moved their musical style in a more pop direction. This led to the recording of their second album, 53rd State of Mind (Jive, 1997). Unhappy with the directions they were moving in, the group split shortly after the release of their second album.
The band appeared in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
with (as Kaliphz) "Walk Like A Champion" (Payday/FFRR, 1995) featuring boxer Prince Naseem Hamed, and (as Kaleef) "Golden Brown" (Jive, 1997) - a re-working of The Stranglers' song about drug use.
Albums
As Kaliphz:- Seven Deadly Sins (Payday/FFRR, 1995)
As Kaleef:
- 53rd State of Mind (Jive, 1997)
Singles
| Year | Title | UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
Credited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Walk Like a Champion" | #23 | Kaliphz featuring Prince Naseem |
| 1996 | "Golden Brown Golden Brown "Golden Brown" is a song by the English rock band The Stranglers. It was released as a 7" single in December 1981 in the US and in January 1982 in the UK, on Liberty... " |
#22 | Kaleef |
| 1997 | "Trails of Life" | #75 | Kaleef |
| 1997 | "I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)" | #58 | Kaleef |
| 1998 | "Sands of Time" | #26 | Kaleef |