Moorish Delta 7
Encyclopedia
Moorish Delta 7 are a hip hop
/UK garage
outfit from the Newtown
area of Birmingham
, England
. The trio formed in 1995 and have sold over 50,000 records.
as 'Moorish Delta 7' was an EP
on Quartz Records (another Birmingham record label) called Taking Four Wicked Heads On The Way To North Africa, the EP was a mixture of dark beats, insightful lyrics, street imagery, humour and political comment. The group quickly became known for their high energy performances and quickly became popular with audiences in the UK.
The crew became noticed by the diversity of the groups mc's with Malik providing thoughtful and clever wordplay, Cipher providing the eerie and dark soundtrack and culturally conscious / street impact and Jawar with humorous / street vibe.
Their next release was the 4 track single The Art of Survival / Silent Screams / Number 1 Sound / Status in 2001. The group had now evolved their music to include vivid cinematic soundscapes and continued the mix their subject matter switching from social commentary
to humour
with equal effect.
Their influence on the UK, Birmingham and Midlands hip hop scene has been the dark beats and deep, serious, street orientated subject matter. They also collaborated with a lot of local artists and emphasised their Birmingham heritage when doing shows around the country. They also have been involved in a lot of local youth projects around music and art which broadened their grass roots support and were instrumental in breaking several Birmingham based artists onto the national music scene.
The album that followed The Power & The Glory (2002) continued this theme further and was a great critical and sales success.
They have collaborated with other Midlands artists such as Shimm 1, Hoods Undeground, Yogi, Big V, Law, Baby J, Shade 1 who among other formed the collective called 'Underworld'. They have also collaborated with a number artists including: Judge Dredi, Seth Lakeman, Baby J, PJ, Yogi, Shade 1, Midlands Mafia, 25 to Life, Reggiimentalhttp://www.nme.com/awards/video/id/fQyxOC9wUiA, MSI Asylum, Shadowless Productions. Members of the group have now diverged into different areas with Cipher now producing for many different artists and Malik establishing a successful solo career collaborating with Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson and others.
They have performed alongside DMX, Africa Bambatta, Guru (Gang Star), Fabulous, Rodney P, 57th Dynasty, Out Da Ville, Mobb Deep, Estelle, DJ 279, Tim Westwood, Brother Ben, Immortal Technique, So Solid crew, MSI Asylum, Pentalk, Mike GLC, Skinny Man, De La Soul, Royalists, Chubby Kids, Lyric L, Shabbazz the Disple, Poetic, Freestyle, The Gravediggazz, The A Alikes, Fallacy, Blind Alphabets, Big Daddy Kane, Marley Marl, Jurassic Five, Roc 1, Tiny presents, Graf, BS5, C.O.V, Tubby T, The Villains, Bassman, haertless Crew, Benjamin Zepheniah, Nicky Blackmarket, Ras Kwame, DJ Semtex, Big P and Skeme, 57th Dynasty, amongst others.
They have been further subsequent releases including; Underworld Compilation (featured) and a further album entitled Life in the City (2006). Even though the group continue to record, it is their earlier work they most renowned for.
In March 2008, the group collaborated with folk musician Seth Lakeman
in a joint BBC
and Arts Council England
project. A programme named Made in England - Seth Lakeman, directed by Will Sergeant and broadcast on April 23, 2008 on BBC One
, followed Seth and Moorish Delta 7 for 48 hours as they produced two records called Find your Way and Climate Change, which they performed live at The Concrete Bar in the Jewellery Quarter
. The program which was made consequentley won best regional documentary at the National TV Society awards in November 2008. It also provided a background into the work of the two musical outfits.
EPs
Compilations
Videos
Their first music video, 'The Art of Survival', was one of the earliest MTV playlisted UK rap videos and set the tone for gritty, street related videos to come later.
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
/UK garage
UK garage
UK garage is a genre of electronic dance music originating from the United Kingdom in the early-1990s. UK garage is a descendant of house music which originated in Chicago and New York, United States. UK garage usually features a distinctive syncopated 4/4 percussive rhythm with 'shuffling'...
outfit from the Newtown
Newtown, Birmingham
Newtown is an inner city area of Birmingham, England, to the north of the city centre. It is located in the Aston council ward, in the council constituency of Ladywood. The housing in the area is made up of a number of tower blocks, maisonettes and terraced houses.Newtown is centred around the busy...
area of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The trio formed in 1995 and have sold over 50,000 records.
History
Moorish Delta 7 are one of the most influential hip hop groups from the UK. The group formed in 1995 as a growth of the then-large rap outfit Lyric Born Clique. Lyric Born Clique was an eight piece rap collective featuring among many 'Golden Child', 'DJ Kinstun', 'Shortnerve' and 'Rawality'. Originally Moorish Delta 7 had four members with Shortnerve leaving shortly after the first EP. Their first releaseRelease (music)
In the music industry, a release is usually a term referring to the creative output from an artist available for sale or distribution; a broad term covering the many different formats music can be released in, and different forms of pieces .The word can also refer to the event at which an album or...
as 'Moorish Delta 7' was an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
on Quartz Records (another Birmingham record label) called Taking Four Wicked Heads On The Way To North Africa, the EP was a mixture of dark beats, insightful lyrics, street imagery, humour and political comment. The group quickly became known for their high energy performances and quickly became popular with audiences in the UK.
The crew became noticed by the diversity of the groups mc's with Malik providing thoughtful and clever wordplay, Cipher providing the eerie and dark soundtrack and culturally conscious / street impact and Jawar with humorous / street vibe.
Their next release was the 4 track single The Art of Survival / Silent Screams / Number 1 Sound / Status in 2001. The group had now evolved their music to include vivid cinematic soundscapes and continued the mix their subject matter switching from social commentary
Social commentary
Social commentary is the act of rebelling against an individual, or a group of people by rhetorical means, or commentary on social issues or society...
to humour
Humour
Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement...
with equal effect.
Their influence on the UK, Birmingham and Midlands hip hop scene has been the dark beats and deep, serious, street orientated subject matter. They also collaborated with a lot of local artists and emphasised their Birmingham heritage when doing shows around the country. They also have been involved in a lot of local youth projects around music and art which broadened their grass roots support and were instrumental in breaking several Birmingham based artists onto the national music scene.
The album that followed The Power & The Glory (2002) continued this theme further and was a great critical and sales success.
They have collaborated with other Midlands artists such as Shimm 1, Hoods Undeground, Yogi, Big V, Law, Baby J, Shade 1 who among other formed the collective called 'Underworld'. They have also collaborated with a number artists including: Judge Dredi, Seth Lakeman, Baby J, PJ, Yogi, Shade 1, Midlands Mafia, 25 to Life, Reggiimentalhttp://www.nme.com/awards/video/id/fQyxOC9wUiA, MSI Asylum, Shadowless Productions. Members of the group have now diverged into different areas with Cipher now producing for many different artists and Malik establishing a successful solo career collaborating with Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson and others.
They have performed alongside DMX, Africa Bambatta, Guru (Gang Star), Fabulous, Rodney P, 57th Dynasty, Out Da Ville, Mobb Deep, Estelle, DJ 279, Tim Westwood, Brother Ben, Immortal Technique, So Solid crew, MSI Asylum, Pentalk, Mike GLC, Skinny Man, De La Soul, Royalists, Chubby Kids, Lyric L, Shabbazz the Disple, Poetic, Freestyle, The Gravediggazz, The A Alikes, Fallacy, Blind Alphabets, Big Daddy Kane, Marley Marl, Jurassic Five, Roc 1, Tiny presents, Graf, BS5, C.O.V, Tubby T, The Villains, Bassman, haertless Crew, Benjamin Zepheniah, Nicky Blackmarket, Ras Kwame, DJ Semtex, Big P and Skeme, 57th Dynasty, amongst others.
They have been further subsequent releases including; Underworld Compilation (featured) and a further album entitled Life in the City (2006). Even though the group continue to record, it is their earlier work they most renowned for.
In March 2008, the group collaborated with folk musician Seth Lakeman
Seth Lakeman
Seth Bernard Lakeman is an English folk singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, who is most often associated with the fiddle and tenor guitar, but has also mastered the viola and banjo...
in a joint BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and Arts Council England
Arts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
project. A programme named Made in England - Seth Lakeman, directed by Will Sergeant and broadcast on April 23, 2008 on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, followed Seth and Moorish Delta 7 for 48 hours as they produced two records called Find your Way and Climate Change, which they performed live at The Concrete Bar in the Jewellery Quarter
Jewellery Quarter
The Jewellery Quarter is an area of Birmingham City Centre, England, situated in the south of the Hockley area. It is covered by the Ladywood district. There is a population of around 3,000 people in a area....
. The program which was made consequentley won best regional documentary at the National TV Society awards in November 2008. It also provided a background into the work of the two musical outfits.
Discography
LPsLP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
- The Power & The Glory (2002)
- Life in the City (2006)
EPs
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
- Taking Four Wicked Heads On The Way To North Africa (1998)
Compilations
- The Experiment Vol. 1 (1998)
- Black Samurai Vol. 1 (1999)
- Black Samurai Vol. 2 (1999)
- UK Hip Hop Awards (Album) 2000
- Tim Westwood Compilation (Trust the DJ) 2000
- Underworld Compilation (2004)
Videos
Their first music video, 'The Art of Survival', was one of the earliest MTV playlisted UK rap videos and set the tone for gritty, street related videos to come later.
- 'Silent Screams' (2002)
- 'Death Before Dishonour' (2002)
- 'Don't Leave Me Lonely' (2003)
- 'The Rain' (2005)
- 'My Girl' (2006)
- 'Levels' (2006)
- 'Bootlegger' (2006)
- (Malik) 'So Real' (2007)
- (Malik) 'Blues Ground' (2007)