SL2
Encyclopedia
SL2 was the name of a hardcore
/rave
music
act in the early 1990s from London
, England
. They also recorde
d, remix
ed or produced
under the names Slipmatt & Lime and T.H.C.
/remixers Matt "Slipmatt" Nelson
& John "Lime" Fernandez, with MC Jason "Jay J" James providing vocals, and were accompanied by two female rave/breakbeat dancers, Jo Millett (Lime's girlfriend at the time, and who would later become a Jungle music
producer) and Kelly Overett (who would later go on to be a member of the Italian
eurodance
act Cappella
). The latter two appeared with Nelson, Fernandez & James in live shows and their videos
.
The SL2 name came from the initials of the founders of the group, Slipmatt (S) and Lime (L), because they were a duo
; hence "SL2". The duo were school friends together in Loughton, Essex, where they shared a mutual love of Hip-Hop and Reggae. Their first produced recording was in 1985, when they did a demo for a rap duo called Gino & Mickey. By 1988, the duo began going to raves, which is when they began their foray into their signature genre and the birth of the SL2 name. In 1989, Paul Nelson, Matt's brother, gave the group their first exposure by appearing at the Raindance Rave Festival
.
The duo released their first single
, "Do That Dance", in 1990. However, the label that signed the duo and released the single, B-Ware Records, cheated them out of royalties, so they were never paid. It was not until 1991 that they scored with their breakthrough track, "DJs Take Control" (which samples two tracks, "Dope on Plastic" by Uptown and "Let The Music Use You" by The Night Writers), which peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart
. It would be the single that would land them a deal with XL Recordings
that same year, with Fitzgerald, Overett and Millett joining the duo afterwards.
"DJs Take Control" would establish SL2 as also one of the most influential acts in the early days of the breakbeat hardcore
-movement by weaving sampling
s of dancehall
, Detroit
house, electro/techno
and drum and bass
. They also played a part in the early days of XL Recordings, and even though the act never released an album
during their tenure with the record label
, most of their tracks can be found on the XL Recordings Chapters
compilations
, as well as many others.
By 1992, SL2 had joined the many rave artists who would cross over to the UK
chart
, with a pair of hits
, "Way In My Brain" and "On A Ragga Tip". The latter was also their highest charting hit in their career, peaking at number 2 in the UK in April 1992. It was sampled
from a reggae
number from Jah Screechie entitled "Walk and Skank
" (which itself was based on Slim Smith
's "Never Let Go"). "Way In My Brain" (a reworking of Wayne Smith
's "Under Me Sleng Teng"), originally a B-Side
to "DJs Take Control" and listed together as a single during the former's chart run, recharted via a new remix, peaking at number 28 that summer.
By 1993 the act had broken up but would reform again in 1998 after "On A Ragga Tip" was re-released with new mixes. As of 2009 the duo has resumed producing and DJing, this time focusing on the Ravebreakz style sub-genre.
The song "On A Ragga Tip" was included as music on the video game FIFA Street
. It was also plagiarised for a Bollywood
song titled "Amma Dekh Tera Munda Bigda Jaye" in 1994 for the film Stuntman
.
Breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore is a derivative of the acid house and techno, of the late 1980s and early 1990s, that combines four-to-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats, and is associated with the UK rave scene.-The rave scene:...
/rave
Rave music
Rave music may either refer the late 1980s genre or any genre of electronic dance music that may be played at an electronic dance party such as a rave. Very rarely, the term is used to refer to less electronic related genres glam, powerpop, psychedelic rock and dub music parties...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
act in the early 1990s from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 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...
. They also recorde
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...
d, remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed or produced
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...
under the names Slipmatt & Lime and T.H.C.
Background
The act consisted of DJDisc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
/remixers Matt "Slipmatt" Nelson
Slipmatt
Slipmatt is an English happy hardcore producer and DJ based in Essex, England. He was one half of rave act SL2, who had a 1992 UK hit with "On A Ragga Tip".-History:...
& John "Lime" Fernandez, with MC Jason "Jay J" James providing vocals, and were accompanied by two female rave/breakbeat dancers, Jo Millett (Lime's girlfriend at the time, and who would later become a Jungle music
Oldschool jungle
Jungle is a genre of electronic music that incorporates influences from genres including breakbeat hardcore, and reggae/dub/dancehall. There is debate as to whether jungle is a separate genre from drum and bass as many use the terms interchangeably...
producer) and Kelly Overett (who would later go on to be a member of the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
eurodance
Eurodance
Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...
act Cappella
Cappella
Cappella was an Italian Eurodance act formed in 1987 by producer Gianfranco Bortolotti. The act went through a number of line-up changes over the years but was most successful in the early 1990s when it was fronted by British performers Kelly Overett and Rodney Bishop...
). The latter two appeared with Nelson, Fernandez & James in live shows and their videos
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
.
The SL2 name came from the initials of the founders of the group, Slipmatt (S) and Lime (L), because they were a 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...
; hence "SL2". The duo were school friends together in Loughton, Essex, where they shared a mutual love of Hip-Hop and Reggae. Their first produced recording was in 1985, when they did a demo for a rap duo called Gino & Mickey. By 1988, the duo began going to raves, which is when they began their foray into their signature genre and the birth of the SL2 name. In 1989, Paul Nelson, Matt's brother, gave the group their first exposure by appearing at the Raindance Rave Festival
Raindance (rave)
Raindance are British Rave event organisers. They were one of the best known rave names on the Rave scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s....
.
The duo released their first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Do That Dance", in 1990. However, the label that signed the duo and released the single, B-Ware Records, cheated them out of royalties, so they were never paid. It was not until 1991 that they scored with their breakthrough track, "DJs Take Control" (which samples two tracks, "Dope on Plastic" by Uptown and "Let The Music Use You" by The Night Writers), which peaked at number 11 on 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 ...
. It would be the single that would land them a deal with XL Recordings
XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records.Though only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL Recordings has worked with The Prodigy, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire...
that same year, with Fitzgerald, Overett and Millett joining the duo afterwards.
"DJs Take Control" would establish SL2 as also one of the most influential acts in the early days of the breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore is a derivative of the acid house and techno, of the late 1980s and early 1990s, that combines four-to-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats, and is associated with the UK rave scene.-The rave scene:...
-movement by weaving sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
s of dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
, Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
house, electro/techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
and drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
. They also played a part in the early days of XL Recordings, and even though the act never released an 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...
during their tenure with the 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,...
, most of their tracks can be found on the XL Recordings Chapters
XL Recordings Chapters
XL Recordings Chapters was a musical compilation series which between 1990 and 1995 showcased tracks from the XL Recordings record label. Also other notable Breakbeat Hardcore, House and Techno tracks, XL's output at the time, were featured from other labels.XL acts on the chapters series included...
compilations
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, as well as many others.
By 1992, SL2 had joined the many rave artists who would cross over to the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
, with a pair of hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, "Way In My Brain" and "On A Ragga Tip". The latter was also their highest charting hit in their career, peaking at number 2 in the UK in April 1992. It was sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
from a reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
number from Jah Screechie entitled "Walk and Skank
Skank (dance)
Skanking is a form of dancing practiced in the ska, ska punk, hardcore punk, reggae, and other music scenes.The dance style originated in the 1950s or 1960s at Jamaican dance halls, where ska music was played. British mods and skinheads of the 1960s adopted these types of dances and altered them...
" (which itself was based on Slim Smith
Slim Smith
Slim Smith was a ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. In their book Reggae: The Rough Guide , Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton described Smith as "the greatest vocalist to emerge in the rocksteady era".-Biography:Smith first came to prominence as a member of the Victors Youth Band, who were highly...
's "Never Let Go"). "Way In My Brain" (a reworking of Wayne Smith
Wayne Smith (musician)
Wayne Smith is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall musician.-Biography:His 1985 recording of " Sleng Teng", is generally regarded as the beginning of ragga style reggae. The rhythm was created on a Casio MT-40 and is based on the riff from Eddie Cochran's "Somethin' Else"...
's "Under Me Sleng Teng"), originally a B-Side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
to "DJs Take Control" and listed together as a single during the former's chart run, recharted via a new remix, peaking at number 28 that summer.
By 1993 the act had broken up but would reform again in 1998 after "On A Ragga Tip" was re-released with new mixes. As of 2009 the duo has resumed producing and DJing, this time focusing on the Ravebreakz style sub-genre.
The song "On A Ragga Tip" was included as music on the video game FIFA Street
FIFA Street
FIFA Street is a sports video game developed by Alex Shulmann and published by Electronic Arts. It is commentated by MC Harvey of the So Solid Crew....
. It was also plagiarised for a Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
song titled "Amma Dekh Tera Munda Bigda Jaye" in 1994 for the film Stuntman
Stuntman
A stuntman or stunt performer is someone who performs dangerous stunts.Stuntman may also refer to:*The Stunt Man, a 1980 film starring Peter O'Toole*Stuntman , a 2002 video game**Stuntman: Ignition, its sequel...
.
External links
- SL2's official FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page - SL2's MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page - Slipmatt's official homepage
- DJ Slipmatt at Fantazia.org
- DJ Slipmatt - Back To The Old Skool
- SL2 discography at e.discogs