Beats and Breaks by The 45 KingBeats and Breaks by The 45 King

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Beats and Breaks by The 45 King

He produced Eminem's 'Stan,' Jay-Z's 'Hard Knock Life,' Queen Latifah's 'Ladies First,' the iconic ‘The 900 Number,’ and was allegedly uncredited for old school hits by Fab Five Freddy and X-Clan. As his Tuff City debut in 1988 implies, DJ Mark the 45 King is a real “Master of the Game.”

By

Tracklib

·

June 30, 2022

The horn-heavy classic “The 900 Number” is The 45 King’s best-known track, later sampled by the likes of Public Enemy, DJ Kool, King Tech, among others. Plus notoriously adopted by Ed Lover for his Ed Lover Dance in Yo! MTV Raps. In a 2015 interview with Red Bull Music Academy, Aaron Fuchs of Tuff City Records reveals “Beat Suite” was the precursor to “The 900 Number,” before he handed a copy of Marva Whitney’s “Unwind Yourself” 45. “It started out as something called 'Beat Suite,' he told Rob ‘Unkut’ Ettelson, “the fourth movement of a four-beat concerto, and slowly but surely a couple of versions later it became ‘The 900 Number.’” The outcome of what became the Beat Suite, is the B-side to The 45 King’s The King Is Here 12”, consisting of “Club Trax,” “Keep The Rhythm,” and “The 900 Number.”

The immense success of "The 900 Number" landed The 45 King a production deal and long-term contract. Besides crafting a wide array of beats and hip-hop breaks on vinyl series like The Lost BreakbeatsBreak Mania, and Straight Out Da Crate, he also kept repping his crew The Flavor Unit:

The Flavor Unit

the 45 king flavor unit

The Flavor Unit consisted of emcees centered around The 45 King. Latee, Lakim Shabazz, Chill Rob G, Double J, Apache, and Lord Alibaski all belonged to the original line-up of The Flavor Unit.

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