Mantronix
Final Mantronix line-up (1991): (l-r)Jade Trini,Kurtis Mantronik,Bryce Wilson
Background information
Origin	New York City, U.S.
Genres	Hip-hop,electro-funk,house
Years active	1984–present
Labels	Sleeping Bag Records Capitol/EMI Records Virgin/EMI Records (Europe)
Members	Kurtis Mantronik
Past members	MC Tee (1984–88) Bryce "Luvah" Wilson (1990–91) D.J. D (1990) Jade Trini (1991)

Mantronix was an influential 1980ship hop andelectro funk music group from New York City. The band was formed byDJKurtis Mantronik (Kurtis el Khaleel) andrapperMC Tee (Touré Embden). The group is primarily remembered for its pioneering blend ofold school hip hop,electronic, andclub music. They underwent severalgenre and line-up changes during its seven-year existence between 1984 and 1991, and released five albums beginning with their 1985 debutThe Album.

Kurtis Mantronik (Kurtis el Khaleel), a Jamaican-Americanémigré, began experimenting withelectro music in the early 1980s, inspired by early electro tracks like "Riot in Lagos" (1980) byYellow Magic Orchestra'sRyuichi Sakamoto. In 1984, while working as the in-storeDJ for Downtown Records inManhattan, Kurtis Mantronik metMC Tee, a Haitian-born,Flatbush, Brooklyn-basedrapper (and regular record store customer).^[1][2] The duo soon made a demo, "Fresh Is The Word," and eventually signed with William Socolov'sSleeping Bag Records.^[3]

Mantronix's debut single, "Fresh Is the Word," was a club hit in 1985, reaching No. 16 onBillboard Magazine'sHot Dance Singles Sales chart, and was featured onThe Album which was released the same year.^[3]

Mantronix's efforts onThe Album and its effect on early hip hop and electronic music is perhaps best summed up by music critic Omar Willey's observation in 2000:

Featuring "Fresh Is the Word" and the new tracks "Bassline" and "Electro Mega-Mix," Mantronix defined the new sound ofelectro-funk.Mantronik used a polyrhythmic style, similar to West African log drumming, but instead of acoustic drums, the rhythm would be carried by the combination of electronic drums, synthesizer, vocoder and/or synthesized voice over a bass line completely played on the synth. No samples ofJames Brown here. This was truly electronic music: spare, funky and immensely danceable, an homage and simultaneous extension of old-school hip hop's electronic template that had started with "Planet Rock" in 1982. The feeling ofAfrika Bambaataa,Grandmaster Flash,Kraftwerk andNeu all combined in Mantronik's music. It was a neat tie between old-school andnew jack, and Mantronix had the field to themselves.^[4]

The influence ofThe Album is seen among otherartists through thesampling of "Needle to the Groove" byBeck in the single "Where It's At" from the 1996 album,Odelay ("we've got two turntables and a microphone..."), as well as, "Fresh Is The Word" by theBeastie Boys in the single "Jimmy James" from the 1992 album,Check Your Head ("for all the Blacks, Puerto Ricans, and the White people too...") The Beastie Boys later sampled "Bassline" for the song "3 the Hard Way" on their 2004 albumTo the 5 Boroughs.^{[citation needed]}

Mantronix's second album,Music Madness, was released in 1986.^[3] While MC Tee'srhyming style on the album continued in the traditionalb-boy fashion of the times, Mantronik's club-oriented production and mixing inMusic Madness tended to attract moreelectronic dance music and electro funk aficionados than hardcore hip-hop fans.^[5] During this period, while Mantronix was signed to Sleeping Bag Records, Mantronik was employed by the label in theirA&R Department,^[3] while also producing other artists and groups, includingJust-Ice,T La Rock,Nocera, andJoyce Sims.

Mantronix signed withCapitol Records in 1987, in what was one of the first 7-figure deals for a hip-hop group, and releasedIn Full Effect in 1988,^[3] which, according to the liner notes, was the first album to bemastered fromDAT instead of reel-to-reel tape. The album continued in and expanded on the hip-hop/electro funk/dance music vein of its predecessor, eventually reaching No. 18 on theTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, Mantronix's highest showing for an album.^[6]In Full Effect marked the last Mantronix album with rapperMC Tee, who left the group to enlist in theUnited States Air Force.

Mantronix's 1988 track "King of the Beats" was one of the first songs to sample theAmen break.

Following the departure of MC Tee, rapperBryce "Luvah" Wilson and Mantronik's cousin, D.J. D., joined the group.^[3] Mantronik met Wilson, a fellow Sleeping Bag Records label mate, while doing production work for Wilson's aborted solo project.^[7]

The album spawned two top-10 hits on theBritish singles chart, "Got to Have Your Love" at No. 4, and "Take Your Time (featuring vocalistWondress)" at No. 10. In the United States, the album reached No. 61 on theTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.^[8]

In a 1991 interview, Kurtis Mantronik commented on the commercial success of "Got to Have Your Love":

When I did "Got To Have Your Love", I did it for a reason. I did it because I wanted to get a song on the radio.^[7]

Mantronix's final release, with vocalistJade Trini replacing D.J. D, wasThe Incredible Sound Machine in 1991.^[9]Grammy Award-nominatedneo soul singer/songwriterAngie Stone co-wrote seven of the eleven tracks that appeared onThe Incredible Sound Machine.The Incredible Sound Machine, which tended to favorR&B,new jack swing, anddance music over hip hop, was considered both a critical and commercial disappointment.^[9]

Shortly after a European tour and promotion related to the release ofThe Incredible Sound Machine, the group disbanded, and Mantronik left the music industry altogether for seven years.^[1]

Kurtis Mantronik resurfaced in Europe in the late 1990s, producinghouse- andtechno-music artists, and remains active in pop-orientedelectronic music.^[1]

Kurtis Mantronik reformed Mantronix in 2023.^[10][11] He produced and jointly released three hip-hop songs that featured New York hip hop rapper Bruse Wane. The songs "Money Talks",^[12] "Era of the AI",^[13] and "When the Doves Fly"^[14] were jointly released by Mantronik under his Mantronix Classics Label; and Bruse Wane's Wane Enterprises Label. Mantronik produced directed and edited three music videos for all three songs. They appeared on his Mantronix official YouTube channel. He also began doing production work for Bronx rapperJust-Ice.

• "Mantronix".Music Technology. Vol. 1, no. 6. April 1987. p. 67.ISSN 0957-6606.OCLC 24835173.

• Mantronix at soulmovement.nl
• AllMusic.com Biography – Mantronix
• Discogs Profile – Mantronix
• Angie Stone 2016 Interview at Soulinterviews.com

• 1984 establishments in New York City
• 1991 disestablishments in New York (state)
• Electronic music groups from New York (state)
• American hip-hop groups
• American electronic music duos
• Musical groups established in 1984
• Musical groups disestablished in 1991
• Musicians from New York City
• American electro musicians
• Capitol Records artists
• Sleeping Bag Records artists
• Virgin Records artists

• CS1 Italian-language sources (it)
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• Short description matches Wikidata
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