DJ Format
Encyclopedia
Matt Ford, better known as DJ Format (a near-inversion of his birth name), is a hip hop
DJ born in Southampton
, England
who lives in Brighton
. He collaborates frequently with Abdominal
on the album Music For the Mature B-Boy
and with Abdominal and fellow Canadian rapper D-Sisive
on the second full album If You Can't Join 'Em… Beat 'Em
, as well as with Akil and Chali 2na
from Jurassic 5
.
and Main Source
. He established a relationship with Jurassic 5 and initially traveled with them as their bus driver. He came to national attention in 2002 when he opened on tour for DJ Shadow
. In 2005, If You Can't Join 'Em… Beat 'Em reached the top 10 of the UK indie albums chart.
The Sun
named his album If You Can't Join 'Em… Beat 'Em one of the top 100 of 2005, and in 2008 called him "one of the leading lights in the UK scene".
DJ Format's debut album “Music For The Mature B-Boy” was one of the slowburn success stories of 2003. Received with quiet acclaim in the press it quickly became a word of mouth triumph, going on to establish itself as one of the most successful debut artist albums from the UK alternative/urban scene. The campaign was successful for a number of reasons not least it’s supporting batch of three incredible music video’s all directed by the then unknown Ruben Fleischer. The most famous of these will undoubtedly be the rap and breakdancing costumed animals of ‘We Know Something You Don’t Know’ featuring the vocals of Chali 2na and Akil of Jurassic 5 - played out by a shark and tiger respectively on the big screen it is an unforgettable piece of feel good hip hop. “Music For The...” also led to Format supporting (alongside regular collaborator MC Abdominal) Jurassic 5 on their European tour, and through subsequent touring in 2003 establishing Format as one of the hottest live hip hop tickets in town culminating in triumphant appearances at Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds festivals and worldwide touring taking in the whole of Europe, North America and Australia.
2005's follow up album “If You Can't Join ‘Em… Beat ‘Em" saw Format step up a gear, tightening the loops still further for a tougher sound.
A heavy schedule of acclaimed shows followed the release throughout 2005/06.
In 2006 Format was asked to contribute to the successful Fabric DJ mix series. Format's "fabriclive 27" was one of the most well received of the series. His DJ sets are renowned for their boundary-crossing selection of the funk, soul, rock & hip-hop and his fabric mix showed of a condensed version of the party set that he's built a solid reputation on. This was followed up by his own underground mix of obscure Eastern European beats, the now highly collectable 'European Vacation' CD. 2008 saw Format deliver another mix album, this time for the legendary Fania label, applying his signature b-boy style to the world's foremost catalogue of latin music. Alongside this, Format's discreetly released 12" tribute to James Brown 'Stealin' James', has been a huge success both with DJ's and dancefloors alike. DJ Format is currently hard at work on his third album.
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
DJ born in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, 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...
who lives in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
. He collaborates frequently with Abdominal
Abdominal (rapper)
- Biography :He grew up in Toronto and attended Northern Secondary School in the late 80s and early 90s, gaining a reputation there for his cartoons and graphic design work. Using the name Abdominal, he formed his first rap crew with DJ Serious and Scott C. called Rushholme and they started...
on the album Music For the Mature B-Boy
Music for the Mature B-Boy
-Track listing:# "Intro# "Ill Culinary Behaviour" # "We Know Something You Don't Know" # "Last Bongo In Brighton "# "The Hit Song" # "Here Comes The Fuzz"...
and with Abdominal and fellow Canadian rapper D-Sisive
D-Sisive
D-Sisive is the stage name of Derek Christoff, a prolific Canadian rapper, best known for his Juno Award-nominated EP The Book, his hit single "Nobody With A Notepad" and his 2009 Polaris Music Prize-nominated album Let the Children Die D-Sisive is the stage name of Derek Christoff, a prolific...
on the second full album If You Can't Join 'Em… Beat 'Em
If You Can't Join 'Em… Beat 'Em
-Track listing:# "Intro"# "3 Feet Deep" # "Participation Prerequisite" # "Another One of Those Songs" # "The Turning Point"# "Ugly Brothers"...
, as well as with Akil and Chali 2na
Chali 2na
Charles Stewart , better known as Chali 2na is an American rapper and hip hop artist, formerly associated with the groups Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli.-Early life:...
from Jurassic 5
Jurassic 5
Jurassic 5 was an American alternative hip hop group formed in 1993 from members of two previous groups, Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee by rappers Charles Stewart , Dante Givens , Courtenay Henderson , Marc Stuart , and disc jockeys Mark Potsic and Lucas Macfadden...
.
Career
As a youth, Ford's first hip hop influences included A Tribe Called QuestA Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...
and Main Source
Main Source
Main Source was an innovative, acclaimed Toronto and New York-based hip hop group comprising Toronto natives Sir Scratch, K-Cut, and Queens native Large Professor...
. He established a relationship with Jurassic 5 and initially traveled with them as their bus driver. He came to national attention in 2002 when he opened on tour for DJ Shadow
DJ Shadow
Joshua Paul Davis better known as DJ Shadow is an American music producer, DJ and songwriter. He is considered a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip hop and first gained notice with the release of his highly acclaimed debut album Endtroducing....., which was constructed...
. In 2005, If You Can't Join 'Em… Beat 'Em reached the top 10 of the UK indie albums chart.
The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
named his album If You Can't Join 'Em… Beat 'Em one of the top 100 of 2005, and in 2008 called him "one of the leading lights in the UK scene".
DJ Format's debut album “Music For The Mature B-Boy” was one of the slowburn success stories of 2003. Received with quiet acclaim in the press it quickly became a word of mouth triumph, going on to establish itself as one of the most successful debut artist albums from the UK alternative/urban scene. The campaign was successful for a number of reasons not least it’s supporting batch of three incredible music video’s all directed by the then unknown Ruben Fleischer. The most famous of these will undoubtedly be the rap and breakdancing costumed animals of ‘We Know Something You Don’t Know’ featuring the vocals of Chali 2na and Akil of Jurassic 5 - played out by a shark and tiger respectively on the big screen it is an unforgettable piece of feel good hip hop. “Music For The...” also led to Format supporting (alongside regular collaborator MC Abdominal) Jurassic 5 on their European tour, and through subsequent touring in 2003 establishing Format as one of the hottest live hip hop tickets in town culminating in triumphant appearances at Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds festivals and worldwide touring taking in the whole of Europe, North America and Australia.
2005's follow up album “If You Can't Join ‘Em… Beat ‘Em" saw Format step up a gear, tightening the loops still further for a tougher sound.
A heavy schedule of acclaimed shows followed the release throughout 2005/06.
In 2006 Format was asked to contribute to the successful Fabric DJ mix series. Format's "fabriclive 27" was one of the most well received of the series. His DJ sets are renowned for their boundary-crossing selection of the funk, soul, rock & hip-hop and his fabric mix showed of a condensed version of the party set that he's built a solid reputation on. This was followed up by his own underground mix of obscure Eastern European beats, the now highly collectable 'European Vacation' CD. 2008 saw Format deliver another mix album, this time for the legendary Fania label, applying his signature b-boy style to the world's foremost catalogue of latin music. Alongside this, Format's discreetly released 12" tribute to James Brown 'Stealin' James', has been a huge success both with DJ's and dancefloors alike. DJ Format is currently hard at work on his third album.
Albums
- Music for the Mature B-BoyMusic for the Mature B-Boy-Track listing:# "Intro# "Ill Culinary Behaviour" # "We Know Something You Don't Know" # "Last Bongo In Brighton "# "The Hit Song" # "Here Comes The Fuzz"...
(2003) - If You Can't Join 'Em… Beat 'EmIf You Can't Join 'Em… Beat 'Em-Track listing:# "Intro"# "3 Feet Deep" # "Participation Prerequisite" # "Another One of Those Songs" # "The Turning Point"# "Ugly Brothers"...
(2005) - UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#73
Mixes
- A Right Earful Vol. 1 (2005)
- FabricLive.27 (April 2006)
- European Vacation (2006)
- Fania DJ Series - DJ Format (June 2007)
- Stealin' James (2008)
- Holy Shit with Mr ThingMr ThingMr Thing is a British hip hop producer. He is a former member of the Scratch Perverts. He has worked with such artists as Yungun, Doc Brown and Devise...
(2008) - Kings of Rock (2009)
- The Simonsound - Have You Heard... (2009)
Singles
- "We Know Something You Don't Know" With Akil and Chali 2naChali 2naCharles Stewart , better known as Chali 2na is an American rapper and hip hop artist, formerly associated with the groups Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli.-Early life:...
from Jurassic 5Jurassic 5Jurassic 5 was an American alternative hip hop group formed in 1993 from members of two previous groups, Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee by rappers Charles Stewart , Dante Givens , Courtenay Henderson , Marc Stuart , and disc jockeys Mark Potsic and Lucas Macfadden...
(2003) - UKUK Singles ChartThe 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 ...
#73 - "The Hit Song" (Feat. AbdominalAbdominal (rapper)- Biography :He grew up in Toronto and attended Northern Secondary School in the late 80s and early 90s, gaining a reputation there for his cartoons and graphic design work. Using the name Abdominal, he formed his first rap crew with DJ Serious and Scott C. called Rushholme and they started...
) (2003) - "Vicious Battle Raps" (Feat. Abdominal) (2003)
- "Rap Machine" (2005) (Feat. Abdominal)
- "3-Feet Deep" (2005) (Feat. Abdominal & D-SisiveD-SisiveD-Sisive is the stage name of Derek Christoff, a prolific Canadian rapper, best known for his Juno Award-nominated EP The Book, his hit single "Nobody With A Notepad" and his 2009 Polaris Music Prize-nominated album Let the Children Die D-Sisive is the stage name of Derek Christoff, a prolific...
) - "Separated at Birth" (2005) (Feat. Abdominal & D-Sisive)
- "Mr. D.J." (2011) (Feat. Sureshot La Rock)
External links
- Official website
- Interview with ilikemusic.com
- Official Facebook Page
- DJ Format on Twitter
- DJ Format's Youtube channel