DJ Vadim
Encyclopedia
DJ Vadim is a prolific DJ
and producer
, born in Leningrad
, USSR (now Saint Petersburg
, Russia
), raised in London
and currently residing in both New York
and Berlin
, whose music combines hip hop
, soul
, reggae
and electronica
. He has been described as "one of the few artists creating genuinely new work in the Hip-Hop field" and an artist who "cannot be ignored".
, Jazz Fudge, but signed to Ninja Tune
the following year, before his current label BBE
, in 2007. Aside from DJ-ing and producing
, he has also worked as in A&R
and promotion, as well as a radio presenter on the BBC
's "Around The World In Eight Relays" programme.
Throughout his career he has worked with a variety of musicians, singers and groups, including DJ Krush
, Stevie Wonder
, The Roots
, Prince
, Public Enemy, Dilated Peoples
, Kraftwerk
, Sly and the family stone, Fat Freddys Drop, Super Furry Animals
, and Paul Weller. He is also known for having worked with a number of unsigned artists who later went on to find commercial success.
In addition to his regular album releases, he has also recorded under the names "Andre Gurov" and "Little Aida" and has appeared as a member of the various artists project The Isolationist. He is also the DJ and producer
for Spanish
hip hop group 7 Notas 7 Colores
, and, in 2001, was nominated alongside them at the Latin Grammy Awards
.
His album, USSR: Life From The Other Side featured Scratch Perverts
, Iriscience (from Dilated Peoples
), Blade
and Yarah Bravo. To promote the record, Vadim put together a live group - The Russian Percussion - consisting of Mr Thing
(turntables), Killa Kela
(beat box), Blu Rum 13 (MC), John Ellis
(keyboards). The tour consisted of 200 live shows taking in twenty four countries throughout Europe
and North America
.
His central project for 2005-6 was DJ-ing for the hip-hop group One Self, with MCs
Yarah Bravo and Blu Rum 13. The first One Self album, Children of Possibility was released on September 20, 2005.
He has made many remixes from The Cure
, Erykah Badu
, Alice Russell
, Paul Weller
, Prince
, CL Smooth
,
On average he performs 170-180 shows a year and has played in over 63 countries.
Disc 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...
and producer
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...
, born in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
, USSR (now Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
), raised in 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...
and currently residing in both New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, whose music combines hip hop
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...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, 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...
and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
. He has been described as "one of the few artists creating genuinely new work in the Hip-Hop field" and an artist who "cannot be ignored".
Career
In 1994, Vadim founded his own independent record labelIndependent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
, Jazz Fudge, but signed to Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune is a London-based independent record label started by DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More, better known as Coldcut and managed by Peter Quicke. The label has a strong leaning towards mostly Electronic Music...
the following year, before his current label BBE
Barely Breaking Even
Barely Breaking Even is a British record label started by two DJs, Peter Adarkwah and Ben Jolly. The name BBE comes from The Universal Robot Band's 1982 track `Barely Breaking Even'. It has two sublabels: Deep Funk, and Urban Theory...
, in 2007. Aside from DJ-ing and producing
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...
, he has also worked as in A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
and promotion, as well as a radio presenter on the 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...
's "Around The World In Eight Relays" programme.
Throughout his career he has worked with a variety of musicians, singers and groups, including DJ Krush
DJ Krush
, better known as DJ Krush, is a producer and DJ. He is known for his atmospheric instrumental production which incorporates sound elements from nature and extensive use of jazz and soul samples.-Biography:...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, Public Enemy, Dilated Peoples
Dilated Peoples
Dilated Peoples is an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. The group achieved notability in the underground hip hop community, although they have had little mainstream success in the US, with the exception of the song "This Way," a 2004 collaboration with Kanye West and Xzibit...
, Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, Sly and the family stone, Fat Freddys Drop, Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...
, and Paul Weller. He is also known for having worked with a number of unsigned artists who later went on to find commercial success.
In addition to his regular album releases, he has also recorded under the names "Andre Gurov" and "Little Aida" and has appeared as a member of the various artists project The Isolationist. He is also the DJ and producer
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...
for Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
hip hop group 7 Notas 7 Colores
7 Notas 7 Colores
7 Notas 7 Colores was a Spanish hip-hop group of the 90's hailing from Barcelona.-Biography:7 Notas 7 Colores emerged in Barcelona in 1993, when there were few rap groups in Spain...
, and, in 2001, was nominated alongside them at the Latin Grammy Awards
Latin Grammy Awards
A Latin Grammy Award is an accolade by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. Unlike the regular Grammy Award which primarily honors music produced in the United States, the Latin Grammy honors works produced anywhere around the...
.
His album, USSR: Life From The Other Side featured Scratch Perverts
Scratch Perverts
The Scratch Perverts are a collective of turntablist DJs from London, formed in 1996 by Tony Vegas, Prime Cuts and DJ Renegade.-Biography:The Scratch Perverts originally consisted of 4 members; Tony Vegas, Renegade, First Rate and Mr Thing. The Scratch Perverts later expanded to an 8-member...
, Iriscience (from Dilated Peoples
Dilated Peoples
Dilated Peoples is an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. The group achieved notability in the underground hip hop community, although they have had little mainstream success in the US, with the exception of the song "This Way," a 2004 collaboration with Kanye West and Xzibit...
), Blade
Blade (rapper)
Blade is a British rapper, born in the Armenian quarter of Iran and came to London when he was 7. His first single, Lyrical Maniac recorded in 1989, soon brought Blade to prominence in the fledgling British hip hop scene....
and Yarah Bravo. To promote the record, Vadim put together a live group - The Russian Percussion - consisting of Mr Thing
Mr Thing
Mr 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...
(turntables), Killa Kela
Killa Kela
Killa Kela is an English beatboxer from West Sussex.-Biography:Kela began beatboxing in his teens with the 360 Physicals crew. He was discovered by DJ Vadim when he sent a tape of his beatboxing to Vadim's now defunct label Jazz Fudge...
(beat box), Blu Rum 13 (MC), John Ellis
John Ellis
-Politics:* Sir John Ellis, 1st Baronet , British Member of Parliament for Mid Surrey 1884–1885, Kingston 1885–1892* John Ellis , Irish Fianna Fáil politician...
(keyboards). The tour consisted of 200 live shows taking in twenty four countries throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
His central project for 2005-6 was DJ-ing for the hip-hop group One Self, with MCs
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
Yarah Bravo and Blu Rum 13. The first One Self album, Children of Possibility was released on September 20, 2005.
He has made many remixes from The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
, Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical...
, Alice Russell
Alice Russell (singer)
Alice Russell is a British soul singer. She was born in 1975, the daughter of an organist, and grew up in Framlingham in Suffolk. At the age of nine, following in her father and sisters' musical footsteps, Alice began taking lessons on Cello, and sang in choirs, before studying art and music in...
, Paul Weller
Paul Weller
Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam , Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council...
, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, CL Smooth
CL Smooth
CL Smooth is an American rapper, poet, and is best known as the vocal half of the hip-hop duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth....
,
On average he performs 170-180 shows a year and has played in over 63 countries.
Style
DJ Vadim composes both music for MCs, singers and poets and soulful instrumental hip-hop beats. In both cases, certain stylistic trends emerge;- Dominating rhythmic percussion, heavy use of drum programming which are sometimes broken or stuttering, heavy bass and synthesizer use.
- Organic, soulful touches often using studio musicians, with undertones of roots reggae and ragga and driving, hip-hop drum orchestration.
- Original sounding compositions, arrangements that fuse many genres from hip-hop and electronica to soul and reggae.
- Heavy use of ethnic sounds, including Asian, South American and African.
DJ Vadim
- "Abstract Hallucinating Gases" EP (Jazz Fudge, April 1995)
- "Headz Ain't Ready" EP (Jazz Fudge, June 1995)
- "Non lateral hypothesis" 12” (Ninja Tune, February 1996)
- "Aural Prostitution" 12” (Ninja Tune, August 1996) feat. Lewis Parker, Delirious, Mark B, Acyde and Sli Poetry.
- "Heterogeneous/Nocturnal Thought Tracks" - Recorded for the various artists compilation Organised Sound (Jazz Fudge, September 1996)
- USSR Repertoire LP (Ninja Tune, September 1996)
- "Conquest of the irrational" 12” (Ninja Tune, May 1997) feat. Jupiter Jam.
- DJ Vadim presents Sculpture and Broken Sound LP (P-vine Japan, 1997)
- USSR Reconstruction Remix LP (Ninja Tune, February 1998)
- Architects of the Great Mix Tape (Jazz Fudge, February 1998) with DJ Primecuts.
- As featured on the front cover CD of the February 1998 issue of DJ Magazine.
- Anti Pop Consortium (With DJ Primecuts)
- "Friction" 12” (Ninja Tune, April 1999) feat. Iriscience, Task Force, DJ Primecuts and Mr Thing.
- "It's Obvious" 12” (Ninja Tune, August 1999) feat. Blu Rum 13, Swollen Members and Mark B.
- USSR; Life From the Other Side LP (Ninja Tune, September 1999)
- USSR; Instrumental To Life LP (Ninja Tune, November 1999)
- "Your Revolution/The Higher Standard" 12” (Ninja Tune, September 2000) feat. Sarah Jones, Mr Lif, Esoteric and Virtuoso
- "Leaches/Up To Jah" 7” (Ninja Tune, May 2002) feat. Demolition Man.
- "Combustible/Ghetto Rebels/Dimelo es el Verbo" 12” (Ninja Tune, June 2002) feat. Gift of the Gab, Phi-Life Cypher (UK 12” only) and Mucho Mu (US 12” only).
- "It's On/Up To Jah" 12” (Ninja Tune, August 2002) feat. Vakill and Demolition Man.
- USSR: The Art of Listening LP (Ninja Tune, September 2002)
- USSR: The Art of Instrumentals LP (Ninja Tune, November 2002)
- "Bang 2K" EP (Ninja Tune, December 2002) feat. Skinny Man, Curse and Out da Ville.
- "Edie Brickell/Cum Shots" 12” (Ninja Tune, May 2003) feat. Slug and Yarah Bravo.
- "Till Sun's In Your Eyes/Headline News" 12” (Ninja Tune, September 2003) feat. Motion Man, Adad and DJ Woody.
- The Forgotten Women/Stereo Pictures Mix CD (MK2, October 2003)
- Lettuce Propelled Rockets Mix CD (JFM, January 2005) feat. DJ Woody.
- "Explode" 12” (JFM 2005) feat. Demolition Man.
- "Like The Wind/Boom Sumting" 12” (BBE, March 2007)
- Sound Catcher LP (BBE, April 2007)
- Live In Brooklyn Mix CD (Mothergrain, May 2007)
- "Got To Rock/Black Is The Night" 12” (BBE, October 2007)
- "Talk To Me/Like The Wind" 12” (BBE, April 2008)
- "Hidden Treasure/Saturday/Soldier" 12”/Digital download (BBE, April 2009)
- U Can't Lurn Imaginashun LP (BBE, May 2009)
Andre Gurov
- "Revelations of Wrath" EP (Jazz Fudge, February 1997) feat. Jupiter Jam and JAE.
- "A New Rap Language" EP (Jazz Fudge, September 1997) feat. Jupiter Jam.
The Isolationist
"Hydrogen Slush" 12” (Jazz Fudge, October 1998)- The Isolationist LP (Jazz Fudge, March 1999)
One Self
- "Be Your Own" w/Amp Fiddler remix 12” and Ltd Edition (Ninja Tune, April 2005)
- "The Blue Bird"/Fear The Labour" 12” (Ninja Tune, May 2005)
- Children Of Possibility LP (Ninja Tune, June 2005) with Yarah Bravo and Blu Rum 13.
- Children Of Instrumental’s LP (Ninja Tune, August 2005)
- "Paranoid/Over Expose/Come Along" 12” (Ninja Tune, September 2005)
- "Organically Grown" EP (November 2006)