The X-Ecutioners
Encyclopedia
The X-Ecutioners is a group of hip hop
DJs / turntablist
s from New York
.
's crew of DJs, known as the Supermen, and partly after the Marvel Comics
characters, but had to change their name due to trademark
infringement.
After the group's name changed, the crew was later reduced to members Rob Swift
, Roc Raida
, Total Eclipse, and Mista Sinista (named after the Marvel Comics' Mister Sinister
) before releasing their debut album X-Pressions. Sinista later left the group shortly after the release of Built from Scratch
, and Rob Swift left the group for personal and artistic reasons in 2005.
In the wake of Swift's departure, The X-Ecutioners have been scarcely heard of; however, the latest word is that the group has two new members, DJ Boogie Blind and DJ Precision.
The X-Ecutioners have worked with many famous artists on their albums Built From Scratch and Revolutions and are highly respected in hip hop for their turntable skills, being infamous for the technique known as beat juggling
. They have been known to do numerous collaborations, ranging from Kool G Rap
to Cypress Hill
, Mike Shinoda
and co-released an album with Mike Patton
called General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners
. The X-Ecutioners contributed to a remix of Run-DMC's "King of Rock
" on the Harmonix game Amplitude
, and the DJ group's song "Like This" was featured in the video game SSX 3
. Their Music And Themselves Also Featured In The Game NFL Street
.
As of 2007, Rob Swift, Total Eclipse and Precision have formed a new group called Ill Insanity. Their latest release, "Ground Xero" contains 14 tracks featuring the likes of DJ QBert, DJ Excess, and Grand Master Roc Raida.
Ill Insanity has posted a blog on their Myspace regarding a reunion tour in Australia in October, 2008. The group commented in their blog
"Undeniably one of the greatest turntablist crews of all time, New Yorks legends The X-Ecutioners are reuniting exclusively to tour Australia for the very first time. The supremely talented turntablists, Grand Master Roc Raida, Rob Swift, Boogie Blind, Total Eclipse and Precision have exclusively come together for this tour and across 10 turntables will leave you speechless with their unbelievable turntable skills of cutting, mixing, scratching and beat juggling."
The group has already announced the tour dates on both the X-Ecutioners' and Ill Insanity's Myspace Reunion Tour Blog.
In a recent interview with E.Zee Radio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/E-ZEERADIO/2009/09/27/E-ZEE-RADIO-SHOW.mp3?localembed=download), Mista Sinista says the current X-Men are Rob Swift, Mista Sinista, Total Eclipse, Boogie Blind, Steve D, Sean C, Johnny Cash, Diamond J, Exotic E + Roc Raida who will always be there.
Roc Raida died on Sept. 19th, 2009 from complications from a mixed martial arts accident.
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
DJs / turntablist
Turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
s from 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...
.
History
Formed as a DJ crew in the early nineties and originally including 11 members, under the name X-Men, which was chosen partly because of their rivalry between Super DJ Clark KentClark Kent (producer)
Clark Kent is a hip hop DJ, record producer and music executive of Panamanian descent . His crew of DJs is called "The Supermen", and his DJ moniker is derived from the name of Superman's alter ego....
's crew of DJs, known as the Supermen, and partly after the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
characters, but had to change their name due to trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
infringement.
After the group's name changed, the crew was later reduced to members Rob Swift
Rob Swift
Rob Swift is an American hip hop DJ and turntablist. Swift is a former member of the turntablist group The X-Ecutioners as of late 2005 and as of 2006; with Mike Patton’s project Peeping Tom.-Early life:...
, Roc Raida
Roc Raida
Anthony Williams , better known as Roc Raida or Grandmaster Roc Raida, was an American DJ, turntablist and producer. He was also a member of the legendary DJ group, The X-Ecutioners....
, Total Eclipse, and Mista Sinista (named after the Marvel Comics' Mister Sinister
Mister Sinister
Mister Sinister is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #221 and was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Marc Silvestri....
) before releasing their debut album X-Pressions. Sinista later left the group shortly after the release of Built from Scratch
Built from Scratch
Built from Scratch is a 2002 album by DJ group The X-Ecutioners. It had one hit single, "It's Goin' Down," which was written, produced, and performed by Linkin Park members Mike Shinoda and Mr. Hahn...
, and Rob Swift left the group for personal and artistic reasons in 2005.
In the wake of Swift's departure, The X-Ecutioners have been scarcely heard of; however, the latest word is that the group has two new members, DJ Boogie Blind and DJ Precision.
The X-Ecutioners have worked with many famous artists on their albums Built From Scratch and Revolutions and are highly respected in hip hop for their turntable skills, being infamous for the technique known as beat juggling
Beat juggling
Beat juggling is the act of manipulating two or more samples , in order to create a unique composition, using multiple turntables and one or more mixers. This can involve pauses, scratching, backspins and delays...
. They have been known to do numerous collaborations, ranging from Kool G Rap
Kool G Rap
Nathaniel Thomas Wilson , better known by his stage names Kool G Rap , Kool G. Rap, and Giancana , is an American rapper, from the Corona neighborhood of Queens, New York. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Crew...
to Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
, Mike Shinoda
Mike Shinoda
Michael "Mike" Kenji Shinoda is an American musician, record producer, and artist. He is best known as the rapper, principal songwriter, keyboardist, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Linkin Park, along with his co-frontman and lead singer Chester Bennington, and as a solo rapper in...
and co-released an album with Mike Patton
Mike Patton
Michael Allan "Mike" Patton is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor, best known as the lead singer of the metal/experimental rock band Faith No More. He has also sung for Mr...
called General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners
General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners
General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners is a collaboration album released by Mike Patton and New York City hip-hop trio The X-Ecutioners. The album is themed around a war between the two vastly different musical styles. The album contains various samples from uncredited films.-Track listing:# "X-Men...
. The X-Ecutioners contributed to a remix of Run-DMC's "King of Rock
King of Rock
King of Rock is the second album by hip hop trio Run–D.M.C.. Produced in 1985, the album sees the group adopting a more rock-influenced sound, with several tracks prominently featuring heavy guitar riffs....
" on the Harmonix game Amplitude
Amplitude (game)
Amplitude is a 2003 PlayStation 2 musical video game. It was developed by Harmonix and is the sequel to the game Frequency.-Gameplay:In Amplitude, the player controls a ship moving down a path of varying shapes and lengths, containing up to six tracks...
, and the DJ group's song "Like This" was featured in the video game SSX 3
SSX 3
SSX 3 is a snowboarding extreme racing game published by Electronic Arts and developed by EA Sports BIG, which was released in late 2003. It is the third installment in the SSX series, and is THX approved. Like the previous installments, the game was critically acclaimed...
. Their Music And Themselves Also Featured In The Game NFL Street
NFL Street
NFL Street received good reviews upon release. It received a 7.75 from Game Informer, and a 9.2 from IGN. The game also received 4 stars out of 5 from GameSpy, saying that "Pick-up football was never this exciting." Additionally, Gamespot gave it a rating of 7.9, saying "If you've been eagerly...
.
As of 2007, Rob Swift, Total Eclipse and Precision have formed a new group called Ill Insanity. Their latest release, "Ground Xero" contains 14 tracks featuring the likes of DJ QBert, DJ Excess, and Grand Master Roc Raida.
Ill Insanity has posted a blog on their Myspace regarding a reunion tour in Australia in October, 2008. The group commented in their blog
"Undeniably one of the greatest turntablist crews of all time, New Yorks legends The X-Ecutioners are reuniting exclusively to tour Australia for the very first time. The supremely talented turntablists, Grand Master Roc Raida, Rob Swift, Boogie Blind, Total Eclipse and Precision have exclusively come together for this tour and across 10 turntables will leave you speechless with their unbelievable turntable skills of cutting, mixing, scratching and beat juggling."
The group has already announced the tour dates on both the X-Ecutioners' and Ill Insanity's Myspace Reunion Tour Blog.
In a recent interview with E.Zee Radio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/E-ZEERADIO/2009/09/27/E-ZEE-RADIO-SHOW.mp3?localembed=download), Mista Sinista says the current X-Men are Rob Swift, Mista Sinista, Total Eclipse, Boogie Blind, Steve D, Sean C, Johnny Cash, Diamond J, Exotic E + Roc Raida who will always be there.
Roc Raida died on Sept. 19th, 2009 from complications from a mixed martial arts accident.
Albums
| Year | Title | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
U.S. R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
||
| 1997 | X-Pressions
|
– | – |
| 2002 | Built from Scratch Built from Scratch Built from Scratch is a 2002 album by DJ group The X-Ecutioners. It had one hit single, "It's Goin' Down," which was written, produced, and performed by Linkin Park members Mike Shinoda and Mr. Hahn... Loud Records Loud Records is a subsidiary of SRC Records founded by Steve Rifkind in 1992.Loud was a hip hop label which has released material by acts such as Wu-Tang Clan, Big Punisher, Mobb Deep, Krayzie Bone, The Beatnuts, M.O.P., Tha Alkaholiks, Pete Rock, Lil' Flip, Three 6 Mafia, Project Pat, Xzibit,... |
15 | 13 |
| 2004 | Revolutions
|
118 | 50 |
| 2005 | General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners is a collaboration album released by Mike Patton and New York City hip-hop trio The X-Ecutioners. The album is themed around a war between the two vastly different musical styles. The album contains various samples from uncredited films.-Track listing:# "X-Men... Ipecac Recordings Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman and Mike Patton Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman (ex-label manager of Alternative Tentacles,... |
||
External links
- The X-Ecutioners at Rolling Stone Magazine
- The X-Ecutioners at IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
Music