Adam F

In the late 1990s Adam F established a formidable standing in hip-hop as both performer and studio craftsman. Observers across the rap community viewed him as a candidate to reach the stature of master producer Dr. Dre. Early exposure to pioneering American rap records and British electronic acts had already formed his tastes by age fifteen. Admiration for Lalo Schifrin, Quincy Jones, Bob James, and jazz fusion at large further refined his melodic instincts. Keyboard proficiency developed alongside these influences, and by the early nineties he was absorbing the drum'n'bass underpinnings of hip-hop, electronica, and techno. A signing with EMI in the U.K. led to the 1998 debut album Colours, whose Top 20 singles included “Circles,” “Brand New Funk,” and “Music in My Mind.” The project received a MOBO award for best album in Britain. After an eighteen-month live-band tour, Adam F continued traveling as a DJ for Goldie and Jumping Jack Frost. Demo material reached Def Jam Records, which passed the tapes to LL Cool J; the rapper responded by assigning Adam F the track “The G.O.A.T.” on the 2000 album G.O.A.T. Featuring James T. Smith: The Greatest of All Time, LL Cool J’s first number-one release in the United States. Subsequent sessions involved Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott and Lady Luck. Redirecting focus to his own catalog, Adam F spent eighteen months on the 2001 album KAOS, which features his own version of “The G.O.A.T.” and the anthem “Smash Sumthin’” with Redman; the recording process itself was captured for a documentary. Additional work with Redman yielded distinctive contributions to 2002’s Malpractice. Early the following year a drum’n’bass and hip-hop fusion collection appeared, presenting Adam F’s earlier collaborations with LL Cool J, Guru, Redman, and others, now reworked by Roni Size and Dillinja among further artists. In 2009 he delivered a remix of the Prodigy’s “Take Me to the Hospital” and joined Redman on the club single “Shut the Lights Off.” A partnership with DJ Fresh followed in 2010, together with a dubstep treatment of Dead Prez’s “Bigger Than Hip Hop.” The 2012 club track “When the Rain Is Gone,” released on Universal’s 3Beat imprint, fused dubstep and drum & bass.