DJ Format

DJ Format, a British DJ and producer linked to Genuine Records, draws his core inspiration from golden-age hip-hop of the late 1980s and early 1990s while also exploring further old-school breakbeat styles across a range of mix albums. Matt Ford, born in Southampton, England, launched his solo career in 1999 via the English Lesson 12" EP on Bomb Hip-Hop Records. He went on to deliver remixes for two Mo Wax singles—Major Force's "The Re-Return of the Original Art-Form" in 2000 and Nigo's "March of the General" in 2001—before inking a deal with Genuine Records, the soul-focused imprint of Play It Again Sam. That label launched with his Ill Culinary Behaviour 12" in 2002, then issued the full-length Music for the Mature B-Boy in 2003 along with several follow-up 12" singles, among them the notable "We Know Something You Don't Know" featuring Jurassic 5 rappers Akil and Chali 2na.

Following the strong reception for his debut album, DJ Format put out the mix album A Right Earful, Vol. 1 on Antidote Records in 2004 and prepared a second studio set for Genuine Records, If You Can't Join 'Em...Beat 'Em, which arrived in 2005. Canadian underground rapper Abdominal again took a central role, appearing on the lead single "3 Feet Deep" and its successors "Separated at Birth" and "Rap Machine." In the wake of that album's acclaim, Format released another mix album, Fabriclive.27, in 2006. While that Fabric set reflected his wide-ranging tastes, his next effort, Fania DJ Series in 2007, delved further into his fascination with 1960s and 1970s Latin soul and boogaloo. Additional mix albums appeared over the ensuing years until he issued his long-delayed third studio album, Statement of Intent, in 2012. Making up for the extended interval, he returned the following year with The Foremost, his first proper duo project, on which rapper Phill Most Chill featured on every track and shared equal billing on the cover. Still Hungry, released in 2017, replicated the approach with longtime collaborator Abdominal.