Freestylers

Although frequently lumped in with big-beat techno acts, the Freestylers actually leaned more toward old-school hip-hop, electro, and ragga sounds when the group was assembled by Matt Cantor, Aston Harvey, and Andrew Galea. Each member had roots as a British b-boy and had become deeply embedded in the UK dance community by the late 1980s, working both behind the decks and in the studio. Cantor issued material under aliases that included Cut'n'Paste, 2 Fat Buddhas, and Freska All Stars, while Harvey recorded as Blapps! Posse and delivered the 1990 breakbeat classic "Don't Hold Back." Harvey also collaborated with Rebel MC and Definition of Sound before he and Galea began producing together as Sol Brothers and soon invited Cantor to join them.

The trio took their name from the first record they sampled, Freestyle's "Don't Stop the Rock," and launched their career with the single "Drop the Boom (AK-48)" on the newly established Scratch City Records. That vocoderized electro cut quickly earned underground club status, reaching even the bass-driven scene in Miami. The Freestyle EP appeared in late 1996, and additional tracks surfaced on Freskanova, the label that already housed Cantor's solo projects. In 1998 the group scored a chart hit and Top of the Pops slot with "B-Boy Stance," a collaboration featuring vocalist Tenor Fly.

A series of remixes for Audioweb, Afrika Bambaataa, and the Jungle Brothers followed, the last pair ranking among the Freestylers' chief influences. The trio also curated the big-beat compilation FSUK 2 and delivered a Radio One Essential Mix that placed Beenie Man, Public Enemy, the Fall, and Whodini side by side. Festival performances at Glastonbury and across Europe drew strong acclaim, paving the way for the 1999 debut album We Rock Hard. One year later the mix collection Electro Science appeared.