Mr. Lee

Lee Haggard came into the world in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. An older sibling first introduced him to music by passing along instruction on bass, drums and keyboards within the lineage of James Brown, Parliament and Funkadelic. Once he reached 18 he was already working the turntables at neighborhood clubs and cutting home demos to shape his individual style. Trusting his developing craft, he contacted an acquaintance who arranged an introduction to Mitchball Records. The agreement yielded several singles that never found buyers. Stronger results arrived after he moved to Trax Records and recorded the hip house track “Shoot Your Best Shot.” Well received in his hometown, the record opened the door for the follow-up “I Can’t Forget,” the first occasion on which he supplied his own vocals, and the single went on to register internationally. From that point he altered his vocal approach to rap, issuing tracks such as “Pump Up Chicago” and “Pump Up England.” While promoting the latter release in the United Kingdom he attracted competitive offers from major labels and ultimately signed with Jive Records. Subsequent releases included “Do It To Me,” produced by Mr. Fingers, co-written in part by Stevie Wonder and built around samples of Quincy Jones’ “Betcha.” His debut album surpassed one million copies worldwide, and the title track, released separately, reached number 1 on the Billboard dance music chart. On his second album he began working with swingbeat, a fresh approach to preserving the R&B/house and rap mixture that had already defined his work. The stylistic shift surfaced plainly on cuts such as “New House Swing.” The first single drawn from the project, “Hey Love,” featured labelmate R. Kelly, while “Time To Party” returned to hip-hop foundations through its use of the Chuck D. “Bring The Noise” chant.