Tayo

Tayo Popoola, a trailblazing London-based DJ specializing in breaks, has built an extensive catalog of mix albums while also creating original productions, many of them joint efforts with other artists. He helped ignite the nu-breaks movement in the city by joining forces with Rennie Pilgrem and Adam Freeland to launch the influential Friction club night in 1996. Beginning around the millennium, he put out commercial mix albums each year, among the most prominent being Planet of the Breakz (1999), Nu Horizons: The Next Generation of Breaks, Vol. 3 (2001), Y4K: Further Still (2001), Y4K: Summer Breaks (2002), Y4K Next Level Breaks: Dread at the Controls (2003), Mob Deep, Vol. 1 (2003), Beatz & Bobz, Vol. 3 (2004), These Are the Breaks (2006), and Fabriclive.32 (2007). The last of these earned DJ Magazine's Best of British Award and highlights the expanding range of Tayo's sound across numerous bass-heavy breakbeat genres, including dub, dubstep, Baltimore club, and hip-hop. In addition to his work behind the decks, he produced tracks, frequently through collaborations and intended chiefly for club play rather than commercial release. He established the label Mob Records in 1999; although his connection ended five years later, the imprint stayed active and continued issuing 12" EPs by a wide range of producers.