About

Champaign-Urbana, IL - Musician, producer, composer, audio designer, and DJ Larry E. Gates II  has played hundreds of stages across the nation and has shared those stages with the likes of Chuck Berry, G. Love & Special Sauce, 30 Seconds To Mars, Local H, Superdrag, Trombone Shorty, Brother Ali, The Nappy Roots, Blueprint, DJ Rare Groove, Illogic, and many others.

 

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Entries in Def Jam Records (2)

Throwback Thursdays: Boogie Down Productions

By the late 80's Def Jam had become the go-to label for all my hip-hop needs. Run DMC, The Beastie Boys, L.L. Cool J were all well established. Then came the political movement with acts like Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions. In 1989 BDP dropped Ghetto Music - fusing boom-bap and reggae with overtly political rhymes. This was my favorite cut on that album.

 

 

Throwback Thursdays: King Ad Rock

It was 1985 and Russell Simmons (along with his partner Rick Rubin) had just signed a 16 year old from Queens named L.L. Cool J. His debut album, Radio, would sell over a million copies. Rubin handled production on most cuts but recruited punk rocker Adam Horovitz (a.k.a. King Ad Rock) to lend a hand on "I Need a Beat".  Dig.