By Arvind Kalsi
A DJ, producer/beat maker and music researcher who has been part of Leicester’s Hip-Hop music scene for decades says the UK dance music industry often airbrushes the foundational elements of its history.
March 25 this year will be the 30th anniversary of hit song Return of the Mack by Mark Morrison.
DJ Looby recalls: “Yeah, I remember DJ Stedy of Hardcore Trio (Leicester Hip-Hop/ Soul DJ’ crew) playing me the test press early January 1996 and raving this is gonna blow up I’m telling you.”
True to life, three months later it was #4 in the UK national charts, #2 in the US Billboard charts and top ten in at least 17 countries worldwide.
Looby, from a Caribbean background, was raised in west Leicester in the 70s listening to funk, jazz-funk, fusion and early rap from the age of eight years onwards.
His elder siblings attended midlands soul and jazz-funk all-dayers during the late 70s and 80s and introduced him to the heavy funk of artists such as Parliament-Funkadelic and Cameo, amongst others, alongside early rap releases from Sugarhill Records through buying records imported from America in specialist music shops.
Looby entered the music industry as a B-boy (better known as a breakdancer) and became a member of The Style 2 Crew, Leicester’s premier B-boys at the time
He later transitioned into DJing and became a founding member of the Formation Five DJ collective in 1985, which helped pioneer the city’s early rave scene.
Formation Five DJ collective was responsible for some of Leicester’s earliest raves, most notably Total Kaos, which blended funk, hip-hop and emerging dance sounds of Chicago House in the late 80s.
Looby said the commonly accepted history of UK dance music history often overlooks these foundations.
“You know the media narrative portrayed when it comes to the history of UK dance music is there was this big bang… acid house, rave and ‘89’ Summer of Love appear whilst forgetting the importance of UK Hip Hop break beat sampling on the culture,” said Looby.
“If you remove the funk of the sampled breakbeats, would rave, jungle, drum and bass exist as its own genre? Just a thought,” he added.
Through being a major part in Leicester’s early Hip Hop underground scene, Looby, as part of Formation Five, went on to perform with major artists such as Ice T, Ultra-Magnetic Mc’s, Tim Dog, SWV and Queen Latifa, as well as appearing in a British Knights sneaker commercial on MTV.
He also appeared in the music video for Return of the Mack by Mark Morrison in 1996, which celebrates its 30th anniversary release in the UK this year on Wednesday, March 25.
Morrison was raised in Leicester and came onto the music scene in the early 90s, and the success of Return of the Mack can be seen as building off a structure of funk and sampled breakbeats and a relatable message.
Looby said: “It was about love, betrayal and triumph, which everyone understands.”
The video was directed by Jake Nava, who later went on to work with well-known artists and directed music videos such as Crazy in Love by Beyoncé and Someone Like You by Adele.
Return of the Mack has since been referenced by artists such as Skepta in That’s Not Me in and Post Malone in Cooped Up/Return of The Mack which featured Morrison. The song also featured in adverts for Apple, McDonalds, Frito Lays and many more.
Return of The Mack was a game changer on how the UK invested and promoted homegrown R&B.
