music
Mark Ronson
There is a lot to say about Mark Ronson, Ex-Pat NYC based British musical auteur. Internationally renowned as one of the worlds finest DJ's, favoured by the decadent fashion cognoscenti, the hip-hop elite and anyone in general that likes to party, add to that list; uber-producer du jour, solo artist, band leader, loving father to a beautiful black border collie named Maude, label boss etc, all far too much for most hectic jet setting humans to fit into the everyday.
You may be familiar perhaps with his version of Radiohead’s ‘Just’ – the re-jigged, recorded and layered with added hip-hop beats, soulful progression, funk ballast and vocals courtesy of Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet that rocked the airwaves and dancefloors around the world. ‘Just’ was a catalyst in the conceptualisation and creation of ‘Version’ - a visionary album that saw Mark taking on some of contemporary pop music’s big hitters in a similar vein.
Mark released his own massively acclaimed, shamefully ignored and criminally unworked debut solo album ‘Here Comes The Fuzz’ in 2003 through Elektra Records, right before the label imploded. It included the worldwide smash single ‘Ooh Wee’, which featured Ghostface Killah and Nate Dogg’s unique stylings, and saw him appear on 'Top Of The Pops'. In the wake of the label/album’s demise, it is as a producer where Mark has found his rhythm and sound.
Few producers could boast as prolific a schedule as Ronson having produced tracks for Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams, Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Domino (the best female fronted dubby indie rock band you haven’t heard yet), and his Allido protégés Rhymefest and Daniel Merriweather.
He's also scored the soundtrack to Jay-Z’s 'Fade To Black' film, the final ODB studio recordings, high profile remixes of Air and Jiggaman’s ’99 Problems’, plus work with Outkast, De La Soul, and M.O.P to name but a handful.
In the mould of his hip-hop luminaries, messrs Carter and Coombs (Jay Z and Diddy), Ronson is also fast becoming a “business man”. His label Allido Records, formed with partner Rich Kleiman, released ‘Blue Collar’, the debut albums from Grammy winning Chi-town rap sensation Rhymefest and Australian wunderkind Daniel Merriweather, and the soundtrack to ‘Half Nelson’. He is the current face of DKNY but doesn’t talk about that stuff at all.