Stevie Hyper D
| Stevie Hyper D | |
|---|---|
| File:Stevie Hyper D The Legend.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Stephen Austin |
| Born | 20 September 1967 London, England |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. |
| Genres | Electronica, drum and bass, oldschool jungle, hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist, MC |
| Labels | Dance Concept, Island |
| Associated acts | Dfrnt Lvls |
| Website | www |
Stevie Hyper D (born Stephen Austin, 20 September 1967 – 5 July 1998) was a drum and bass MC.
Biography
Stephen Austin was born in London, England on 20 September 1967 to a Spanish mother and Barbadian father. He died on 5 July 1998 of a fatal heart attack, possibly attributed to deep vein thrombosis after a long international tour.[1]
Style and significance
He was one of the pioneering MCs in the drum and bass-oldschool jungle scene. He has been credited[2] with inventing the 'Double Time' MC'ing style, where he would double the speed of the generic MC flow but would still fit within the bars of the music.
He was the first drum and bass MC to have a major release when The Next Step was released on Island Records in 1999. He also had an album, The Legend, which was released on the independent drum and bass label Dance Concept which was produced by Benny V. These tracks gained airplay on national radio stations Kiss FM and BBC Radio 1,[3] as well as receiving support from the underground pirate scene including Kool FM which was one of the stations he performed on regularly.[4] His track Buffalo Soldier from the album was nominated for DNBA tune of the year in 2004.[5]
Hyper D is widely accepted as one of the true pioneering drum and bass MCs.[6] It is also accepted he was the innovator of the ‘double time’ MC style that is commonly used today.[7] Appearing first on the 1991 track "Teknoragga", Stevie went on to record tracks across various genres, from jungle, to hip hop and even to house music. He was the first drum and bass MC to secure an album with a major label, Island Records. The Next Step, with his producer Dfrnt Lvls, was released in 1999, the year after his death. He held residencies at all the elite jungle and drum and bass events, but it was during his bookings at Labyrinth that he met Benny V. Nothing came of it at the time, but when Benny V also hooked up with Dfrnt Lvls his recorded work was put together again for The Legend album which had tracks played on UK National Radio as well as receiving huge underground support on the pirates.[8]
Stevie Hyper D received additional commercial success in 1995 when breakfast cereal manufacturer Kellogs enlisted Stevie as the frontman for their popular range of "Frosties" breakfast serials, Stevie was tasked with playing the cereal treats popular "Tony the Tiger" and although receiving good reviews from critiques, gave up the role in 1996 siting new projects as his focus.
Discography
Albums
- The Next Step (1999) – Island Records
- The Legend (2004) – Dance Concept
- Generation Hyper (2014) - Dance Concept
Singles
- "Teknoragga" (1991) – Reverb Records
- "Boomshakalack" with Ils (1995) - Made in London Records
- "Life is Funny" (1999) – Island Records
- "All I Wanna Do / Move Your Body" (2003) – Dance Concept
- "Flexin Today / Junglist Soldier" (2006) – Dance Concept
- "Aint No Stoppin Us Now / Buffalo Soldier" (2007) – Dance Concept
References
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