EBU BLACKITUDE

Born to Jamaican and St. Lucian parents, Ebu grew up in a community rooted in the Caribbean spirit. His aptitude for music emerged early, as he first taught himself to play his grandmother's piano. His parents soon decided to send him to formal piano lessons, where he learned all the fundamentals, studied, and passed the grades right up to Grade 6 Royal Academy of Music.

He also experienced his first encounter with sound system culture — living in a block of flats right above a regular shubz / blues venue that would play heavy dub all night until daybreak. He would listen, fascinated by the seemingly sci-fi sounds and high-quality sound schemes coming from below — the emcee, the crowd's reactions to the popular music being played. He took it all in like a sponge.

Ebu became aware of pirate radio in his early teens, when he would mess about with his mom's radio at night, searching for something interesting to listen to. One day he stumbled upon a local pirate station called PCRL. It played all the reggae, lovers rock, dancehall and gospel he grew up on — and more. He couldn't believe his luck: all this music he would otherwise have to search out — and possibly get himself in trouble going to places his mother wouldn't approve of — was right there on the radio waves.

Around this time, along with his cousin 'Hitchcock', he developed a liking for the Hip Hop coming out of New York. It suited his concrete jungle mentality, growing up in Hockley on the number 8 bus route.

They were soon recruited for Metro FM's prime Hip Hop show, playing the graveyard shift on weekends. As a teenager, hauling massive bags of records about late at night was not easy, and dodging the DTI while playing the music he loved was exciting but risky. He became known as the de facto Hip Hop DJ at most early Hip Hop concerts in Birmingham, alongside his sound system crews Rhythm Mix and Libra Digital. They warmed up the crowd for The Wu-Tang Clan, Onyx, Ice-T, Naughty By Nature, Mary J. Blige, Leaders of the New School, Mobb Deep and many more.

Ebu moved to London in the early 90s to become a computer programmer / IT professional. The DJing dwindled as he grew disillusioned with the direction his favourite genre was taking. Around then he'd befriended a Birmingham-based recording artist named Juice Aleem — a very talented emcee — who convinced Ebu that he too could make the transition from DJ to recording artist / producer.

As they moved through London tearing up open mics and terrorising anyone who dared touch a stage and let off 16 bars in front of them, the duo turned into a trio, and then a whole international Hip Hop movement. This crew was named The Shadowless Collective. They signed to Big Dada Recordings and took off like a bullet — recording multiple projects with the likes of Ty, Roots Manuva, New Flesh and Lotek HiFi, touring, hitting stage after stage, and appearing on media outlets all around the globe.

Ebu Blackitude has, from day one, always been a Soundman. His younger cousin was connected to Jungleman Sound in Birmingham, and he played with the almighty Wasiffa, Handsworth Groove Syndicate, Observer, Powah and other sound systems and DJ crews.

Putting all his skills out there — from the DJing to the emceeing to digital media production, especially Hip Hop music production — Ebu Blackitude is a sought-after, recognised creator in the industry, with a signature sound and style like no other. Intelligent beyond compare, he has a non-stop creative lean and the attitude that nothing is beyond him.

Which leads to the next chapter — Muuzbox.