Marley Marl
Background information
Birth name	Marlon Williams
Origin	Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Cold Chillin'/Warner Bros. Records

Marlon Williams (born September 30, 1962) better known as Marley Marl, is an american rapper and record producer, who is considered one of the most important and influential hip-hop producers in the history of hip hop.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 Compilations 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

Marley Marl was the house producer of the Juice Crew, known for The Bridge Wars, a feud with Boogie Down Productions seen as the first hip hop beef. The Juice Crew included Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shanté, Kool G Rap, MC Shan (his cousin) and Masta Ace, and produced songs for outside artists including King Tee and LL Cool J. He was also an important figure in the careers of Eric B. & Rakim, producing their first hits "My Melody" and "Eric B Is President", mixing James Brown samples and synthetic beats in a fashion previously unheard of.

Marley Marl was one of the pioneers of sampling in hip hop. He was the first to sample a breakbeat and reprogram it, which he did with the "Impeach the President" breakbeat on the MC Shan single "The Bridge" from 1985. This was an extremely important feat as it completely changed the way hip hop was made as well as other sample based genres. He debuted as an electro producer, but his records became more sample heavy, as can be seen by comparing the MC Shan LPs Down By Law (1987) and Born to be Wild (1988). The rhythms became less electronic, with drum machines becoming more prominent. Marl started his career working for Tuff City records. He debuted with his own track called "DJ Cuttin" in 1985, released under the pseudonym NYC Cutter. In 1994 Marley Marl was referenced on Biggie Smalls' track "Juicy" as being one of his early influences. He still works today and his music has had influences on RZA, DJ Premier as well as Pete Rock, who is also a longtime friend.^[1]. Marley Marl is also a legendary DJ member of the The worldwide DJ organization, The Core DJ's.

He and KRS-One released Hip-Hop Lives in May 2007 with Marley Marl as the executive producer.^[1]

On June 5, 2007, Marley Marl suffered a heart attack. He was released from the hospital a few days later on the 8th. According to an interview in The Source, he blamed the heart attack on stress brought on by his worries about being a good father.

In 2008, Craig G and he released a collaborative album titled Operation: Take Back Hip-Hop.^[1]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• In Control, Volume 1 (1988)
• In Control, Volume II - for your steering pleasure (1991)
• Hip Hop Dictionary (2000)
• Re-entry (2001)
• Hip-Hop Lives (2007) (with KRS-One)
• Operation: Take Back Hip-Hop (2008) (with Craig G)

[edit] Compilations

• House of Hits (1995)
• Best of Cold Chillin' (2001)
• Marley Marl's House of Hits (released 2007)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Marley Marl bio The 411 on super-producer, Marley Marl [authored by Balance: 411@hiphop.sh]
• Allmusic biography
• Globaldarkness biography
• DJ Marley Marl - beatbuggy.com