Easy Mo Bee
Encyclopedia
Osten Harvey, Jr., better known by his stage name Easy Mo Bee, is a hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
/R&B record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, known for production work for late 80's artists such as Big Daddy Kane
Big Daddy Kane
Antonio Hardy better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap group the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MC's in Hip Hop...
, but most notable for his affiliation with Bad Boy Records
Bad Boy Records
Bad Boy Records is a record label founded in 1993 by producer/rapper/entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, and is distributed by Atlantic Records.-Beginnings:...
in its early years and his heavy production involvement in The Notorious B.I.G.
The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...
's acclaimed debut Ready to Die
Ready to Die
Ready to Die is the debut album of American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released September 13, 1994 on Bad Boy Records. The first release on the label, it features production by record producer and Bad Boy founder Sean "Puffy" Combs, Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier, and Lord Finesse,...
.
Early career: Big Daddy Kane, Wu-Tang Clan & Miles Davis
Mo Bee began producing after hearing music by Ced Gee of Ultramagnetic MCsUltramagnetic MCs
The Ultramagnetic MC's is an American hip hop group based in Bronx, New York. Originally founded by Kool Keith, the group is composed of Ced Gee, TR Love, and Moe Love. Tim Dog became an unofficial member in 1989. In 1990, DJ Jaycee was added as Roadmanager and backup DJ. A former member, Rooney...
and Marley Marl
Marley Marl
Marlon Williams , better known as Marley Marl, is an American DJ and record producer, who is considered one of the most important and influential hip-hop producers in the history of hip hop.-Biography:...
, producer of early hip-hop hits for the likes of the Juice Crew
Juice Crew
The Juice Crew was a hip hop collective of largely Queensbridge-based artists in the mid- to late-1980s. Founded by producer Marley Marl and radio DJ Mr. Magic and housed by Tyrone William's Cold Chillin' Records, the Juice Crew would introduce New School artists Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie,...
and LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
. His first production placement came on Big Daddy Kane's breakthrough album, It's a Big Daddy Thing
It's a Big Daddy Thing
It's a Big Daddy Thing is the second full-length album by American rapper Big Daddy Kane. It was released on September 15, 1989.To date, it is his most successful effort commercially, certified gold by RIAA....
, after which he was approached to work with another Cold Chillin' artist, The Genius—an early alias for now-Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
co-founder GZA
GZA
Gary Grice , better known by his stage names GZA and The Genius, is an American hip hop artist and founding member of the seminal hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan. He has also appeared on his fellow clan members' solo projects and has maintained a successful solo career...
. Mo Bee produced the rapper's debut album, Words From the Genius
Words from the Genius
Words from the Genius is the debut album by the emcee GZA as the Genius, under his previous stage name. It is historically significant as the only album any Wu-Tang Clan member released before the founding of the group in 1992 Words from the Genius is the debut album by the emcee GZA as the Genius,...
, as well as fellow future Wu-Tang co-founder RZA
RZA
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA , is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost...
's first single, "Ooh I Love You Rakeem
Ooh I Love You Rakeem
Ooh, I Love You, Rakeem is an EP that Robert Diggs released on Tommy Boy Records in 1991 under the name Prince Rakeem. Diggs is best known as RZA, producer for the Wu-Tang Clan.- Track listing :...
", which the rapper/producer released under the alias Prince Rakeem. Jazz pioneer Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
approached the young producer to help fuse jazz and hip-hop. These sessions would become his last studio album, 1992's Doo Bop. The project, released posthumously after Davis died during the recording process, leaving the project unfinished, garnered generally positive reviews.
Bad Boy Entertainment, Notorious B.I.G. & 2Pac
Mo Bee first linked up with Sean CombsSean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
' Bad Boy Entertainment in 1993, when he produced the first single for Combs' up-and-coming artist, the Notorious B.I.G., "Party and Bullshit". Easy also went on to produce much of the label's two flagship releases: Project: Funk da World
Project Funk da World
Project: Funk Da World is the debut album by rapper Craig Mack, released September 20, 1994. The album was the second release on Bad Boy Records, following The Notorious B.I.G.'s classic Ready to Die by one week. Propelled by the success of the Platinum-selling smash hit single "Flava In Ya Ear",...
by Craig Mack
Craig Mack
Craig Mack is an American Grammy nominated rapper, who gained fame on Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Entertainment record label in the 1990s. Although his first single was released under the name MC EZ in 1988, he is best known for his 1994 hit single "Flava In Ya Ear", which was released under his real name...
, and Ready to Die
Ready to Die
Ready to Die is the debut album of American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released September 13, 1994 on Bad Boy Records. The first release on the label, it features production by record producer and Bad Boy founder Sean "Puffy" Combs, Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier, and Lord Finesse,...
by B.I.G. Additionally, Mo Bee produced the "Flava in Ya Ear (Remix)," a driving single for both projects, featuring Craig Mack, Biggie, Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
, Rampage and LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
.
In 1994-'95, Mo Bee was also associated with 2Pac, having produced songs for both, including one called "Runnin' From tha Police
Runnin' (From tha Police)
Runnin' From tha Police is a 1995 song by rapper Tupac Shakur, featuring The Notorious B.I.G., Stretch and Dramacydal. The song is significant, being one of very few compositions 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G...
," featuring both Pac and B.I.G. as well as rapper/producer Stretch and 2Pac's crew Dramacydal. Mo Bee went on to produce two songs for Pac's 1995 album Me Against the World
Me Against the World
Me Against the World is the third studio album by American hip hop artist Tupac Shakur. It was released March 14, 1995 on the Interscope Records label. The album was composed of un-used tracks from the Thug Life era, and from other studio sessions from 1993 to 1994...
, although the two recorded several other songs that did not make the cut. During this time period, he also crafted moderate radio hits for the Lost Boyz ("Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz"); Das EFX
Das EFX
Das EFX is an American hip hop duo. It consists of emcees Skoob and Dray...
("Microphone Master"); and Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
("Everything Remains Raw").
Life After Death & later career
In 1997, Mo Bee produced for Biggie's double-disc album, Life After DeathLife After Death
Life After Death is the second and final studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released March 25, 1997 on Bad Boy Records. A double album, it was released posthumously following his death on March 9, 1997 and serves as his final studio album...
. After Combs turned down some of his early beat submissions, the producer crafted two pop-oriented songs which made the cut, "I Love the Dough" and "Going Back to Cali"; these songs would mark the last time Easy would produce for Bad Boy. Easy maintains that this is because Diddy
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
stopped bringing him in for projects, and has speculated that this may be due to confrontations over production credit the two have had in the past:
Since cutting ties with the label, Easy Mo Bee has worked sparingly with other artists; over the next decade he would craft songs for Kurupt
Kurupt
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown , better known by his stage name Kurupt, also known as Kurupt Tha Kingpin, Kurupt Young Gotti or Young Gotstra is an American rapper and former Executive Vice President of Death Row Records...
, Big Daddy Kane, Ras Kass
Ras Kass
John Austin IV, better known by his stage name Ras Kass, is an American rapper. He is also a part of hip hop supergroup The HRSMN along with Canibus, Killah Priest, and Kurupt...
, the Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
and others, eventually winning a Grammy for his work with Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
on her album, The Diary of Alicia Keys
The Diary of Alicia Keys
The Diary of Alicia Keys is the second studio album by American recording artist Alicia Keys. It was released in the United States on December 2, 2003 by J Records...
. In 2000, he put out an album called Now or Never: Oddysey 2000, featuring east coast staples Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
, Raekwon
Raekwon
Corey Woods , better known by the stage name Raekwon, is an American rapper and a member of the Wu-Tang Clan. He released his solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... in 1995, and has since recorded four solo albums, as well as work with Wu-Tang and an extensive amount of guest contributions with...
, Prodigy
Prodigy (rapper)
Lance Albert Johnson Banks, better known as Prodigy, is an American rapper and one half of the hip-hop and rap duo Mobb Deep....
, Heltah Skeltah
Heltah Skeltah
Heltah Skeltah is a hip hop duo consisting of members Rock and Ruck . The two are members of New York supergroup Boot Camp Clik, along with Buckshot, Smif-N-Wessun and O.G.C....
, Kool G. Rap, and Sauce Money
Sauce Money
Sauce Money is a rapper who worked with Jay-Z in his early career and was featured on Big Daddy Kane's album Daddy's Home on the track "Show N' Prove" alongside Scoob Lover, Shyheim, Jay-Z, and Ol' Dirty Bastard...
, along with Goodie Mob
Goodie Mob
Goodie Mob is a Hip Hop act based in Atlanta, Georgia that formed in 1991 and currently consists of members Cee-Lo Green, Khujo, T-Mo and Big Gipp.-History:The group's name acts as a double backronym...
and Kurupt
Kurupt
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown , better known by his stage name Kurupt, also known as Kurupt Tha Kingpin, Kurupt Young Gotti or Young Gotstra is an American rapper and former Executive Vice President of Death Row Records...
.
Over the course of his post-Bad Boy-affiliated career, many songs he and Biggie originally recorded together have been remixed without the producer's credit or permission. These songs include the original "Dead Wrong," a remix of which appeared on Biggie's posthumous album Born Again; "Flava in Ya Ear," which was remixed by Diddy for the Bad Boy 10th Anniversary album, and 2Pac and Biggie's "Runnin'", remixed by Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
on the Tupac: Resurrection (Original Soundtrack)
Tupac: Resurrection (Original Soundtrack)
-Album Chart Positions:-Album singles:...
. Mo Bee has made it clear that he does not appreciate this practice, particularly in the case of Eminem's remix. After an announcement that he would handle the scoring for Biggie biopic Notorious, the score was handled without him; this has led to speculation that Diddy is keeping him distanced from the industry.
Production technique
Mo Bee has been acclaimed for his bass-heavy style and jazzy influence. At times Mo Bee has branched out more with his sound, as on "I Love the Dough," sampling René & AngelaRené & Angela
René & Angela were an 1980s R&B duo consisting of artist/producers René Moore and Angela Winbush. The group dissolved by the mid 1980s. Both went on to successful solo careers as performers, songwriters, and producers.-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:...
's "I Love You More". He also turned to trippy rock for inspiration on Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
's "Zimzallabim".