Mr MENSAH

First in command was put together back in 1989 by myself mensah (Abyss) and Mervyn (2 kind), at the time I had no experience in production but had started playing drums two years before and found that listening to various types of music was the best way to understand it. The early first in command demos were my first attempts at production and with studio time being expensive back then, mistakes where costly. After working in a number of studios and finally recording the F.I.C album. We were able to go on to organise our own gigs at local venues like mountford hall, the Lomax and the philharmonic hall this also gave us the chance to launch Liverpool’s first hip-hop open mic night at the Flying Picket called the phat skillz. Musical influences range from 60’s lounge music – old school hip hop and 70’s jazz funk. Artists like Keith Mansfield, Galt Macdermot, Roy Ayers and Freddie Hubbard, while hip-hop influences go back to a tribe called quest, BDP ultra magnetic mc’s and the tuff crew up to today’s artists like Madlib, J.Rawls, J Dilla, I’ve always preferred the minimalist recycled ozone friendly sound of the underground to the over produced main stream sound. i see myself as a hip-hop fan before an artist or producer, and spending money on records is the support I give for the inspiration I get from hip-hop. Recorded between 92 and 95 the first in command pest control album was a great achievement for me, written by myself and close friend, Mervyn It came first in the June 97 hip-hop connection demo blaster top 20 and received much recognition on the UK hip-hop underground scene. Despite the quality and feedback from the album it was never released due to music industry politics. things have changed over the past 10 years cdr’s and the internet has given heads the chance to network and branch out more. 2005 saw the release of my first single, produced by myself and featuring (tommy evans) (spilla) and two up and coming local mad men (antiheroes) this single is available now on ETI records. The next step is to make contact and work with Mc’s out of the uk, Independent Artists with the same ideas. Peace......mensah