Beatbullyz was a musical group from the
Swindon area of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. The group was influenced by
hip hop,
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a wal ...
,
funk, soul, and
big beat
Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as t ...
. The band was fronted by Daniel Dubose (Bozo) and Andrew Bullimore (Bully), both of whom created the music. The group was on the roster of Big Weekend Records, Bullimore's record label. The Beatbullyz
street team
A street team is a term used in marketing to describe a group of people who 'hit the streets' promoting an event or a product. 'Street Teams' are promotional tools that have been adopted industry-wide as a standard line item in marketing budgets ...
was known as "The Minotaurs".
A review in the British newspaper, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'', stated that the group held the potential to be "the UK answer to
Black Eyed Peas
Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hil ...
." Endorsements for the Beatbullyz were also given by
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
DJs
Scott Mills
Scott Robert Mills (born 28 March 1973) is an English radio DJ, television presenter and occasional actor. He is best known for presenting the '' Scott Mills'' show on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 2022 and since then, on BBC Radio 2. Mills has also ...
,
Fearne Cotton
Fearne Wood ( Cotton; born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author''.'' She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented '' The Xtra Factor'', ...
,
Huw Stephens
Huw Meredydd Stephens (born 25 May 1981) is a Welsh radio and television presenter, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music.
Stephens founded the Sŵn music festival with John Rostron and the yearly s ...
and
Greg James
Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English radio and television presenter, comedian and author. He is the host of BBC Radio 1's breakfast show, co-presenter on the cricket podcast ''Tailenders'' alongside Felix White and ...
.
Past members
* Daniel Dubose AKA Bozo (lyricist)
* Andrew Bullimore AKA Bully (producer and singer)
* Stuart Anderson AKA Disco (drummer)
* Phil Murphey AKA Philonius Funk (Scratch DJ)
* Alex Yeoman AKA YoYo (Bassist)
Formation
Beatbullyz formed after the end of Bullimore's previous musical projects, Nebulae (live
drum and bass
Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
) and Bully Live (solo drum and bass). A former
Salisbury College
Wiltshire College & University Centre is a tertiary college of education founded in 2002 by the merger of Chippenham Technical College, Lackham College and Trowbridge College. Consolidation was completed with the merger of Salisbury College, wh ...
sound engineering student, Bullimore began singing on his own tracks and joined with old friend Dubose, whom he had known for many years, to embark on songwriting together. Bullimore and Dubose had previously trained together in
martial arts. During this period, Stuart Anderson (who had previously been the drummer with Nebulae) joined the group and Phil Murphey (DJ) would later complete the original line-up.
Career
Since their formation, the Beatbullyz have had a busy career performing at local venues in Swindon. In 2008, they came 1st in
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's unsigned band competition, which won them a chance to star in the
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
Hollyoaks
''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a da ...
. In the same year, they released their album ''Rootz''. In 2009, they got their break in the form of
Radio 1's Big Weekend
BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by the BBC's radio station. It is held once a year, in a ...
in Swindon, where they appeared on the "BBC Introducing" stage, introduced by Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens. He invited them back for the Maida Vale Session in July. In August that year, they performed at the Moonfest as well as supporting
Example
Example may refer to:
* '' exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example"
* .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet
** example.com, example.net, example.org, e ...
in the later part of 2009.
In February 2010, they shared a stage with
Scouting for Girls
Scouting for Girls are an English pop rock band. Their name is a play on the title of the 1908 Scouting handbook ''Scouting for Boys''. The band was formed in 2005 by three childhood friends from London, Roy Stride on piano and lead guitar/voca ...
and backed
N Dubz on their tour throughout March into April. Dappy from N Dubz said "Beatbullyz are too unique, I love them, no-one sounds like them, Beatbullyz all the way man." They played their own gigs throughout April, including a performance at the Playaway Festival. The next month they were back at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Wales where Fearne Cotten introduced them, pledging her support when they headlined the BBC Introducing stage. They released their debut single ''Skillz'' that May.
In 2010 they shared a stage with
Eliza Doolittle
Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play '' Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''.
Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower woman, who comes to Prof ...
and performed at the
Wireless Festival
The Wireless Festival is a rap and urban music festival that takes place every year in London, England. It is owned and managed by Live Nation. While it started as primarily a rock and pop festival, in recent years it has focused on hip hop and ...
in July. They unveiled their second release, ''Bounce'' and then their third release ''Human Nature'' and the last release single ''Heartbeat Ft Lizzy Paterson''.Beatbullyz played at the Big Arts Day in Swindon at
Lydiard Park
Lydiard Park is a country park at Lydiard Tregoze, which was its former name, about west of central Swindon, Wiltshire, England, near Junction 16 of the M4 motorway.
The park, which is included on the Historic England Register of Historic Pa ...
. They carried on touring, sharing the stage with such acts as Professor Green and
Tinchy Stryder
Kwasi Esono Danquah III ( ; born 14 September 1986), known by the stage name Tinchy Stryder, is a Ghanaian-British rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and investor.
Stryder has released three solo studio albums, '' Star in the Hood'' ( ...
at Spa Bidlington. They recorded a track with, Lizzie Patterson, sister of Robert Patterson, in 2010. In August, they supported
Jason Derulo
Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwriter. on his UK tour as well as doing their own tour ending in February 2011. In September 2010, Beatbullyz released their album ''Human Nature'' and throughout December supported
JLS
JLS (an initialism of Jack the Lad Swing) are an English boy band, boyband, which consists of members Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill, originally formed by Williams. They initially signed to Tracklacers production ...
on their tour across the UK in 2010. They supported Example in their hometown Swindon at the MECA. Bozo is featured on a track with another local from Swindon, Daine Gooden. In May 2011 they supported
Coolio
Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known professionally as Coolio, was an American rapper. First rising to fame as a member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle, Coolio achieved mainstream success as a sol ...
.
In 2011, Beatbullyz released a non-album single called Shout and an official music video on 31 July 2011. After Beatbullyz released the single, they split up and went onto solo projects. https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/9516934.beatbullyz-split/
Beatbullyz never managed to chart in the UK Top 40.
Disbanding
On 6 February 2012, the group announced the end of Beatbullyz on its
Facebook fan page and promoted a final live performance at Swindon's MECA venue.
Awards
* 2003
Diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...
:U:Music award (dance category)
Discography
Albums
''Human Nature''
* Released 19 September 2010
#"Golden City"
#"Bounce"
#"How The Story Goes"
#"Pieces"
#"Human Nature"
#"Skills"
#"Starlight"
#"Keyz To Life"
#"Heartbeat"
Singles
* "Skills" (May 2010)
* "Bounce" (July 2010)
* "Human Nature" (August 2010)
* "Heartbeat Ft Lizzy Paterson" (August 2010)
* "Shout" (31 July 2011)
Music Videos
* "Skills" (May 2010)
* "Bounce" (July 2010)
* "Human Nature" (August 2010)
* "Heartbeat Ft Lizzy Paterson" (August 2010)
* "Shout" (31 July 2011)
References
{{Reflist
External links
Songkick.comYouTube.comSongkick.comSwindonadvertiser.co.ukSwindonadvertiser.co.ukGuardian.co.ukYouTube.com
English hip hop groups
English ska musical groups
English funk musical groups
British soul musical groups