Todd Norton Terry (born April 18, 1967) is an American DJ,

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

er in the genre of

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

. His productions helped define the New York house scene in the 1990s and used extensive samples that blend the sounds of classic

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

, the Chicago house sound, and elements of

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

.Bush, Joh
Todd Terry Biography

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, retrieved July 2, 2011 He has remixed a wide variety of artists.

Musical career

Todd Terry was influential in moving house music beyond the early

Chicago house Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the original house music of DJs and producers from the area, such as Ron Hardy and Phuture History and origins D ...

sound of 1984–86. He crossed the sounds of house with

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

breaks to create a more energized and popular sound that was able to reach commercial success outside the underground house scene. His productions extensively used samples that blend the sounds of classic

, the Chicago house sound, and elements of hip-hop.Bush, Joh
Todd Terry Biography

, retrieved July 2, 2011 Terry began his career in the 1980s, DJing at parties in New York. At first, he played

Italo disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, ...

and hip-hop. Later he concentrated on house music upon its mid-'80s emergence.Larkin, Colin (1999) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music'', Virgin Books; , p. 337 He debuted as

Masters at Work Masters at Work is the American garage house production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. The duo has produced music together under the names MAW, KenLou, Sole Fusion, Hardrive, and Nuyorican Soul. They have bee ...

with the 12-inch "Alright Alright" (1987, Fourth Floor)Discogs:Masters at Work (Todd Terry):Alright Alright
,

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

; retrieved July 30, 2013 and an edit from this was then included on the Chicago house vanguard compilation ''Jackmaster 1'' (1987, D.J. International/Westside UK).Discogs:V/A:Jackmaster
,

; retrieved July 30, 2013. Much of Terry's early work in the late 1980s is considered a milestone in the development of house and

rave music A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

. He was responsible for releasing two of the house era's most respected crossover remixes: " I'll House You" by the

Jungle Brothers Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop trio composed of Michael Small (Mike Gee), Nathaniel Hall (Afrika Baby Bam) and Sammy Burwell (DJ Sammy B). Hailed as pioneers of the fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and house music, they were the first hip-hop g ...

(summer 1988) and "

Missing Missing or The Missing may refer to: Film * ''Missing'' (1918 film), an American silent drama directed by James Young * ''Missing'' (1982 film), an American historical drama directed by Costa-Gavras about the 1973 coup in Chile *, a Belgian film ...

" by

Everything but the Girl Everything but the Girl are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer, songwriter, composer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer, producer and sing ...

as a re-release in October 1995. His music was a driving force within the "

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

" scene in the UK with many tracks such as "Back to the Beat", "Can You Party", "A Day in the Life", "

Weekend The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week, devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most o ...

", "Party People", "Yeah, Buddy" and "Dreams of Santa-Anna", released under multiple aliases including the Todd Terry Project, Royal House, Black Riot, Swan Lake and Orange Lemon. In the summer of 1988 at the peak of the UK acid house movement, "Can You Party" under his Royal House moniker reached No. 14 in the UK. Terry's notable releases during the 1990s include " Something Goin' On" and " Keep on Jumpin'", which were UK top-ten hits,Tod Terry
, Chart Stats; retrieved 2011-0702Todd Terry Featuring Martha Wash And Jocelyn Brown
, Chart Stats; retrieved July 2, 2011. with the

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

on both provided by

Jocelyn Brown Jocelyn Lorette Brown (born November 25, 1950), sometimes credited as Jocelyn Shaw, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and dance music, dance singer. She has a Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart entry solely in her name. Brown sang ...

and

Martha Wash Martha Elaine Wash (born December 28, 1953) is an American singer and songwriter. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the The Weather Girls, Two Tons O' Fun, along with Izora Armstead, as they sang b ...

Freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

artist Shannon was the featured vocalist on the UK top 20 hit " It's Over Love" in 1997, which topped the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Dance/Club Play Songs chart in the US, as did " Just Wanna Dance / Weekend"." Todd Terry Chart History: Singles, Billboard.com; retrieved July 2, 2011.Todd Terry Presents Shannon
, Chart Stats; retrieved July 2, 2011. An album, '' Ready for a New Day'', was also released in 1997, featuring "Something Goin' On", "Keep on Jumpin'" and "It's Over Love". It reached No. 84 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. In 1996, he remixed "

Stranger in Moscow "Stranger in Moscow" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his ninth studio album, '' HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I'' (1995). The song was released as the fifth and final single in Europe in September 1996 by Epic Records ...

" for

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

. In 1999, inspired by the

drum & bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre ...

genre, Terry released ''Resolutions'' on

Astralwerks Records Astralwerks (or Astralwerks Records) is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music that is now owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in ...

. He also worked on the albums '' One Half of a Whole Decade'' and ''

Live & Remastered ''Live & Remastered'' (subtitled ''20th Anniversary Box Set'') is a box set released by the record label of British nightclub Ministry of Sound in September 2011. It was released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Ministry of Sound, as part ...

''. Throughout his career, Terry has used several aliases including Hard House, Swan Lake, Orange Lemon, Royal House, and Black Riot.Kogan, Frank (1989)
The Todd Terry Project ''To The Batmobile Let's Go''
, ''

SPIN Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'', April 1989, p. 110; retrieved July 2, 2011 As Black Riot, "Warlock/A Day in the Life" was released as a single on the

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

label and entered the UK Singles Chart on December 3, 1988, reaching a peak position of number 68. He also recorded under the monikers CLS,

(with Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez and "Little" Louie Vega), Dredd Stock, House of Gypsies, Limelife, Tyme Forse, and the Gypsymen (scoring a number-one ''Billboard'' Hot Dance/Club play hit in 1992 with " Hear the Music"). Terry co-produced the song "Shake" on

P.M. Dawn P.M. Dawn is an American hip-hop and R&B act formed in 1988 by the brothers Attrell Cordes (known by his stage name Prince Be, sometimes credited as Prince Be the Nocturnal) and Jarrett Cordes (known as Eternal or DJ Minutemix) in Jersey City ...

's debut album '' Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience''. The song ended with the repeated lyric "Everyone thank Todd Terry". He also produced "The House of Isis" from

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

' 1990 album ''Rebel Soul''. In October 2004, "Weekend" by the Todd Terry Project appeared in the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

'' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', playing on house music radio station SF-UR. In 2007, Terry formed the Todd Terry All Stars, bringing

Kenny Dope Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez (born June 7, 1970), also sometimes known as K-Dope, is an American record producer and disc jockey. He is one half of the classic house music Masters at Work musical production team with Little Louie Vega; and also releas ...

DJ Sneak Carlos Sosa (born November 5, 1969), known as DJ Sneak, is a Puerto Rican-born American DJ and record producer raised in Chicago, Illinois, United States. He is noted as being one of the second wave of Chicago house producers, (alongside Derrick ...

and

Terry Hunter Terry Hunter is an American house music DJ from Chicago, Illinois. He has been active in the Chicago music scene since the early 1990s. He has produced many of his own albums, as well as remixes for other artists. Career In 1990, Hunter prod ...

together to release the single "Get Down" featuring and co-written by

Tara McDonald Tara Jane McDonald (born 9 September 1976) is an English singer-songwriter and vocalist. She is signed to Play Two/Warner Music. McDonald achieved success working and co-writing with Armand van Helden and Axwell on the chart hits " My My My" ...

. The follow-up, "Play On", also featured McDonald and was released in 2007 on

Strictly Rhythm Strictly Rhythm is an American house music record label. History The label was founded on May 1, 1989, by Gladys Pizarro and Mark Finkelstein, who were both working as A&R in a label called Spring Records. Working with house music artists ...

Defected Records Defected Records, or simply Defected, is a British independent record label specialising in house music recordings, compilation albums, events, publishing, artist bookings and management. Defected is one of the longest running independent lab ...

and then re-released in 2009 with a remix by Eddie Thoneick.

Record labels

InHouse Records was launched by Terry in 1999. It has been the vehicle through which Todd is able to release tracks to his fans without a filter. Currently, Inhouse has over 500 commercially available tracks in the catalog including releases by House of Gypsies,

Roland Clark Roland Clark may refer to: * Roland Clark (DJ), American house music DJ, producer, songwriter and vocalist * Roland Clark (painter) Roland Clark (April 2, 1874 – April 13, 1957) was an American painter. His work was part of the painting ...

, Shawnee Taylor, Kelly Sajda, Gypsymen, Black Riot, Leon Cormack, Lewis Beck, DJ E-Clyps and Todd Terry All Stars. In 2000, Terry launched SoundDesign Records, the home to some of the harder tracks and artists he is working with, including releases from Danny Genius, Space Kadets, and Friscia and Lamboy. In 2013, Terry released the album ''Todd Terry vs. That Trap Shitt'' on

Tommy Boy Entertainment Tommy Boy Records is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Amber, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digita ...

Discography

;Selected discography * ''Can You Party'' (Royal House) (1988) * '' To the Batmobile Let's Go'' (The Todd Terry Project) (1988) * ''Come Over Here, Baby'' (Royal House) (1990) * ''This Will Be Mine'' (Todd Terry Presents Sax) (1991) * ''Todd Terry Project'' (The Todd Terry Project) (1992) * ''Todd Terry Presents Sound Design Part II'' (Sound Design) (1992) * Jumpin' (1994) * ''A Day in the Life of Todd Terry'' (1995) * '' One Half of a Whole Decade'' (DJ mix) (1996) * '' Ready for a New Day'' (1997) * '' Sessions Eight'' (DJ mix) (1997) * ''Resolutions'' (1999) * ''Culturistic'' (Gypsymen, 2003) * ''

'' (DJ mix) (2011)

''
DJ Magazine ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lati ...
'' Top 100 DJs

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terry, Todd 1967 births Living people African-American DJs American garage house musicians American club DJs DJs from New York City American electronic dance music DJs Musicians from Brooklyn Rappers from Brooklyn American remixers Deep house musicians Astralwerks artists Innocent Records artists Ministry of Sound artists Tommy Boy Records artists Virgin Records artists Warlock Records artists 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people