Caveman was a

British hip hop UK rap, also known as British hip hop or UK hip hop or British rap, is a music genre and culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. The development of UK rap was shaped by a distinct set of regional inf ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

originally from

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, England, consisting of MCM, the Principal, and Diamond J. They were the first

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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- ...

group to be signed to a major

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label ...

History

The group's first releases were the twelve inch

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"Victory" (Profile, 1990) and "Fry You Like Fish" (Profile, 1990), and the ''I'm Ready EP'' (Profile, 1990). This established their

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

-based style of hip hop, influenced by U.S.

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

such as

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo, consisting of Houston-born record producer DJ Premier and Boston-based rapper Guru (rapper), Guru. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2003, and is considered a widely influential MC-and-pr ...

. The

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

"I'm Ready", however, was based on

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

's, " Crosstown Traffic" and showed early on a liking for the harder style that they adopted for later releases. "I'm Ready" was a popular song, and still regularly turns up on hip hop

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s today. Their debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''Positive Reaction'' was released by Profile in 1990. The following year, the group released ''The Victory EP'' (Profile, 1991) and then took a break from recording. They returned with ''The Whole Nine Yards...And Then Some'' in 1992. Shortly after the release of the album, the group decided to go their separate ways. MCM had a short-lived solo career, releasing some twelve inches and guesting on other artists' tracks - such as

Dodge City Productions Dodge City Productions (DCP) were a British hip hop/acid jazz group based in London formed by IG Culture (real name Ian Grant) and DJ Dodge (real name Roger Drakes). They were one of the leaders of the acid jazz movement, and also received acclaim ...

' "Understand This" from their ''Steppin' Up and Out'' (

4th & Broadway 4th & B'way Records (pronounced and spelled out completely as Fourth and Broadway Records in the UK) is a US-based subsidiary of Island Records that specialised in street-oriented music such as hip hop. Established in 1984, it was the flagship ...

, 1993) album. The Principal went on to produce other artist's tracks, such as a remix of Run-D.M.C.'s "Ooh, What'cha Gonna Do?" from their '' Down with the King'' (Profile, 1993) album. Diamond J went on to provide scratches for Maxim's ''Hell's Kitchen'' (XL Recordings, 2000) album. Almost 20 years after the last Caveman album, front man MCM incorporated the name Caveman on his first solo studio album '' The Gospel: The Missing Gems of MCM Caveman'' (I-innovate UK, 2011). The double album included several unreleased tracks from the 1990s.

Discography

Chart singles

*"I'm Ready" (1991) - UK #65

Chart albums

*'' Positive Reaction'' (1991) - UK #43 *''The Whole Nine Yards And Then Some'' (1992)

References

External links

Discog's MCM page

Discog's Caveman page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caveman English hip-hop groups Profile Records artists