4hero (sometimes referred to as 4 Hero or 4-Hero) are an

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

group from

Dollis Hill Dollis Hill is an area in northwest London, which consists of the streets surrounding the Gladstone Park, London, Gladstone Park. It is served by a London Underground station, Dollis Hill tube station, Dollis Hill, on the Jubilee line, providi ...

, London, comprising producers Mark " Marc Mac" Clair & Denis "Dego" McFarlane. 4hero are known for being pioneers of

breakbeat hardcore Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave, oldskool hardcore or simply hardcore) is a music genre that spawned from the UK rave scene during the early 1990s. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from ...

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

broken beat Broken beat (sometimes referred to as "bruk") is an electronic dance music genre that emerged in the late 1990s and is characterized by syncopated beats and frenetic, choppy rhythms, often alongside female vocals and elements inspired by 1970s ja ...

and

nu jazz Nu jazz (also spelt nü jazz or known as jazztronica, or future jazz) is a genre of jazz and electronic music. The music blends jazz elements with other musical styles, such as funk, electronic music, and free improvisation. Nu jazz typically ve ...

music.

Early history, 1989–1995

The main players in 4hero first met and came to prominence in the late 1980s when they were involved in the Strong Island FM

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

station. Marc Mac and Gus Lawrence set up

Reinforced Records Reinforced Records is a British breakbeat hardcore, jungle, and drum and bass record label, first founded in 1989 by 4hero and based in Dollis Hill, London. Reinforced is one of the groundbreaking record labels of the genre.Reynolds, S. (1998) ...

in 1989 to release their own productions as 4hero, with the group being completed by Dego and Ian Bardouille. Their first release was the 1990 single "All B 3 / Rising Son". The follow-up EP, ''Combat Dancin, underpinned the sub-bass pressure of the bleep 'n' bass artists associated with Sheffield's

Warp Records Warp Records is a British independent record label that specialises in Electronic music, electronic, indie rock and experimental music. It was founded in Sheffield in 1989 by Steve Beckett, Robert Mitchell and Robert Gordon. It has released recor ...

, such as LFO and

Nightmares on Wax George Herbert Evelyn (born 15 January 1970), better known by his stage name Nightmares on Wax or DJ E.A.S.E., is an English DJ and record producer from Leeds. His music has been released by Warp Records. He is based in Ibiza. Nightmares on Wax ...

, with mid-tempo hip-hop-style

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...

s. It also brought the group to the attention of the

rave 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 ...

community due to the track "Mr Kirk's Nightmare", which pivoted around the "Get Into Something" break (taken from

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

) and a morbid vocal sample ("Mr Kirk? Your son is dead. He died of an overdose.") taken from the

Bobby Susser Robert Howard Susser (July 18, 1942 – September 15, 2020) was an American songwriter, record producer, and performer, best known for his young children's music. Among some of his several honors, he is the recipient of the "Distinguished Alumn ...

anti-drug Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definitions ...

hit "Once You Understand" by

Think In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, and delibe ...

. 4hero were among the first proponents of what would become known as "drum and bass", which began to grow in profile via a series of releases on Reinforced. Another drum and bass figurehead,

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is an English music producer, DJ, and actor. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musi ...

, was introduced to 4hero by his grlfriend DJ Kemistry at a performance in London's Astoria. Marc and Dego went on to teach and collaborate with Goldie which then brought the sounds Goldie envisioned to life, forming the

Rufige Cru Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is an English music producer, DJ, and actor. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musi ...

and

Metalheadz Metalheadz is a major drum and bass record label based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1994 by Kemistry & Storm and Goldie. History Origins Goldie's early experiences of the rave scene, especially the club ''Rage'' had a profound eff ...

monikers. The band's debut album, ''In Rough Territory'', was released in 1991 on Reinforced Records. This would be the only one of the group's albums to feature Gus and Ian as full members. In late 1992 and early 1993, 4hero would release the

darkcore Darkcore (also referred to as darkside hardcore) is a music genre, music subgenre of breakbeat hardcore in the UK rave scene, that emerged from late 1992. It is recognised as being one of the direct precursors of the genre now known as drum and ...

''Journey from the Light EP'', which according to and referenced by music journalist

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his career at ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He subsequently worked as a freelancer and published a number of books on music and popular culture. Reynold ...

, "If anyone can claim to have invented dark-core, it's 4 Hero". Marc Mac and Dego would also record together under the alias "Tom & Jerry" (releasing classics such as "The One Reason", "We Can Be Free", "Maximum Style", and "Air Freshener"), whilst Marc Mac solely as "Manix" (''Manic Minds EP'', ''Rainbow People EP'', and "Heading to the Light") and Dego as "Tek 9" ("Just a Dream", and ''Return of Tek 9 EP''). In 1995, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' voted 4hero's second album '' Parallel Universe'' the album of the year in its dance category.

1996-present

In 1997, one of their tracks, a

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 ...

Nuyorican Soul Nuyorican Soul is an American music group from New York City, New York. It was formed by Little Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. In 1996, the group released " Runaway". The single reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs cha ...

's "Black Gold of the Sun", was released to critical acclaim with

Louie Vega Luis Ferdinand Vega Jr. (born June 12, 1965), as known as "Little Louie" Vega, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer of Puerto Rican ancestry. He is one half of the Masters at Work musical production team. Biography He was born to a ...

describing it as "...one of the best remixes ever...". The next year, 4hero rose again to mainstream visibility with their third studio album as 4hero, '' Two Pages'' (1998). Released on

Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a broadcaster, DJ, record label and festival owner. He is renowned for his genre-defying approach to music with jazz at its core. From this base he ...

Talkin' Loud Talkin' Loud was a record label, originally founded by Gilles Peterson in 1990 after he left Acid Jazz Records. The label name is based on Peterson's Dingwalls club night "Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Something", itself a reference to James Brown a ...

record label, the

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

CD blended jazzy double bass, flowing breakbeats and a brew of

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

U.F.O. An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

s, and environmentalism. Luke Parkhouse provided the drums while

Ursula Rucker Ursula Desire Rucker is an American spoken word recording artist. Rucker is known for a diverse repertoire, and for using techniques that catch her listeners' attention. Biography Rucker was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where ...

, Carol Crosby and Face V. Walsh provided vocals alongside veteran singer Terry Callier and a few other special guests. The album gained critical acclaim and a place on the shortlist for 1998's

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

as well as picking up a

MOBO Modern Baseball (sometimes abbreviated as MoBo) was an American emo band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of Bren Lukens, Jake Ewald, Sean Huber, and Ian Farmer. The band formed in 2012 at Drexel University and released their first ...

award in the same year. Both this album and artists recording on 4hero's Reinforced label were influential in the development of the broken beat scene. Between 1998 and 2001, they hosted a Sunday night show with

Kirk Degiorgio Kirk Degiorgio, better known as "As One", is a British techno producer and DJ. Born in the late 1960s in Stepney, East London, and raised in Suffolk, he started producing music in the early 1990s. He founded the labels A.R.T. Records and Op-A ...

Kiss 100 FM Kiss is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Kiss Network. Kiss broadcasts nationally to the UK via DAB digital radio, as well as on Bauer's Rayo platform. The station started in 1985 as ...

under the "R Solution" moniker. 4hero's fourth album, '' Creating Patterns'' (2001), featured another

collaboration, an appearance from Jill Scott, and a cover of

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1974 single " Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register. Born in 1947, Riperton grew ...

's classic 1970s song "

Les Fleur "Les Fleur" (also known as "Les Fleurs") () is a song by American singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton, released as the opening song of her 1970 debut studio album '' Come to My Garden''. Background and recording "Les Fleurs" was written by Charl ...

s" with Carina Andersson as the lead vocalist. The latter was featured in a

Baileys Baileys Irish Cream is an Irish cream liqueur made of cream, cocoa and Irish Whiskey emulsified together with vegetable oil. Baileys is made by Diageo at Nangor Road, in Dublin, Ireland and in Mallusk, Northern Ireland. It is the original Ir ...

TV commercial and series 4 of ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

'' (both in 2004). In 2004, the group released a

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 ...

consisting of two discs. The first disc contained 4hero remixes, while the tracks on disc 2 are remixes of 4hero tracks by other artists. This was released on their new label Raw Canvas. In 2006, 4hero was featured on the track "Bed of Roses" by

Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter and producer whose music crosses genres including pop, R&B, jazz, dance and electronic soul.Paoletta, Michael (February 22, 2003) "Watley Relaxes In The Setting of The ...

on her album, '' The Makeover''. Six years after the release of ''Creating Patterns'', '' Play with the Changes'' was released in February 2007 to critical acclaim. ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

'' described it as "their finest album to date" and awarded it the title of Album of the Month in its January 2007 issue. In 2012, the album ''Hipology'' was released under the alia
The Visioneers.

Style

4hero's style was initially uptempo

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

, and has progressed to breakbeat hardcore,

oldschool jungle Jungle is a genre of electronic music that developed in the 1990s out of the UK rave scene and Jamaican sound system culture. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, ...

, and

. Comparisons have been drawn between them and East London band Shut Up and Dance, with both bands evolving in the early 1990s as a rapprochement between the breakbeat-driven African-diasporic musical structures 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 ...

and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

, and the dark, European reconstruction of the techno sound popularised by the likes of

Joey Beltram Joey Beltram (born November 6, 1971) is an American DJ and record producer, best known for his pioneering singles "Energy Flash" and "Mentasm" and for remixing Human Resource (band), Human Resource's "Dominator (Human Resource song), Dominator". ...

CJ Bolland Christian Jay "C. J." Bolland (born 18 June 1971, Stockton-on-Tees, England) is an English-Belgian electronic music producer and remixer with British roots. Born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, Bolland's family moved to Antwerp in Flanders ...

and Mundo Muzique. 4hero both embraced the dynamics of populist rave culture, and maintained an avant-garde status as innovative and experimental producers. They trailblazed genre-crossing studio techniques such as timestretching and

pitch-shifting Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. Effects units that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval ( transposition) are known as pitch shifters. Pitch and t ...

Discography

Albums

* ''In Rough Territory'' (

, 1991) * '' Parallel Universe'' (Reinforced Records, 1994) * ''Jacob's Optical Stairway'' (as Jacob's Optical Stairway) (

R&S Records R&S Records is an independent record label founded in 1983 in Ghent, Belgium. R&S represents the initials of Renaat Vandepapeliere and Sabine Maes, the couple that created the label. R&S Records has had several subsidiaries, most notably Apollo R ...

, 1995) * '' Two Pages'' (

, 1998) * '' Two Pages Remixed'' (Talkin' Loud, 1998) * '' Two Pages Reinterpretations'' (Talkin' Loud, 1999) * '' Creating Patterns'' (Talkin' Loud, 2001) * ''

The Remix Album The Remix Album may refer to: * ''The Remix Album'' (4hero album), 2004 * ''The Remix Album'' (All Saints album), 1998 * ''The Remix Album'' (Champion album), 2006 * ''The Remix Album'' (Lisa Stansfield album), 1998 * ''The Remix Album'' (Milli Van ...

'' (Raw Canvas Records, 2004) * '' Play with the Changes'' (Raw Canvas Records, 2007) * ''Extensions'' (Raw Canvas Records, 2009) * ''Hipology'' (as the Visioneers) (

BBE Records Barely Breaking Even (BBE) is a British record label started by two DJs, Peter Adarkwah and Ben Jolly. The name BBE comes from The Universal Robot Band's 1982 track "Barely Breaking Even". It has two sublabels: Deep Funk, and Urban Theory. ...

, 2012)

Selected singles/EPs

* "All B 3 / Rising Son" (

, 1990) * "Combat Dancin' / Mr Kirks Nightmare" (Reinforced Records, 1990) * "The Scorcher / Kirk's Back" (Reinforced Records, 1990) * "No Sleep Raver/Marimba" (Reinforced Records, 1991) * "The Head Hunter" (Reinforced Records, 1991) * "Cookin Up Ya Brain / Where's the Boy?" (Reinforced Records, 1992) * "Journey from the Light" (Reinforced Records, 1993) * "Golden Age" (Reinforced Records, 1993) * ''Internal Affairs EP'' (with

as Internal Affairs) (Reinforced Records, 1993) * ''Dreamers'' (as Cold Mission) (Reinforced Records, 1994) * ''Afterglow Pt 1&2'' (as Project A-KO) (Reinforced Records, 1994) * "Mr. Kirk" (Sm:)e Communications, 1995) * ''Universal Love EP'' (Selector, 1995) * "Earth Pioneers" (

, 1997) * "Loveless" (Talkin' Loud, 1997) * "Star Chasers" (Talkin' Loud, 1998) * "We Who Are Not as Others" (Talkin' Loud, 1998) * "Escape That" (Talkin' Loud, 1999) * "

" (Talkin' Loud, 2001) * "Morning Child" (Raw Canvas Records, 2007) * "Look Inside" (featuring Face) (Raw Canvas Records, 2008)

References

Articles & Interviews

*Cardew, Ben
"4-Hero are jungle legends: part two of two"
Line Noise, 24 Jul 2024 *Cardew, Ben
"4-Hero are jungle legends: part one of two"
Line Noise, 24 Jul 2024 *Scaruffi, Piero

(cultural historian music database) *Cardew, Ben. '
"

Solid Gold: How 4Hero's 'Two Pages' predicted the future of d&b"
DJ Mag, 23 January 2020 * Deadman, Alex
An Interview with Mark `Marc Mac` Courtesy of We Love Jungle' JunleDrumAndBass.Co.UK
/small> *Dolan, Jon & Matos, Michelangelo.
"The 30 Greatest EDM Albums of All Time:From Kraftwerk to Daft Punk to Deadmau5, it's been a wild ride on the dance floor"
Rolling Stone, 2 August 2012 *Vine, Richard
"A history of dance music: 4hero remix Nuyorican Soul's I Am the Black Gold of the Sun. 1997: Number 32 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance music ."
The Guardian, Wed 15 Jun 2011 *Bellini, Lara (2009)
"4hero presents Extensions Review"
BBC Music *Buttimer, Andrew (2007)
"4hero Play With The Changes Review"
BBC Music

External links

Official siteArchived Site
at Wayback Machine *
Tom and Jerry
discography at

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 ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:4hero English electronic music duos British drum and bass music groups Drum and bass duos Breakbeat hardcore music groups English dance music groups Jungle musicians Musical groups from the London Borough of Brent Reinforced Records artists Sonar Kollektiv artists Talkin' Loud artists Black British musical groups Musical groups established in 1989 British electronic dance music duos