Kashif Adham (born Anthony Hilaire, 1966 – 21 April 2024), better known by the stage name of MC Duke, was a British rapper from the East End of
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. He was one of the pioneers of the early British hardcore rap sound and later went on to produce
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 ...
. Throughout his career he worked with his DJ partner Leader One and was part of IC3.
Biography
Originally a model and dancer, Duke began his music career at a DMC World Championships after show party, where the winner of the MC
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
competition got on stage and boasted that he would beat any rapper who challenged him. Duke climbed on stage to take the challenge, and emerged victorious. The battle was witnessed by Derek Boland, who was acting as an A&R man for Music of Life records. He quickly arranged a meeting between Duke and
Simon Harris
Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish Fine Gael politician serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence since January 2025, having previously served as Taoiseach from 2024 to 2025. He has ...
, the head of the
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, ...
, where instead of bringing a demo tape, Duke rapped live in Harris' office. Harris agreed to sign him.
Duke debuted with the track "Jus-Dis" on the
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 ...
''Hard as Hell'' ( Music of Life, 1987) - an album which also included
Overlord X
Overlord X (born Benjamin Balogun, in Hackney) was one of the earliest British hip hop artists to receive national acclaim in the UK, with his most well known song still being his second single release, "14 Days in May" (Westside Records, 1988) ...
's first track before he was later signed by
Mango Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
: in later years, Duke and X would develop a grudge that led to both producing music belittling each other. In 1988, Duke was support to
Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa (sometimes stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa) is an American hip-hop, hip hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (rapper), Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (rapper), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). ...
on their UK tour.
A series of
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
followed, with Duke finally pairing with longtime partner DJ Leader One on the single "Throw Your Hands in the Air" (Music of Life, 1989) and adding his name to the sleeve with Duke right up to their reincarnation as IC3 for the
EPs
An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
''Excalibur'' ( Shut Up and Dance, 1992).
Duke and Leader One's first album, ''Organised Rhyme'' (Music of Life, 1989), was heavily featured on Music of Life's 1989 ''Hustlers Convention'' album. It contained their most famous single, "I'm Riffin' (English Rasta)" (Music of Life, 1989). The single was popular amongst hip hop fans, and received
airplay
Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...
and often crops up on compilation albums.
More singles followed, as well as the follow-up album ''Return of the Dread-I'' (Music of Life, 1991), but Duke parted company with Music of Life. Following this, he guested on other artists' tracks, such as Phat Skillz' "Dress Like Your Enemy"/"Phat Skillz" (Effect, 1992), before moving to the Shut Up and Dance record label for the IC3 project.
In the 1990s, he linked up with the Suburban Base record label to put out breakbeat and
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'' ...
tracks on his own record label Hard Disk.
An album for Shut Up and Dance never materialised, but Duke continued to guest on other artist's tunes, such as Lisa Pin-Up, DJ Elvira & DJ Modelle's "Another Jam" (Rock Hard Recordings, 2000). Following this, Duke disappeared from the limelight, although his track "I'm Riffin' (English Rasta)" was sampled for C90's dance hit "Miracle Maker (I'm Riffin)" (Twenty-Three Seven Recordings, 2001).
In 2007, he also appeared in UK hip hop artist
Charlie Sloth
Charlie Ian Paul Rouillon (born 20 August 1981), known professionally as Charlie Sloth, is a British DJ, hype man, producer and TV presenter.
Early life Quan, Jay, Pioneering British rapper MC Duke has died at 58 " ''Rock the Bells'', 22 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
Discography
* ''Organised Rhyme'' (Music of Life, 1989)
* ''Return of the Dread-I'' (Music of Life, 1991)
* ''Excalibur EP'' (with IC3 and Leader One) (Shut Up And Dance, 1992)
* ''Dubplate Business'' (as EKUDCM) (Hard Disk, 1993)