Touré Embden (born September 3, 1964), known by the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

MC Tee, is a Jamaican American emcee and co-founder (with DJ

Kurtis Mantronik Kurtis el Khaleel (born Graham Curtis el Khaleel, September 4, 1965), known by the stage name Kurtis Mantronik, is a Jamaican-born hip hop and electronic-music artist, DJ, remixer, and producer. He was the leader, DJ, and keyboardist of the inf ...

) of the 1980s

old school hip hop Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contem ...

and electro funk group

Mantronix Mantronix was an influential 1980s hip hop and electro funk music group from New York City. The band was formed by DJ Kurtis Mantronik (Kurtis el Khaleel) and rapper MC Tee (Touré Embden). The group is primarily remembered for its pioneeri ...

Early years

MC Tee was born in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

with his family to the United States and eventually settled in the Flatbush section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, New York.

Mantronix emcee

In 1984, Brooklyn native MC Tee met

at Downtown Records in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, where MC Tee was a regular customer, and Mantronik worked as the in-store DJ. The duo soon made a demo, formed the group Mantronix, and eventually signed with

Sleeping Bag Records Sleeping Bag Records is a defunct New York City-based independent record label founded by musician Arthur Russell and entrepreneur Will Socolov. It was active between 1981 and 1992, and specialized in dance music and hip hop. Background and ...

. MC Tee co-wrote Mantronix's debut single, "Fresh is the Word," a club hit in 1985, reaching #16 on the

Hot Dance Singles Sales In the issue dated March 16, 1985, ''Billboard'' magazine debuted its first chart devoted exclusively to 12-inch Singles Sales. The 50-position weekly ranking joined ''Billboard''s established Club Songs chart, reduced to the same 50 positions, ...

chart. "Fresh is the Word" was featured on Mantronix's debut album, '' Mantronix: The Album'', which was released the same year. Mantronix's second album, '' Music Madness'', was released in 1986. While MC Tee's rhyming style on the album continued in the traditional b-boy fashion of the times, Mantronik's club oriented production and mixing in ''Music Madness'' tended to attract more

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

and electro funk aficionados than hardcore,

fans. In 1987, Mantronix signed with

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerou ...

/ EMI and released ''

In Full Effect ''In Full Effect'' is the third album by the hip hop-electro funk group Mantronix, released in 1988. It was the first Mantronix album released on Capitol Records. ''In Full Effect'' was the highest charting hip-hop album for Mantronix, reaching # ...

'' the following year (1988). MC Tee abruptly left Mantronix shortly after the release of ''In Full Effect'' to enlist in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

. In a 1997 interview with

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

, Kurtis Mantronik commented on the departure of MC Tee from Mantronix: Mantronix continued for two more albums following MC Tee's departure, 1990's '' This Should Move Ya'' and 1991's '' The Incredible Sound Machine'', with Bryce "Luvah" Wilson replacing MC Tee, before the group finally disbanded in 1991.

Current whereabouts

Touré Embden was arrested and subsequently convicted of child molestation and given a 15 Year term in 2003. He served 6 years and was released in 2009. Speculation has surfaced on Mantronix and Kurtis Mantronik fan sites regarding a reunion of the original Mantronix line-up, but as of 2019, a reunion has yet to materialize. Touré Embden is listed as having lived in both Stone Mountain and Lilburn, Georgia.

References

External links

AllMusic.com Biography - MC Tee 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 Musi ...

Discogs.com Profile - MC Tee
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tee, MC 1964 births Living people American rappers of Jamaican descent Jamaican emigrants to the United States Jamaican rappers Mantronix members Rappers from Brooklyn United States Air Force airmen 21st-century American rappers Sleeping Bag Records artists