Maurice Joseph François Engelen (born 7 January 1959), known by his stage name Praga Khan, is a Belgian electronic musician. Khan is considered one of the leading pioneers of the

new beat New beat is a Belgian electronic dance music genre that fuses elements of new wave, hi-NRG,Simon Reynolds: ''Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture.'' Routledge 1999, , p. 124. EBM and hip hop (e.g. scratching).Timor ...

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 ...

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 ...

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

scene that originated in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Khan has also contributed to the theatrical scene with his musical collaborations in ''The Next Dimension'' and ''Code Red''. The group mostly performs in English, but has also released singles in German ('' Tausend Sterne'').

Career

In the late 1980s, Khan teamed up with Jade 4U ( Nikkie van Lierop) and Olivier Adams to form

Lords of Acid Lords of Acid is a Belgian electronic music group, originally formed in 1988 by Praga Khan, Oliver Adams, and Jade 4U. The band is known for their provocative lyrics, blending techno, acid house, and industrial music with themes of sexuality, dr ...

and multiple other projects including Channel X and Digital Orgasm. Khan's most famous solo work is " Injected with a Poison" (1992). The single "Free Your Body / Injected with a Poison", by Praga Khan featuring Jade 4U, reached #16 in the UK. "Rave Alert" also charted (#39). In 1992, Channel X's "Rave the Rhythm" was included in the soundtrack for ''

Basic Instinct ''Basic Instinct'' is a 1992 erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. Starring Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Wayne Knight, the film follows the detective Nick ...

'', after director

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch filmmaker, who has worked variously in the Netherlands, the United States, and in France. He is known for directing genre films with strong satirical elements, often featuring graphic violence and ...

had by chance heard the track in a New York City

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 ...

during the shooting. After this, other tracks were included into other movies, including '' Sliver'', ''

Virtuosity ''Virtuosity'' is a 1995 American science fiction action film directed by Brett Leonard and starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Howard W. Koch Jr. served as an executive producer for the film. The film was released in the United St ...

'', '' Strange Days'' and '' Bad Lieutenant''. He also composed a music album for the video game ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...

'', with Olivier Adams as The Immortals. Khan produced three mixes of the song " Again" for the band

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

, released as B-sides on international CD singles in 1996. In the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

of 1999's '' Music Bank'' box set collection, Alice in Chains guitarist

Jerry Cantrell Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. (born March 18, 1966) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains. The band rose to internatio ...

said of the mixes: With the release of the CD ''21st Century Skin'' in 1999, Khan became a major music act in his home country. The album included the

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'' ...

"Breakfast in Vegas", "Luv U Still" (Pragamatic) and "Lonely". The album sold more than 25,000 copies. This earned him a place at

Rock Werchter Rock Werchter is an annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, Belgium, since 1976 and is a large sized rock music festival. The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014 festivals received the Arthur award for ''best festiva ...

, where he performed live. At the end of 1999, Praga Khan performed as a solo act in the United States for the first time (as an opener for Lords of Acid, with the same musicians) and released the album ''Mutant Funk'' that same year. The album rapidly climbed the

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

, spending two weeks at No. 2 in the Belgian album chart. The band performed at Werchter again, this time as headliners on the big stage on the first day. This was the first Belgian act to achieve this. The album was a success and included the hits "Power of the Flower", "Sayonara Greetings" and "Love". Praga Khan also appeared as a judge on the Belgian edition of ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

''. In June 2010, Khan announced that the Lords of Acid project would be touring the US during July and August 2010, bringing along their friends

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (often shortened to Thrill Kill Kult or TKK) is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago and founded by Groovie Mann (born Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (born Marston Daley). ...

, for what was being billed as the "Sextreme Ball". Although the Lords of Acid had indicated that there was a dispute over the ownership of some of their "official" websites, Khan began using his personal and professional social media accounts, to help raise awareness of the tour. Khan released the album '' SoulSplitter'' in 2013 and performed a concert at

Ancienne Belgique The (''AB'') is a concert hall for contemporary music in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the historic heart of Brussels, it is one of the leading concert venues in Belgium, hosting a wide variety of international and local acts. Some 300,000 pe ...

(with support by Psy'Aviah) to celebrate 25 years on stage. Khan announced via his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that his 10th album ''MindSnatcher'' would be released on 31 March 2015, but the album was delayed due to the re-establishment of Praga Khan's second studio. The new album was renamed ''MindGames'' and the release date was rescheduled for 27 October 2016, but further postponements led the CD to ultimately be released on 21 May 2017.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' A Spoonful of Miracle'' (1993) * '' Conquers Your Love'' (1996) * '' Pragamatic'' (1998) * '' Twenty First Century Skin'' (1999) * '' Mutant Funk'' (2000) * '' Freakazoids'' (2002) * '' Electric Religion'' (2004) * '' Soundscraper'' (2006) * '' SoulSplitter'' (2013) * ''MindGames'' (2017)

Other works

Praga Khan has recorded material with Olivier Adams and Nikkie Van Lierop (Jade 4U), frequently simultaneously. These projects include but are not limited to Channel X, Digital Orgasm, The Immortals,

, MNO and 101.

References

External links

Praga Khan website

Praga Khan Dutch website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Praga 1959 births Living people Belgian new beat musicians Belgian dance musicians Belgian techno musicians Techno musicians Hardcore techno musicians Belgian film score composers Belgian male film score composers People from Herselt 21st-century Belgian musicians 20th-century Belgian composers 21st-century Belgian composers 20th-century Belgian male musicians 21st-century Belgian male musicians English-language musical groups from Belgium German-language musical groups from Belgium