Sean Rhoden, known professionally MeLo-X, is an American

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. MeLo-X co-wrote two songs for

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

's ''

Lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink. There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...

'' album in 2016: " Hold-Up" and " Sorry". MeLo-X is one half of the electro/dancehall/reggae duo Electric Punanny, along with Jasmine Solano. They have toured internationally, performing deejay sets at festivals such as

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

, Afropunk and

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

Early life

MeLo-X was born to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n parents in the

East Flatbush East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the Lon ...

neighborhood of the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

borough of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Career

In 2009, MeLo-X toured with Theophilus London, serving as deejay. On the side, he remixed songs from other artists, without permission. A remix by Melo-X of Yuna's 2012 song " Live Your Life" is heard in ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

'', on the fictional “Worldwide FM” radio station within the game. In 2014, MeLo-X remixed five songs from

's album ''

'', the project titled ''Yoncé-X'', which MeLo-X posted to various websites such as

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Beyoncé's label kept having the remix album removed from each new hosting site for copyright violations, but after seeing the uploaded video for "Drunk in Lust," MeLo-X's unauthorized remix of "

Drunk in Love "Drunk in Love" is a song by Beyoncé featuring American rapper Jay-Z. The duo wrote the song with the help of its producers Detail, Andre Eric Proctor, Rasool Diaz, Brian Soko, Timbaland, J-Roc and Boots. The song was one of the two lead s ...

," Beyoncé invited him to make music for the On the Run Tour, a co-headlining tour by

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

and Beyoncé. MeLo-X relates: "They already had the story and the outline for the tour. The whole story is like you're watching a film and it's narrated by the music that they created... We'd sit and talk about the sounds. Then I'd go and create something. It was a mix of my ideas, with Beyoncé and Jay Z. I'd try to complement them. I'd try to find a meeting point of what I do and what they wanted." MeLo-X said that, for a climactic car-chase scene, he took

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

's song " Hell of a Life", changing and chopping it in the trap EDM style, making it into a two-minute piece to fit the concert visuals. After this, MeLo-X collaborated with Beyoncé and Jay-Z in writing two songs for Beyoncé's ''

'' album: " Hold-Up" and " Sorry". "Hold Up" was certified Gold in the U.S. and Australia, and "Sorry" was certified Platinum in the U.S. MeLo-X said he encountered the song "Hold Up" after much of it had been composed by

Father John Misty Joshua Michael Tillman (born May 3, 1981), better known by his stage name Father John Misty, is an American musician. He is known for his satirical lyrics and eccentric performance style. Tillman began his career in Seattle in the early 2000s. O ...

and

MNEK Uzoechi Osisioma "Uzo" Emenike (; born 9 November 1994), professionally known by his stage name MNEK ( ; a gramogram of Emenike), is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He has been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit Award, and ha ...

. MeLo-X wrote some of the song's lyrics, and provided background vocals, saying, "I love how my vocals were used because it feels like it's a sample under her voice during the chorus." The song "Sorry" was co-written and co-produced by MeLo-X and Wynter Gordon. As well, MeLo-X scored the music for Beyoncé's ''Lemonade'' visual album. MeLo-X also created music and sounds for Beyoncé's

The Formation World Tour The Formation World Tour was the seventh concert tour by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé in support of her sixth studio album, ''Lemonade'' (2016). The all-stadium tour was announced following her guest appearance at the Super Bowl 50 halfti ...

. For instance, when a mechanical lift at center stage rises upward, a sound that MeLo-X designed is played to represent the movement. MeLo-X released an EP titled ''Curate'' in October 2015. The EP took the form of a software application within which the listener can move a pointer to change the beat and the reverb. MeLo-X calls the

octahedron In geometry, an octahedron (: octahedra or octahedrons) is any polyhedron with eight faces. One special case is the regular octahedron, a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex. Many types of i ...

-shaped pointer the "infinity stone." Songs on the EP feature performances by

Little Simz Simbiatu "Simbi" Abisola Abiola Ajikawo (born 23 February 1994), better known by her stage name Little Simz, is a British Rapping, rapper and Acting, actress. She rose to prominence with the independent release of her first three albums: ''A Cur ...

Raury Raury Deshawn Tullis (born June 10, 1996) is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. He is known for his eclectic sound, mixing the genres of soul, hip hop and folk. Born and raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia, he was the inaugural artist signe ...

, and

Kilo Kish Lakisha Kimberly Robinson (born May 10, 1990), known professionally as Kilo Kish, is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist. Early life Kilo Kish was born in Orlando, Florida, on May 10, 1990. She attended Glen Rock Elementary School in ...

. The next year,

PartyNextDoor Jahron Anthony Brathwaite (born July 3, 1993), known professionally as PartyNextDoor (often stylized in all caps), is a Canadian singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer. He was the first artist to sign with Drake's record label OVO Sound ...

hired MeLo-X to bring the same visual style to his Summer's Over Tour. MeLo-X produced and performed on a remix of the song " Find Your Way Back" on the deluxe version of Beyonce's album '' The Lion King: The Gift'' which was released on July 31, 2020, to coincide with the release of the Knowles-Carter/ Disney + film '' Black Is King''.

Electric Punanny

In 2007, MeLo-X met Jasmine Solano at the Sway nightclub in New York City. They collaborated in 2008 to create a monthly deejay party under the name Electric Punanny. The music is a fusion of

electro-funk Electro (also known as electro-funk, and sometimes referred to as electro-pop)
Gl ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

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 ...

. Early shows were at the 205 Club, but the show gained a larger following at the Sway Lounge. The duo began to tour internationally and to release music together. In 2013, they performed in France, Japan and Australia, including a set for the Island Vibe Festival on

Stradbroke Island Stradbroke Island, also known as Minjerribah, was a large sand island that formed much of the eastern side of Moreton Bay near Brisbane, Queensland until the late 19th century. Today the island is split into two islands: North Stradbroke Is ...

(Minjerribah). Personal electronics maker House of Marley sponsored a tour of North America in early 2014, including a performance at the "Do Over Party" in Palm Springs after the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colora ...

. In June 2014, Electric Punanny played the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

, at the Blues Stage in the Silver Hayes area. They played at the

Afropunk Festival The Afropunk Festival began in 2005, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. By 2018, Afropunk Festivals had also been held in various major cities, including Atlanta, London, Salvador (Bahia), Salvador, Dakar, Dakar, and Johannesburg, Jo ...

in Brooklyn in August 2014. The group's

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 ...

-dancehall mashup "Rosa Caleta" was their first release together in October 2014, the song named after a Jamaican restaurant in Berlin. After performing in China, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, the duo played

in March 2015. In 2017, Electric Punanny released the song "Tiger Eye" featuring

Donae'o Ian Greenidge, better known by his stage name Donae'o ( ; meaning ''Gift from God''), is a British singer, songwriter and rapper from North-West London. He has worked with numerous British musicians throughout his career including The Streets, ...

. This was followed by "Gymnastics On Fire", a summer jam featuring the Afro-R&B collective The.Wav, released on the EPINTL label by

Beatport Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards disk jockey, DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that ...

Musical style and influences

MeLo-X brings together in his music many different musical genres, especially

and

from his family's Jamaican heritage. His deejay sets often combine tropical grooves with various

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- ...

and

electronic dance 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 ...

beats. MeLo-X cites

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx, he came to prominence upon discover ...

, the Hot Boys, and rapper DMX along with his producer

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ in 1994. At the age ...

as inspirations for his own music career.

Photography

After taking a trip to

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, MeLo-X had a showing of his photography in 2014 at the

Sean Kelly Gallery Sean Kelly Gallery, founded in 1991 in New York City by British-born Sean Kelly, represents established and mid-career artists, particularly with work based in installation and performance. Owner Sean Kelly began in the British museum world by c ...

in New York.

Production discography

References

External links

MeLo-X on SoundCloud"Drunk in Lust"
on YouTube, the MeLo-X remix performance in January 2014 of Beyoncé's "Drunk in Love" song {{DEFAULTSORT:MeLo-X 1985 births Living people American DJs Record producers from New York (state) Musicians from New York City American people of Jamaican descent