(from the Apple website)

New York City in the early 1980s was a hotbed of musical and artistic creativity. Hip hop and punk, two freshly-minted sounds from disaffected youths on both sides of the Atlantic were just starting to register on the cultural radar.

In clubs like Danceteria and the legendary Paradise Garage, DJs were uniting people of all colors, creeds and sexual orientations with groovy, soul-reaching sets that defied expectations and blurred genre distinctions. It’s not unusual to hear on a night out such unexpected but invigorating juxtapositions as “Music” by D-Train and “Jump” by Van Halen, or Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy” with Madonna’s “Into the Groove”. It was in these heady days of innovation and cultural cross-pollination that Kurtis Mantronik first wrote and produced a string of hip hop-powered songs that would forever change the style and substance of hip-hop, r&b, dance, and rock.

Moving as fast as the scene from indies to major labels Released in 1985, Mantronik’s “Fresh is the Word” sold briskly and gave Kurtis a tantalizing taste of success and the confidence to push on. Other hits soon followed, including classics such as “Bassline,” “Ladies,” “Cold Getting Dumb,” and “Who Is It?” There was clearly something about the Mantronik sound that connected with the forward-thinking club denizens as each new release invariably ruled clubland. His 1987 production of Joyce Sims’ sublime “Come into My Life” yielded a Top Ten hit and further solidified his reputation as a gifted and versatile producer/songwriter.

By the late 1980s, with major labels eager to bank on the rapidly growing hip hop market, Kurtis signed to Capitol Records amid much fanfare in what was the first million dollar hip hop record deal. It was during the Capitol years that Kurtis released his biggest hit, “Gotta Have Your Love,” a compelling r&b groover with a madly infectious bassline that went on to become a chart topper in several countries.

Clearly, Kurtis follows the beat of a different beatbox when it comes to his music. Many of his productions foreshadowed major popular music trends of the past decade. Such early Mantronik-produced r&b/hip hop fusion classics, as for instance, “Hungry for Your Love” by Hanson and Davis and “Come Into My Life” by Joyce Sims foretold the rise of Teddy Riley’s “New Jack Swing” sound and Puffy Daddy’s “Uptown/Badboy” vibe. Similarly, tracks like “Bassline” and “Who Is It?,” featuring the decidedly novel fusion of big fat analog-synth sounds with raw breakbeats, laid the groundwork for successive generations of electro and techno producers (i.e. big beat, digital hardcore, drum and bass, etc.).