Blak Prophetz
| Blak Prophetz | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mark Anthony Duffus |
| Also known as | Sure Shot |
| Born | Walsall, Staffordshire, England |
| Genres | Hip hop, jazz, funk |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer, rapper |
| Instruments | Drums, vocals |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Kold Sweat, Digital Jukebox Records, Demon |
| Associated acts | Joyce Sims, Fonda Rae, Ced Gee, Yvonne Curtis, Funk Division , Afrika Bambaataa |
| Website | www |
Mark Duffus born Mark Anthony Duffus is of Jamaican descent and performs as Sure Shot or Blak Prophetz. He is originally from the West Midlands in England where he formed the band called Blak Prophetz in the early 1980s. He has been an English rapper, songwriter, record producer, drummer and DJ since 1979 whose inspiration came from his father, who was also a DJ from Jamaica.
There were other tracks by Sure Shot under a different name i.e. the Audio Kingz, which could be found on an album entitled "The Wheel Project" by Ruff N Ready Records released in 1990. The initial song was named The Sure Shot Dope Tracks Pt 1.
Their first known track was called Fax on Wax which was released by a London record label called Kickin Records now considered rare and has fetched up to £30 in auctions.
During the verses Sure Shot made references to early rap bands like the Sugarhill Gang and Cold Crush Brothers. It achieved a number 9 in the UK Echo's Jazz Charts which was compiled by Steve Chandler in the edition of 18 May of Echoes magazine in 1991 John Mayor, a contributing writer for Mixmag, described the song as a "cool jazz attack for Ladbroke Grove's pavement posse".
John Slater, a reviewer for the Hip Hop Connection magazine researched Sure Shot's past and during the review he touched on how his parents travelled from Jamaica in the 50's and how his father, who was a DJ, inspired his love for making music. Slater also went on to describe how Sure Shot was regularly tasked with "humping massive sound systems around" with his father. These would have been large speakers often carried around when his father was doing a show or was involved in a possible sound clash.
He eventually left Kickin Records to sign a new record deal with London's new Hip Hop record label called Kold Sweat Records based in Ladbroke Grove. Kold Sweat was run by Tony Powell who was also the Managing director of Pinnacle Entertainment and was home to some of the UK's prime hip hop acts of that era including the Son of Noise. Their new single entitled Chapter One was recorded in 1992 and shortly after this release Sure Shot decided to relocate to live in London to pursue his musical career.
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Wikipedia