Ultramagnetic MCs

Ultramagnetic MCs
Ultramagnetic MCs (Kool Keith and Ced-Gee pictured) performing at I'll Be Your Mirror in Asbury Park, New Jersey, 2011
Background information
Origin	The Bronx, New York, NY, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	1984–2001 2006–present
Labels	Diamond International (1984–1986) Next Plateau (1986–1991) Mercury/PolyGram Records (1991–1992) Wild Pitch/EMI Records (1993–1994) Tuff City (1994–?) DMAFT (2006–present)
Associated acts	MF911 The 45 King King Bee Godfather Don DJ Red Alert Boogie Down Productions The Prodigy Rahzel
Members	Kool Keith Ced Gee TR Love Moe Love BIG.DDJ Jaycee
Past members	Rooney Roon Ronnie T Tim Dog

The Ultramagnetic MCs is an American hip hop group based in Bronx, New York. Founded by Kool Keith, the group is also composed of Ced Gee, TR Love, and Moe Love.Tim Dog became an unofficial member in 1989. In 1990, DJ Jaycee was added as Roadmanager and backup DJ. Big.D was put down with the crew by Kool Keith in 1989. In 2006 Kool Keith and Big.D formed the supergroup The Commissioner, and in 1999 Big.D and D.J Moe-Love also formed the powerhouse group Slaughterhouse-Cartel. A former member, Rooney Roon, was fired following an assault arrest. Beat-boxing legend Rahzel was also involved with the group early in its career. The group's work was associated with unorthodox sampling, polysyllabic rhymes, and bizarre lyrical imagery.

The Ultramagnetic MCs formed in 1984. Their first single was "To Give You Love" (1985) on the Diamond International label. The group's worldwide buzz started with "Ego Trippin'," its first 12-inch single on Next Plateau Records in 1986. It was the first hip hop song to feature the "Synthetic Substitution" drum break sample, composed by Melvin Bliss and one of the most sampled songs of all time. The group's next single was "Traveling At The Speed of Thought (Original)"/"M.C.'s Ultra (Part Two)" followed by "Funky/Mentally Mad," one of the most sought-after 12-inch singles of its career. Funky was based on a Joe Cocker piano sample later used as the basis for Dr. Dre and Tupac's California Love. It was released in 1987. This led to the release of the group's first album.

The Ultramagnetic MCs released a new school classic in 1988, Critical Beatdown, introducing many new sampling techniques. Many believe that without the group's primary producer, Ced Gee, the golden era of sampling may have looked very different. Ced, while uncredited, also produced the majority of Boogie Down Productions' seminal Criminal Minded. These albums are among the first to use "chopped" samples, rearranged and edited to change context. Both albums also feature many James Brown samples, which became very prominent in Hip Hop in ensuing years. KRS-One has been quoted as saying that he was very close to joining Ultramagnetic MCs early on. Paul C. was also a major contributor to Critical Beatdown, producing "Give The Drummer Some," and engineering most of the album. Paul C. also produced the Hip-House mix of "Traveling At The Speed Of Thought", which was used as the group's first music video, and was their sole release in 1989. The single's b-side, "A Chorus Line", became one of Ultramagnetic's most popular songs and introduced new group affiliate Tim Dog. A variation of the "A Chorus Line" instrumental was used as the basis of Tim Dog's debut single, the Ced Gee-produced "Fuck Compton", which became a modest hit and is credited with helping to spark the East coast/West coast feud of the mid 1990s.