HeRBaN LyRiX: MiCHie Mee & L.A. LuV`s "JaMaiCaN FuNK CaNaDiaN STyLe"...

Thursday, April 11, 2013

MiCHie Mee & L.A. LuV`s "JaMaiCaN FuNK CaNaDiaN STyLe"...

Re-uPP`d, originally posted on 04.18.2007...

Today I`m gon` share with y`all the debut album from Michie Mee (Canada`s 1st Lady of Hip Hop) titled "Jamaican Funk Canadian Style". The album was released in 1991 on the label First Priority Music. Now for those that aren`t too familiar with Michie Mee, I will do my best to share with y`all what I know of her & it sparks off a lil` something like this. Michelle McCullock a.k.a. Michie Mee to the Hip Hop World was born in Jamaica, but relocated to Toronto, Ontario Canada at a young age where she grew up in the infamous Jane & Finch neighborhood. Michie was influenced by Hip Hop at an early age, performing professionally by the age of 14. By around 1985 she hooked up with a local DJ who went by the name of L.A. Luv & the 2 formed a duo simply called Michie Mee & L.A. Luv...

While payin` dues & perfectin` skills the duo ended up having 2 of their tracks featured on the 1987 all~Canadian HiP HoP compilation titled "Break`n Out". The compilation itself was produced by the late Scott La Rock (R.I.P.) & KRS-One of Boogie Down Productions. The featured tracks were titled "Elements Of Style" & "Run For Cover". The duo`s first single "Elements Of Style" really got them some shine. Folks definitely started to take notice of Michie`s presence on the mic, especially the folks down in the US. It wasn`t long after the release of the single, a year later actually, in 1988 all her hard work finally paid off because she became the 1st Canadian rapper to sign a major deal with an American record label. First Priority/ Atlantic was her new home, L.A. Luv`s as well. In that same year the Canadian duo was featured on the compilation album titled "The First Priority Music Family: Basement Flavor" on the tracks "On This Mic" which also featured MC Lyte & "Victory Is Calling"...

Three years later the duo released their debut album titled "Jamaican Funk - Canadian Style" in 1991. With the help of the single "Jamaican Funk" the album itself sold roughly 60, 000 units in the US. The album was also nominated for a Juno Award in Canada in 1992. A few years after the album`s release Michie Mee ended up in some legal drama, so eventually the duo broke up. L.A. Luv jumped ship & started to work with another Canadian Hip Hop group called the Dream Warriors, switching up his name to DJ Luv. He joined the Dream Warriors just before they dropped their second album titled "Subliminal Simulation" in 1994...

After starting her solo career in 1995 she also became a vocalist for the Alternative Rock/ Reggae band Raggadeath, they had the charting single "One Life" & music video for "Dance With The Devil". In 2000 she released the comeback album titled "The First Cut Is The Deepest" which is pretty rare & expensive to own. She also branched out into acting & was featured in the CBC Television series "Drop The Beat" & films titled "My Baby`s Daddy" & "In Too Deep" to name a some of the projects that she`s been featured in. Now as for her debut album? It makes for a decent listen with it`s Canadian influenced Dancehall/Reggae vibes. Standout joints for me are the title track "Jamaican Funk Canadian Style", "We`ve Arrived In America", "You`re Feisty", "A Portion From Up North", "Canada Large" & the bonus track "Jamaican Funk". So there ya have it y`all, my opinion`s all over this review but that`s just exactly how it`s supposed to be. So go on & check out the music & please excuse the misspelled file name.....LoL, everything else is tagged correctly & yes it`s in 320 so enjoy...