Hi-Tek
Hi-Tek played a major role in the highly admired golden-age revivalist sound affiliated with the Rawkus Records collective, crafting many of the label's initial breakthrough releases. While Hi-Tek's production style owes a debt to New York's finest beat-makers from the early '90s -- DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor -- the producer actually arose from Cincinnati's low-key hip-hop scene rather than the streets of Brooklyn. Local mentors such as Ravi T, J-Fresh, and Sen Sai showed the aspiring youth how to craft beats, and by 1992 he had crossed paths with Mood, one of the Midwest city's premier hip-hop groups. Hi-Tek collaborated on the song "Hustle on the Side" and helped the group score a record deal. Years later, the producer befriended Talib Kweli, who was in town working with Mood. This affiliation eventually spawned the Reflection Eternal duo, one of the first acts to put the Rawkus label on the map. But it was Hi-Tek's work with Kweli and Mos Def on the milestone album Black Star (1998) that first made the producer a hot commodity. He next collaborated exclusively with Kweli for Reflection Eternal (2000), an album that crossed over from the b-boy camp to the mass market and became a critically championed coast-to-coast success. Then came Hi-Tek's solo spotlight on Rawkus, Hi-Teknology (2001), which featured a broad range of up-and-coming MCs, including some of his Cincinnati peers. Between releases he produced tracks for a broad array of rappers, including such notables as Snoop Dogg, Blackalicious, and Raphael Saadiq, all the while shopping around for labels to issue his second solo album, finally settling on Babygrande. Hi-Teknology 2 (2006), which included verses from Nas, Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, and of course Kweli, was followed by a much less star-studded Hi-Teknology 3 late the next year.
© Jason Birchmeier /TiVo
Similar artists
Discography
15 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
Hi-Teknology
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by HI-TEK MUSIC, INC. on 2 Feb 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hi-teknology - Volume 2
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Babygrande Records on 17 Oct 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hi-Teknology 3
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Babygrande Records on 11 Dec 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beatbox Studios 2 (1996 Mpc 60ii)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Hi-Tek Music, Inc on 5 Apr 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Revolutions Per Minute
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Blacksmith - Warner Records on 14 May 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Werk Road (1997 Mpc 60)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Hi-Tek Music, Inc on 5 May 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Back Again (feat. RES)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Blacksmith - Warner Records on 9 Jun 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hi-Teknology (The Instrumentals)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by HI-TEK MUSIC, INC. on 31 Jan 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Panorama Apartments (1994 Mpc 60ⅱ)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by HiTek Music, Inc on 5 Feb 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beatbox Studios (1995 Mpc 60ii)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Hi-Tek Music, Inc on 5 Mar 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Where It Started At (NY) (feat. Talib Kweli, Jadakiss, Papoose & Dion) (12")
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Babygrande Records on 21 Dec 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Glen Orchard Drive (1993 Mpc 60)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Hi-Tek Music, Inc on 5 Jan 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strangers [Paranoid] (feat. Bun B)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Blacksmith - Warner Records on 12 Apr 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strangers (Paranoid) [feat. Bun B]
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Blacksmith - Warner Records on 12 Apr 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concealed Revelations
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Space Invadaz LLC on 3 Mar 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo