Overlord X

b. c.1968. Hackney, London, England. Overlord X is a Brit-rapper who first arrived on Music Of Life’s Hard As Hell compilation. However, he made his name with the verve of two excellent albums for Island Records, which were particularly successful in Europe. Indeed, X Versus The World went platinum in France, making it the most popular hardcore hip-hop album in that territory. Although not immediately recognizable as hardcore in the musical sense, there remained a lyrical exactitude that defied compromise. The influence of Public Enemy and Chuck D. , in particular, has always been self-evident, notably on cuts like ‘Prologue 1990’, which featured a sample of the former’s ‘Bring The Noise’. However, Overlord had little time for N.W.A.’s ghetto-romanticism: ‘Trying to say we’re niggers, who the fuck are you? Coming from this brother with an attitude’ (‘You Can’t Do It In London’). An alliance with ragga stars Midrange and Kandy on X Versus The World proved his diversity. He also produced their recordings as part of the X-Posse, and began work on his own film and a documentary about Hackney. Perhaps Overlord X’s influence in the medium of television has had the greatest impact, however. Terry Jarvis, a well-known BBC producer, directed the promo clip, ‘14 Days In May’, through which Janet Street Porter commissioned him to provide continuity links between sections of Def II. He subsequently became producer for that show for 18 months, before providing the title-song and music for sitcom The Real McCoy. However, a 1992 recording contract with Jarvis was less successful. His imprint, Down To Jam, was financed by Motown Records, but its life span was truncated by financial considerations. Overlord X, no longer employing that name, regrouped in 1994 as part of Benz.
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