Mad
Professor
A disciple of Lee "Scratch"
Perry, Mad Professor was one of the leading producers in dub
reggae's second generation. His Dub Me Crazy albums helped dub
make the transition into the digital age, when electronic
productions started to take over mainstream reggae in the '80s.
His space-age tracks not only made use of new digital
technology, but often expanded dub's sonic blueprint, adding
more elements and layers of sound than his forebears typically
did. In the mid-'90s, he returned to the basics, debuting a more
retro-sounding style on the Black Liberation Dub series.
Additionally, he ran his own studio and label, Ariwa, which was
home to a stable of vocalists (with an emphasis on lovers rock
and conscious roots reggae) and some of the finest British
reggae productions of the era. As his reputation grew, he became
a remixer of choice for adventurous rock and techno acts, most
notably revamping Massive Attack's entire second album under the
new title No Protection.
Mad Professor was born Neal Fraser (or Neil Fraser) circa 1955
in Guyana, a small country in the northern part of South
America. He earned his nickname as a preteen, thanks to his
intense interest in electronics; he even built his own radio. At
age 13, his family moved to London, and around age 20, he
started collecting recording equipment: reel-to-reel tape decks,
echo and reverb effects, and the like. In 1979, he built his own
mixing board and opened a four-track studio in his living room
in the south London area of Thornton Heath. Calling it Ariwa,
after a Nigerian word for sound or communication, he began
recording bands and vocalists for his own label of the same
name, mostly in the lovers rock vein: Deborahe Glasgow, Aquizim,
Sergeant Pepper, Tony Benjamin, Davina Stone, and Ranking Ann,
among others. Amid complaints from his neighbors, he moved the
studio to a proper facility in Peckham, South London. In 1982 he
recorded his first album, Dub Me Crazy, Pt. 1, and quickly
followed it with a second volume, the successful Beyond the
Realms of Dub. 1983 brought two more volumes, The African
Connection (often acclaimed as one of his best) and the fairly
popular Escape to the Asylum of Dub.
The Ariwa studio was moved
to a better neighborhood in West Norwood during the mid-'80s,
and upgraded for 24-track capability, making it the largest
black-owned studio in the U.K. From there, Mad Professor really
started to make an impact on the British reggae scene. He
produced major hit singles for Ariwa mainstay Pato Banton and
Sandra Cross, and also helmed the breakthrough album for
conscious reggae toaster Macka B, 1986's Sign of the Times. At
the same time, the ragga era was dawning, and all-digital
productions began to take over reggae. As the ragga sound grew
more and more dominant, Mad Professor's brand of dub got spacier
and weirder; while ragga detractors complained that Mad
Professor's work sounded sterile compared to the dub of old,
many praised his otherworldly effects and inventive
arrangements. The Dub Me Crazy albums reached the height of
their experimentalism during the latter part of the '80s,
although by the early '90s they were showing signs of creative
burnout. The 12th and final volume in the series, Dub Maniacs on
the Rampage, was released in 1993. |
Meanwhile, Ariwa
continued to prosper as a label, with further hits by the likes
of Macka B, Pato Banton, Sandra Cross, female singer Kofi,
Intense, Jah Shaka, John McLean, the Robotics, Sister Audrey,
Peter Culture, Johnny Clark, and others. Additionally, he began
to collaborate with some of reggae's better-known figures; most
crucially, he teamed up with main influence Lee "Scratch" Perry
for the first time on the 1989 set Mystic Warrior. In 1991, he
produced the first of several albums for the groundbreaking
veteran DJ U-Roy, the acclaimed True Born African; he also went
on to work with the likes of Yabby You and Bob Andy. He switched
his focus to touring in 1992 and released the 100th album on
Ariwa not long after.
With his high-profile collaborators, Mad Professor started to
make a name for himself outside of the reggae community, and
soon found himself in demand as a remixer for rock, R&B, and
electronica acts. Over the course of the '90s and into the new
millennium, he would remix tracks by Sade, the Orb, the KLF, the
Beastie Boys, Jamiroquai, Rancid, Depeche Mode, and Perry
Farrell, among others. His best-known project, however -- and
the one that truly established his credentials -- was 1995's No
Protection, a completely reimagined version of trip-hop
collective Massive Attack's second album, Protection. Perhaps
creatively refreshed, Mad Professor's own albums started to
regain their consistency in the mid-'90s. Mixing electronics
with rootsier, more organic sounds indebted to the earliest days
of dub, he left behind the Dub Me Crazy moniker to launch a new
series, the subtly Afrocentric Black Liberation Dub. The first
volume was released in 1994, and others followed steadily into
the new millennium, albeit at a less prolific pace than the Dub
Me Crazy installments. More collaborations with Perry and U-Roy
followed as well. In 2005, Mad Professor celebrated Ariwa's 25th
anniversary with a tour of the U.K. alongside Perry and the
double CD retrospective Method to the Madness. ~ Steve Huey, All
Music Guide
Mad Professor Links: |
