DEGO "2000 Black" (Poster Print)

Dennis McFarlane, aka Dego, has touched on soul, jazz, boogie, jungle, drum and bass, breakbeat, techno, hip hop, and Brazilian under a number of monikers including Cousin Cockroach, Tek 9, Jacob’s Optical Staircase and is known as one of the leading founders of the broken beat scene alongside the Bugz In The Attic crew. His early career encompassed the early jungle and hardcore scene, co-founding Reinforced Records, known as one of the most important and innovative drum & bass labels in the world. Together with Marc Mac, they formed the legendary 4Hero, securing the prestigious Mercury Prize for the album “Two Pages”. Together they made arguably one of the greatest remixes in dance history for the single “I Am The Black Gold of the Sun” by Nuyorican Soul, a cover of the Rotary Connection song and early recording featuring Minnie Ripperton. In 1998, He started his own record Label 2000 Black, named after the 1975 Roy Ayers track with Fela Kuti, releasing a number of broken beat classics like our all time favourite “Got Me Puzzled” with frequent collaborative partner, the mighty Kaidi Tatham. Shifting gears over the past decade, the two have crafted a mighty roster of what could be called “futureboogie”, not only on 2000Black but also on Falty DL’s Blueberry Records, Eglo Records, Theo Parrish’s Sound Signature & Wildheart Recordings (Please see the epic remix masterpiece “It’s Just Begun”), often with label mates Matt Lord & Akwasi Mensah assisting on keys and drums. A few years back we had the honour of hosting him here in Toronto and this piece was originally created for the promo material.