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Us3

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Us3 is a British jazz rap group, founded in 1992 by the London producer Geoff Wilkinson. The name comes from Us Three, a 1960 album by Horace Parlan, produced by Alfred Lion, the founder of Blue Note Records. The debut album Hand on the Torch used samples of Blue Note tracks from Lion's catalogue. Jazz rap is a hip hop genre that uses jazz recordings as its basis.

Music and breakthrough

In the early 1990s Wilkinson made two recordings under the name Us3. In 1990 Where Will We Be in the 21st Century was released, a limited-edition white-label record that attracted the attention of the independent label Ninja Tune. In 1991 came the single The Band Played The Boogie by NW1, with the British rapper Born 2 B. After that he founded Us3 with his production partner Mel Simpson. One of their demos, recorded in March 1992, was Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia), featuring the British trumpeter Gerard Presencer. The song uses a sample of Cantaloupe Island by Herbie Hancock. In 1993 it became world famous and in the Netherlands was made an Alarmschijf (Dutch national radio's "alarm record" for a rising hit), after which it reached number eighteen in the Top 40.

Influence

Albums followed such as Broadway & 52nd in 1996, An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place in 2001 and Schizophonic in 2006. In 2014 the group laid down its work. Wilkinson turned to film and library music. In 2025 Soundtrack was released, with trap rhythms and big band orchestration. Us3 showed that jazz and hip hop reinforce each other well.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia). Notice the recognisable piano loop from Cantaloupe Island, the trumpet and the calm hip hop rhythm underneath.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: ArtistsNu jazzJazz rap