Mantronix

About Mantronix

Mantronix was founded by Kurtis el Khaleel, who was born in Jamaica, though his family soon moved to Canada and ended up in New York by the late 1970s. He was working behind the decks at Manhattan’s Downtown Records when he met Haitian-born MC Tee, (Touré Embden). After the duo had assembled a demo tape, they gave it to William Socolov, president of Sleeping Bag Records. He signed Mantronix soon after hearing it, and released its debut single, “Fresh is the Word.” In 1986, Mantronix’s debut full-length The Album was released. By that time, Mantronik had also begun working as an A&R representative at Sleeping Bag, where he signed EPMD. By 1987, the duo signed with Capitol/EMI.

Soon after its third album, MC Tee left to join the Air Force. Mantronik replaced him with Bryce Luvah (a cousin of LL Cool J) and DJ Dee (Mantronik’s own cousin).

Mantronik returned in the mid-1990s, recording as Kurtis Mantronik and providing remixes for EPMD, the Future Sound of London, and Violet.