4hero

One of the most celebrated drum & bass acts to emerge from the U.K. rave scene, 4Hero is comprised of producers Dego McFarlane and Mark Clair. The pair joined forces in the mid-‘80s around a shared love of underground hip-hop and involvement with London’s pirate radio scene. When the U.K. acid house explosion occurred, 4Hero set up their Reinforced label, releasing early examples of the breakbeat-fueled hardcore that was to evolve into drum & bass (their seminal 1991 track “Mr. Kirk’s Nightmare” is considered a classic of early junglist hardcore). By the late-‘90s, as their contemporaries ventured into darkside and techstep, 4Hero reached for soulful, jazz-influenced alternatives--a sound first explored on their debut long player, PARALLEL UNIVERSE (1994). They followed-up with 1998’s TWO PAGES, an expansive double-CD set lavished with references to afro-mysticism and science fiction; the album, which was shortlisted for the U.K.’s prestigious Mercury Prize, is widely considered the blueprint for the broken beat genre. 4Hero continued to stretch into unexplored musical arenas in the '00s, releasing new albums, remixes, and collaborations with artists like Ursula Rucker, Jody Watley, and Jill Scott.