To many compatriots, Bomfunk MC's is known exclusively for their mega hit Freestyler. The track sounded in the early 2000s from literally everything that was capable of playing audio.
At the same time, not everyone knows that even before world fame, the band became in fact the voice of generations in their native Finland, and the path of artists to the musical Olympus was quite thorny. What is remarkable about the biography of the Bomfunk MC's? How did they manage to create a track that managed to "pump" millions of people around the world?
Bomfunk MC's path to fame
It all started back in 1997. In one of the Finnish clubs, Raymond Ebanks and Ismo Lappaläinen, known to the band's fans under the nickname DJ Gismo, met by chance.
Ismo, by the way, performed in this club as a guest artist. Raymond immediately saw a powerful potential in the young musician.
After talking a little and agreeing on similar creative tastes, the guys decided to work together. No Bomfunk MC's were out of the question until the moment when the creative tandem turned into a creative trio, including Jaakko Salovaar (JS16).
Bomfunk MC's recruited several professional breakdancers, a bassist (Ville Mäkinen) and a drummer (Ari Toikka) to spice up live performances and emphasize the concept of combining styles.
The band released their debut single Uprocking Beats in 1998. The composition was warmly received in Finland and Germany. She began to sound in clubs throughout Europe. It is noteworthy that the track did not take the leading positions in the music charts, although it was well received by the listener.
The first serious success of the musicians attracted the attention of major producers. Also in 1998, the Bomfunk MC's signed a record deal with Sony Music. She also released her debut album, In Stereo.
The bold combination of electronic sound and hip-hop marked a new stage in the history of European electronic music. However, behind simple compositions, not only the good old recitative and “club” sound are hidden, but also elements of funk, disco, and sometimes even rock music. The album is still considered one of the group's most commercially successful records.
Single Freestyler and global success
At the end of 1999, the Bomfunk MC's released several brilliant singles. Among them was the famous Freestyler. The band was invited to the prestigious Finnish music festival Rantarock for the first time. The guys tried to "rock" the crowd on a par with other idols of the European youth of the late 1990s.
Thanks to the single Freestyler, the group found a resounding success already in 2000, immediately after its re-release. The track easily took the leading positions in all electronic music charts in Europe and the USA. Its authors became laureates of the MTV Music Awards in the category "Best Scandinavian Artist".
The video clip for the song Freestyler, which absorbed all the worldview of the youth of the early 2000s, became the ideal personification of their generation - the young are already ready to get away from "acid raves", accept urbanization as a habitat and enjoy it to the full, taking everything from life that she is willing to offer.
No harshness or banned substances. After all, the main character of the video likes exceptionally good music in his player.
Loss of popularity
Those who think Bomfunk MC's are one-hit smashers are definitely wrong - their single Super Electric took the lead in the European charts just as easily as Freestyler did before it.
The musicians were in no hurry to please the public with new material - in 2001 the band toured and postponed the release date of their second album, Burnin' Sneakers.
The single LiveYour Life was destined to become a hit only in Scandinavia, but at the stage of its release, the band was still on the buzz. The re-released version of the track Something Going On also received some notoriety.
The date of the breakup of the Bomfunk MC's can be considered September 9, 2002, when DJ Gismo officially announced his departure from the band. The reason was the disagreement with Raymond Ebanks. The group's third album, Reverse Psychology, was recorded with the support of the Universal Music label.
The record did not find the expected success, although a lot of effort was spent on its "promotion" - two clips were shot and a tour was organized in support of the album.
In 2003, after releasing the remix CD The Back to Back, the members of Bomfunk MC's went on an indefinite hiatus. Part of the reason for this was the wedding of JS16, who at that time was the producer of the group.
By the way, it was he who wrote most of the music for the first two albums of Bomfunk MC's and at least half of the tracks from Reverse Psychology.
Bomfunk MC's today
The big comeback of Bomfunk MC's took place in November 2018, when the band announced a concert tour as part of several music festivals in Finland.
The musicians of the group forgot their previous differences and reunited again to please their fans.
On one round, the guys decided not to stop. In the winter of 2019, they released a new version of the Freestyler video, which pretty much surprised the already matured fan audience.
In March of the same year, the musicians officially announced that they were starting work on a new album.
