Background: Born on the South Side, now lives on the North Side. Started playing drums at age 7, then learned bass, keyboards and guitar. Plays all instruments on his records.
Sound: Trying to find a category in the ever-intersecting realms of rap, hip-hop and house, Mr. Lee calls his music ”rap house,” which also incorporates elements of R&B, funk and even reggae.
Influences: James Brown.
Concert setup: Mr. Lee dances and raps over reel-to-reel tapes. ”There`s so much work I don`t actually have time to form a band, but I will do it later,” he says.
Recordings: After four 12-inch singles for Mitchball and Trax Records, Mr. Lee scored a national hit with ”Get Busy” for Jive Records. He now is working at Jive Chicago Studios on his first album, also titled ”Get Busy.” Jive hopes to have the album out by late March. A 1990 ”underground” remix of ”Get Busy” is also available.
Philosophy: ”You can always do better and try harder.”
Goals: ”To push house until I can`t push it anymore. There are going to be a lot of kids coming up behind me who are going to be pushing house music the way I`m pushing it now. . . . If I keep doing the best I can do, all that notoriety will come later-but I wouldn`t mind being as big as Prince.”
Next appearance: March 11 at the Phoenix.
