View source for Music of Life

{{Short description|British independent music label}}
{{distinguish|Music Life}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}

{{Infobox record label <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Music -->
| name        = Music of Life
| image_name  = 
| image       = MOL Logo 2024.svg
| image_bg    = 
| parent      = [[Music Manager]] (owner)
| founded     = 1986
| founder     = {{hlist|Simon Harris|DJ Froggy}}
| status      = Inactive
| distributor = Music Manager
| genre       = [[UK rap]]
| country     = United Kingdom
| location    = 
| url         = {{URL|music-of-life.webflow.io}}
}}

'''Music of Life''' is a British independent [[hip hop music|hip hop]] and [[dance music]] label formed in 1986 by [[DJ Froggy|Froggy]] and [[Simon Harris (musician)|Simon Harris]], managed by Chris France.<ref name="brithop">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4455862.stm |title=BBC News website: Is UK on Verge of Brithop boom |first=Ian |last=Youngs |date=21 November 2005 |accessdate=1 November 2006}}</ref>

At first, the label licensed new rap music from US production company Powerplay for the first compilation album ''Def Beats 1'', but as an addition to the US material, Harris produced an extra track under his own 'Music of Life Productions' recorded in London by the label's A&R man Derek Boland. "Rock the Beat" by [[Derek B]]<ref>{{cite journal|author=Schramm, Paul|date=27 August 1988|title=Music of Life special: Part Four: Simon Harris|journal=[[Music Week]]|page=27}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/nov/17/british-rapper-derek-b-dies|title=British Rapper Derek B Dies at 44|author=Sean Michaels|date=17 November 2008|work=The Guardian|accessdate=17 November 2009}}</ref> created a demand for British hip-hop; the label signed artists including the [[Demon Boyz]]<ref>{{cite journal|author=Dine, Simon|date=27 July 1987|title=Kings of UK Rap|journal=[[Music Week]]|page=35}}</ref> and [[Daddy Freddy]].<ref>Hesmondhalgh, David and Caspar Melville. "Urban Breakbeat Culture: Repercussions of Hip-Hop in the United Kingdom." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, 86–110. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.</ref>

''[[Music Week]]'' wrote in 1988 that Music of Life was "the most successful hip hop label in the UK right now."<ref>{{cite journal|author=Schramm, Paul|date=27 August 1988|title=Music of Life special: Part One: Music of Life – the Label|journal=[[Music Week]]|page=22}}</ref> ''[[Record Mirror]]'' identified Music of Life as one of the few hip hop labels "to believe in home grown talent."<ref>{{cite journal|author=McCoulson, Paul|date=24 December 1988|title=Christmas Rapping|journal=[[Record Mirror]]|page=11}}</ref> In 1989, ''Studio Week'' magazine called Music of Life "the foremost rap label in this country at the moment."<ref>{{cite journal|author=Jeffries, Tim|date=4 January 1989|title=Hot labels and remixers|journal=Studio Week|page=6}}</ref>

Furthermore, in 1989, Music of Life expanded its portfolio with the launch of its sister label, Living Beat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Living Beat |url=https://www.discogs.com/label/6453-Living-Beat-Records |access-date=28 February 2024 |website=[[Discogs]]}}</ref> Specialising in dance music, house, and pop recordings, Living Beat achieved chart success with releases such as "[[Supermarioland (song)|Supermarioland]]", which reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-05-29 |title=Archive Chart |url=http://www.theofficialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/1/1992-11-07 |access-date=2024-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529092924/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/1/1992-11-07 |archive-date=29 May 2011 }}</ref> Notable contributions include Harris's collaboration with Nintendo under the pseudonym 'Ambassadors of Funk', [[Samantha Fox]]'s "Go for the Heart", and facilitating Prince's first UK No. 1 single, "[[The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Prince song)|The Most Beautiful Girl in the World]]".

The label's founder, Harris, is credited with producing a series of breakbeat albums, comprising 12 volumes of ''Beats, Breaks & Scratches''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=the breakbeat store - the ultimate breakbeats, loops, scratches and samples |url=http://www.musicoflife.com/beatsbreaks.htm |access-date=2024-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020906002535fw_/http://www.musicoflife.com/beatsbreaks.htm |archive-date=6 September 2002 }}</ref> Collaborations with prominent artists such as [[Norman Cook]] (Fatboy Slim), [[Paul Oakenfold]], [[Afrika Bambaataa]], and [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]] have resulted in the production and release of similar influential albums, all of which formed an integral part of the Music of Life catalogue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beats,Breaks & Scratches - The Breakbeat Store |url=http://www.musicoflife.com/ncookcd.htm |access-date=2024-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020906000039fw_/http://www.musicoflife.com/ncookcd.htm |archive-date=6 September 2002 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Beats,Breaks & Scratches - The Breakbeat Store |url=http://www.musicoflife.com/oakenfoldcd.htm |access-date=2024-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020912020243fw_/http://www.musicoflife.com/oakenfoldcd.htm |archive-date=12 September 2002 }}</ref>

==Artists roster==
The Music of Life catalog includes songs from:
{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[MC Duke]] & [[DJ Leader 1]]
*[[She Rockers]] (featuring [[Betty Boo]])
*[[Daddy Freddy]]
*[[Asher D (rapper)|Asher D]]
*[[Tenor Fly]]
*[[Nitty Gritty]]
*[[Derek B]]
*[[Hijack (group)|Hijack]]
*[[Hardnoise]]
*[[Norman Cook]]
*[[Paul Oakenfold]]
*[[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]]
*[[Simon Harris (musician)|Simon Harris]] (label founder)
*[[Ambassadors of Funk]]
*[[Afrika Bambaataa]]
*[[Demon Boyz]]
*[[Professor Griff]]
*[[Clyde Stubblefield]]
*[[Overlord X]]
{{div col end}}

== See also ==
* [[Lists of record labels]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021003075211/http://www.musicoflife.com Music of Life archived official site]

{{Music of the United Kingdom}}
{{hiphop}}
{{Black British topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:British record labels]]
[[Category:Record labels established in 1986]]
[[Category:British hip-hop record labels]]
[[Category:IFPI members]]
[[Category:British hip-hop]]
[[Category:Grime music]]
[[Category:Drum and bass record labels]]
[[Category:1986 establishments in the United Kingdom]]

[[de:Britischer Hip-Hop]]
[[es:Hip hop británico]]