User talk:Aqil Guevara

Aqil Guevara
Aqil Guevara Songwriter, producer, artist, manager, consultant.

Early life Son of Ecgbert R Foster and Loleta Cameron, attended Brentfield Primary school before going on to Neasden High and Copland high school.

Years active - 1991 to present

Career to date AG grew up in Harlesden, North West London. He went to Brentfield primary school where he really started developing his personality, due to regular everyday life and situations a Black boy child would experience in 1970s inner London. He then went to Neasden high school, where among other people, he met and became good freinds with Paul 'General' Levy, among others. AG left Neasden in 1983 to join his sister at Wembley high roads' Copland community school. One Monday night A Guevara decided to get brave enough to call Dave Pearces' 'Fresh start to the week' show on Radio London 94.9FM, Dave would have a weekly competition to find the hottest MC over the phone. AG won and was allowed to come in and perform live on the air. This gave A Guevara the confidence to know he can make waves within the music business.

Scientists of sound (1992-1997) The group was started previously between Stephen 'Bam' Busette, Gerry 'Cherok' Prodano, and Akowundu 'Aybee' Akalawu. AG used to worship at the same masjid and they all grew up in NW10, so it seemed inevitable they would collaborate on songs, but after a short while they decided to become one like voltron, as A Guevara was bringing the group to radio appearances and live shows with himself. The demos gained attention of Tim Westwood who started promoting the group on his Capital Rap show. They started sharing the stage with other UK rap luminaries such as Ty, London Posse, The Brotherhood, Hardnoise, Smith & Mighty, Silver Bullet, Scratch Perverts, Hijack, Unanimous decision, Estelle, Braintax, Krispy 3, Mr 45, Out da 'Ville, Stereo MCs, Tha Kaliphz, Blak Radical MkII, Blade, Mud Family, Phi Life Cipher, Moorish Delta 7, among others. A Guevara was introduced by a mutual freind to Trevor Jackson, who at the time was a successful designer and was becoming a producer at the same time. They both had a disliking for commercial rap, and a group on a label Trevor designed for were having some success with their music on a major label (PM Dawn). A Guevara wrote a diss track, Trevor recorded it. within two weeks of doing this, KRS ONE's BDP crew got on a stage PM Dawn were performing on in NYC, and physically threw them off the stage and took the show over. Westwood, being sharp and on the ball, wanted to make big news of this on his show, and at the same time, the song was sent to Westwood who immediately played the song to death on his show. This created a lot of attention. By this point the transition from solo MC to group member had already started for him, and so when Trevor offered him an extention to the single deal, he said he wanted it to be for Scientists of sound which was duly done. The group worked hard on their first EP release 'Raise the flag / Bustin' Loose, which recieved a lot of positive reviews, which was always backed with an energetic thought out stage show which actually became a major plus point whenever their name came up, and was one of the things they became known across the country for and helped them secure support slots and tours with the likes of Public Enemy, EPMD, Lords of the Underground, Wreckx n Effect, Onyx, Ultramagnetic MCs, Busta Rhymes, Black Moon, Pete Rock, De la Soul, Afrika Bambaataa, ATQC, Das EFX, Redman, Gravediggaz, and the Wu Tang clan. Their vocal topics ranged from Black empowerment, political commentary, Islamic ideologies, Alien life(?)and clever wordplay. The content was quite removed from most other UK acts, and as such they werent always recognised or respected in some quarters for this. However, reviews in magazines and papers were always positive and more regarding their stage show, and it wasnt unheard of for their set to be cancelled at the last minute 'due to unforseen circumstances' (aka outperforming the main act is not acceptable) 1994 Brought the release of the second EP, 'Bad bwoy swing / Step on stage'. By this stage the group had begun work on their album and continued to perform around the UK. 1995 the group record 'What you all came (sci)4', their contribution to a compilation album of UK artists released on the Tickin' Time label, based in Shepherds bush. 1996 brings the release of another single, 'Landmine situation / Scroll of the fake assassins' followed swiftly by the long player, '1.4.4 or bust, the replenishing' which was released to critical acclaim in both UK and even Billboard and The Source, the respected Hip Hop magazine gave favourable reviews to both their music and their stage shows. The group go on tour with DJs Semtex and the legendary Stretch Armstrong (who was partner to Bobito Garcia) to promote the album across the UK. By this point A Guevara had seen that the group couldnt last forever, especially as everyone had matured and wanted to work with other acts and try different things. They had recorded an album in demo mode as a follow up, but werent able to get the project released, as Downlow, the label they had signed the first album to (subsidary of Peter Harris' Kickin' records, indie dance music powerhouse of the 1990s) had folded. The group never actually officially disbanded, but no recordings since the unreleased demo LP been done. Cherok is now a respected Photographer. A Guevara & Bam work under the production umbrella of Burnt Brasse and work closely with Spider Johnson, who has produced and worked with numerous artists himself (Lee Scratch Perry, Fallacy, Fusion, Skibadee, Killa Kela, Dubwiser, Kano, Estelle, UK Apache, Shy FX)

Post S.O.S A Guevara continues working, and spent time with Jon Douglas (George Micheal, All Saints, Tina Turner, Kylie Minogue, Tom Jones, and millions in record sales for those artists), Whitney Houston, Sugarbabes, etc)doing writing and performing rap verses for the likes of Kylie Minogue ('Chocolate'), Lisa Moorish / George Micheal ('Im your man' remake feat George Micheal), and backing vocals to many artists sessions Jon worked with. Over the next few years A Guevara would cement a freindship with Jon who he met at the studios of the publishing house Rondor music.

A Guevara is also by this time spreading the net far and wide, which is how he and the Sci-4 production team start working on the group that the world came to know as Miz-Teeq. Aqil knew the father of group lead Sabrina Washington, as he was a well known player with the 'Ruff cut' band, who backed virtually every reggae act that toured Europe at that time. Sabrina and the group learnt the music and lyrics, performed on a talent show with Mean Fiddler A Guevara had organised for local talent. The girls came first, and another act A Guevara was mentoring at the time, Fallacy, came second. From there, they recorded a few demos with the girls (Pre Alesha Dixon times)at the radio station studios of Harlesdens 'Time FM' before the freindly parting of ways. A Guevara doesnt start actual work with Fallacy until 2001, halfway through the 'Blackmarket boy' album sessions, they actually formally combined as manager and artist. The Wordplay/Virgin records release in 2002 was to be the blueprint going forward for MCs in the UK, especially as the album combined hip hop and grime, which at that point was still seen as being in its infancy as an artform, but was taking off fast. The album was critically acclaimed and garnered great and even better reviews. About a year later, Fallacy decided to cancel his contract with the label as he was not happy with the campaign and the team as well as personal issues of great importance. The album spawned the classic tracks 'Groundbreaker', 'Big n Bashy', among others. The first half of the album was co produced by Fusion and Spider Johnson played all instruments. A Guevara came in at that stage and was able to make sure the album was completed with other producers. During this process A Guevara however was able to make sure the album was submitted on time (relatively anyway!)

Radio / TV / Press Aqil has been involved with quite a few radio shows and presentations in London as well as across the UK. Notably, various stints on local pirate stations such as already mentioned Time FM, Juice FM,& Bang FM. Aqil worked the first official rap show with Steve Wren on Choice FM, and had done numerous sessions on Radio 1 as well as later on 1xtra. There have been a few TV appearances, mainly as part of Scientists of sound, but also appearing alongside Afrika Bambaataa on shows on France and Germany, hosting a battle rap show on a now defunct digital TV channel which was aired Xmas day 2008 and was their top rated show for three months (BCTV) in the London/ south region. Aqil contributed articles and interviews / reviews for Blues and soul, the Voice, Hip Hop connection, The Source, as well as various sites online that are now decomissioned, and consults various agencies and individuals in this regard.