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Beat Factory
Founded1982 (1982)
FounderIvan Berry
Rupert Gayle
StatusDefunct
GenreHip hop, R&B, reggae
Country of origin Canada
LocationToronto, Ontario

Beat Factory is a historic Canadian music brand that operated during the 1980s and 1990s under the leadership of Ivan Berry.[1][2] As a small talent management firm and functional music production house,[3] the rap music outfit filled a notorious void in Canadian music due to the lane of representation it fostered in support of a generation of then-underdog hip hop artists including its debut line up of Krush And Skad, Dream Warriors, HDV and Michie Mee & L.A. Luv.[4][5] Today, the Beat Factory brand remains a nationally-acclaimed founding force of rap music and hip hop culture in Canada.[6][7]

Founded by a budding entertainment entrepreneurial 19-year-old Ivan Berry, alongside his songwriter partner Rupert Gayle, the Beat Factory brand was born in 1982.[8] Young, fresh, innovative and revolutionary in its small but mighty Pickering production house of rap music, Beat Factory represented a historically Black Canadian roster of talent spanning two-generations of Canadian urban hip hop music in Canada -- from Michie Mee to Keisha Chanté, and Dream Warriors to Kardinal Offishall.[9]

The first of milestones for the brand, the release of the 1987 Break'n Out compilation, A Beat Factory Production featuring the production of Scott La Rock and KRS-One, Rumble & Strong, Street Beat and Michie Mee & L.A. Luv.[10] The "Made In Canada" production featured the KRS-One "Elements of Style" opening rhyme, "Boogie Down Productions is proud to introduce Canada's greatest, musically-inclined, intellectual representative for the rap industry on a whole, a major breakthrough for female emcees everywhere ... her name, Michie Mee ... this is BDP reporting live from Canada.[10]

In 1988, under Beat Factory management, Michie Mee became the first Canadian rapper signed to an American record label, First Priority Music, distributed by Atlantic Records.[11] Then came the success of Dream Warriors, who sold 800,000 copies of their debut album And Now the Legacy Begins, released in 1991.[12]

In 1996, Berry founded Beat Factory Music Inc., an independent record label branch of Beat Factory, distributed by EMI Music Canada and BMG Music Canada.[13] The label released a series of compilation albums, known as RapEssentials and GroovEssentials.[14] These albums included the first singles by Kardinal Offishall and Glenn Lewis, who both became prominent artists in the 2000s.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Hip-hop legend Michie Mee talks Toronto rap scene and 25th anniversary of debut". CBC News. January 30, 2016.
  2. ^ "Ivan Berry". Discogs. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  3. ^ "Beat Factory (firm)". Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / Library and Archives Canada. 2016-11-25. Retrieved 2025-04-15.
  4. ^ Cowie, Del (March 13, 2019). "Rap Essentials at 20: the album that put '90s Canadian hip-hop on the map". CBC News.
  5. ^ Andyman187 (2019-11-27). BEAT FACTORY PRODUCTIONS RECORD RELEASE PARTY - MUCH MUSIC RAP CITY 1991/92?. Retrieved 2025-04-11 – via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Dream Warriors". Canada Black Music Archives. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  7. ^ "Interview with Canadian music visionary Ivan Berry". PlayItLoudMusic. 2010-11-06. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  8. ^ "Hip-Hop 50: 10 Early Trailblazers Who Helped Shape Canadi..." Complex. Retrieved 2025-03-25.
  9. ^ "King Lou talks the genesis and legacy of Dream Warriors' "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style"". Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. 2024-02-22. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  10. ^ a b "Compilation - Break'n Out". Museum of Canadian Music.
  11. ^ Cooks, Kramos of The (2021-05-13). "#30thAnniversary – Michie Mee And L.A. Luv ‎"Jamaican Funk – Canadian Style"". Brooklyn Radio. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  12. ^ Canadian Music Week 2004 Archived 2009-11-10 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Hart House". harthouse.ca. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  14. ^ "About Ivan Berry" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
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