X-Press 2 first burst onto the international club scene in 1993 with the demented sirens, typewriter-noise percussion and dance floor pyrotechnics of Muzik Express. The three DJs, Ashley Beedle, Rocky and Diesel all from unfashionable suburbs of London, had each played leading roles in the capitals cooler, more influential club scenes.
Their first studio session left them cold theyd intended to sample an old Cloud One track but that typewriter percussion noise was all that survived. Everyone else disagreed. Muzik X-Press was an instant worldwide club hit. DJs as influential as Pete Tong and New Yorks Junior Vasquez then in his Sound Factory prime loved it.
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Clubbers around the world declared it an instant anthem. Its follow up, the juddering, funky London X-Press with its exhortation to "raise your hands!" was just as monstrously successful, it was the daft dancefloor smash, Say What, that came next. When their records began to get, as Ashley puts it, "more oblique", the three were content to put X-Press 2 aside and move onto other projects, and the three moved effortlessly into jazzier, funkier, more downbeat arenas with their internationally respected Ballistic Brothers team-up.
In April of 2000 X-Press 2 found themselves back together on the road and in the studio. In 2001 they released the mighty AC/DC. The boys were back in town. Into 2002 the singles Muzikizum and Lazy (more on that later) followed before the lads dropped their debut album also titled Muzikizum, the album was critically acclaimed and charted at number 15 in the national charts. A massive success.
Lazy was a track that perfectly summed up the mood of the nation. Released in April 2002 and charting at number 2 in the national. It became the biggest airplay track of the year and won them the coverted Ivor Nevello award .
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