Embee

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Embee is a prominent Swedish hip hop DJ and producer. He was born Magnus Bergqvist in Sweden in the late 1970s. He is best known for his work with Swedish hip-hop group Looptroop. His first solo album Tellings from Solitaria won a Swedish Grammy Award for best hip hop or soul release of 2004.

[edit] Recording History

He was born and spent his early childhood in Västerås Sweden. At the age of eight, he moved to Gothenburg. He formed Looptroop in the early 1990s with Cosmic and Promoe two MCs who he had met in school. He started working with Promoe in 1991 and Cosmic joined them in 1993 to form Looptroop. Their first record Superstars was released in 1993.

Embee worked in the US as a solo DJ for a year in the mid 1990s and released a number of solo singles and EPs in that market although none made a lasting impact. He returned to Sweden in 1996 for the release of the second Looptroop record Threesticksteez which featured a couple of tracks from Supreme. Supreme became a fully fledged member of the group for the From the Waxcabinet record in 1997 named after the groups's recording studio "The Waxcabinet".

Embee founded the David vs Goliath record company together with the other members of Looptroop. Their first album on that label was Modern Day City Symphony released in 2000 both in Sweden and internationally followed by The Struggle Continues in 2002. Embee won successive awards at the Swedish hip hop awards as best producer for these albums. Looptroop toured throughout the world to promote the album including Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia and South Africa.

Embee is a member of the Casual Brothers. Embee produces the beats and Supreme (also a member of Looptroop) raps over them. So far, they have released two EPs together (The Casual Brothers, Costumer's Choice (Part Two)).

In 2004, Embee released a solo album Tellings from Solitaria which featured an appearance from the other members of Looptroop and other Swedish hip hop performers. Recorded over a couple of years, it was critically acclaimed and won a Swedish Grammy Award as the best hip hop and soul release in 2004. He also won the Swedish DJ awards in 2004.

Embee produced the Fort Europa album which made the Swedish charts after its Swedish release in April 2005. This record has been reduced internationally and the band is touring extensively to support it.