Back in 1995 a 17-year-old MC took to the hip-hop scene in the UK. Armed only with a few demos and oblivious of how to prosper in the music industry, little did he know he would end up being one of the few pioneers of hip hop in the UK. Funky DL started earning props when his music received regular air play on stations such as Kiss FM, Choice FM and Radio one by the likes of veteran Jockeys such as DJ 279, Max LX and Dave VJ and Tim Westwood. In 1996 Funky DL went on to win the well known Fosters Ice Breakers competition and released his first record The Individual, this consequently led to DL being firstly offered a two single deal with Almost records which developed further into an album deal with Almo Sounds and a publishing deal with Rondor Music. Equipped with unlimited studio access, DL set about crafting his debut album “Classic was the day”. The album was released in the late summer of 1997 and was widely received by the UK’s hip hop fraternity and veered DL on to win a MOBO award for the best hip hop act of 1997. In the same year Funky DL went on to remix records for artists such as Missy Elliot, Keith Sweat, Adina Howard and Connor Reeves as well as going on to spearhead “The London All-stars” project (a collaboration of London’s finest rappers) including MCD, Blak Twang, TY, Skinnyman, ESP, Kwestmann, Q-Tee, Phoebe One, Fallacy and Rodney P. This was a unique one of a kind release and stunned the scene as no record had ever before been released with such a high profiled calibre of rappers from the UK. In 1998 DL signed to an independent label “Utmost Records” and released his sophomore album “Heartfelt Integrity”. Another MOBO nomination was presented which reflected DL’s consistency and helped him to further cement his name and efforts in the scene. Funky DL went on to tour Australia, France and Israel, the latter being an unusual destination for rappers but was overwhelmingly received, returning to London to support the likes of The Roots, KC and Jojo, Ras Kas, Killah Priest and stole the show in front of 3000 people at the Hippodrome Leicester Square from an early Destinys Child at the Choice FM 8th Birthday Party. After a very rewarding year, DL left Utmost Records to run his own label Washington Classics and in 1999 Washington Classics released numerous Funky DL records including the 12-inch “Stoppin and Startin” which surprised many of DL’s critics because of the amazingly tight lyricism. DL released his third album “One Another” (a first for any rapper in the UK) which led to yet another MOBO nomination and propelled him to even greater heights, touring in Japan where his music was being so widely received. Single-handed, Funky DL had earned himself the title of “the hardest working man in hip-hop”, now synonymous with his name.
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