The Nextmen

Posted on 03.12.2002

The nextmen
Real Names:
Dominic Betmead
Brad Ellis
UK

the nextmen biography:
We met over a drug deal in the playground," deadpans Dominic Betmead - one half of The Nextmen. "Brad tried to sell me a tiny bag of magic mushrooms for thirty quid."
"That’s slightly exaggerated," laughs the Nextmen’s other half, Brad Ellis. Not your stereotypical true thugs, the amiable Cambridge born production duo have just finished their sophomore album, "Get Over It", a near-flawless declaration of intent as they up the ante for home-grown hip-hop and dance music in general.

The 12 tracks form a stunningly cool conundrum. On one hand it’s a razor sharp slice of forward-thinking UK production which reconfigures the format for British urban music, drawing on lessons learned from the drum and bass programming of Photek, the highest grade riddims of dancehall, and their families musical backgrounds ("We both grew up around mysterious prominent figures in 70s folk and jazz"). On the other, it’s on a supremely funky grooveline that updates their previous album, "Amongst the Madness" take on New York’s formidable defining hip-hop blueprint. And they’ve done it all on the downlow over the past three years. As British major labels have wasted large amounts of money on projects like the overblown Adam F concept album and failed to unearth even one decent hip-hop star to sit next to Roots Manuva, Brad and Dom have been creating the record that will be responsible for making the rest step up their production game.

"We always come out of nowhere, " opines Brad. "Our first album ’Amongst the Madness’ surprised people who were expecting some of the more established names to deliver instead, and we’ll do the same with this one."

"Too many of the people around us don’t try anything progressive with their production," adds Dom. "It took us a while to be confident enough to attempt what we have but this album goes beyond the format you’re hearing elsewhere. We want to broaden our audience which may mean some hardcore fans aren’t going to get it straight away." Only if they’re deaf, dumb and blind.

The album’s standout moment, ’Highscore’, featuring Reprazent’s Dynamite MC over a headbanging halfway drum and bass track is an incredible step beyond what anyone is used to with The Nextmen. A bit like hearing Cut Chemist’s classic accelerating beat on Blackalicious’ ’Microphone Mathematics’ whilst on an nandrolone drip at a jungle rave. Damn, it’s packing enough heat to give Westwood an all-over tan and heart attack in one sitting.
Which is all a long way from the humble hip-hop beginnings of the Nextmen, Brad abandoning a weekend job playing covers of The Police on a piano in a Cambridge pub after hearing an Ice Cream Tee track on the radio, and Dom finding his first turntable in a rubbish skip aged 13 years old. Understanding their history doesn’t really give any insight into the future they’ve created with ’Get Over It’, but they’re amusing tales nonetheless.

"I found that turntable just after ’The Magnificent Jazzy Jeff’ had come out and I couldn’t believe what he was doing on it with a turntable. I wanted to work it out for myself and using this old shitty thing with a tape deck attached where I had to use matchsticks and bluetack to make it work, I used the rotary volume fader to cut with. Copied Jeff syllable for syllable."

Despite the fact that they both attended virtually every hip-hop show that called into Cambridge during the last 80s and early 90s - Stetsasonic, EPMD, KRS-1, De La Soul, and Ice T included ®¢ the pair didn’t link until later on when Brad had been offered the opportunity to remix the London Posse’s ’Style’ single in 1997. "We had really basic equipment and didn’t really know what we were doing," admits Brad. "But everyone loved it and Westwood and John Peel played it on Radio 1. I still think it’s the third worst remix of all time though." Both the Nextmen declare themselves to be huge fans of London Posse’s Rodney P and the remix was the start of a relationship which has seen him appear on several of their records, culminating in the forthcoming ’Hear What I Say’ single. It also lead to the Nextmen moving to London and signing their first album deal with Scenario Records a year later.

What was originally intended to be an instrumental record was reconfigured thanks to Scenario mainman, Ed Pitt, heading off to the U.S. to find MCs for their early beats. As a result the Nextmen were blessed with the appearance of Grap Luva. Little brother to the legendary Pete Rock, Grap brought sharp wit, dynamic turns of phrase and the self assured swagger which comes from growing up in Mount Vernon around Pete, Heavy D and Big Daddy Kane. The album’s lead single ’Break The Mould’ was so dope it sounded like Pete Rock was sitting behind the production desk. Their debut long player’s impressive rep sheet also sported appearances from the likes of Ty and Asheru over the producer’s deep and subtle groove-based jams. Being released on a tiny indie label should have meant the album barely registered, but there were at least half a dozen standouts on there (five more than most rap albums) and The Nextmen found themselves appearing on the Groove Armada album, remixing Public Enemy and ope and Dead Prez.
"The reception to our first album was a turning point," declares Dom. "We didn’t have much in the way of funding but we managed to reach a lot of people. Despite the success we kinda knew we were capable of making much better music. We were holding back and sticking to a formula people that were buying the record were happy with. We both needed to accept that it wasn’t enough and start again."

In 2001, halfway through making what they thought would be their second album they scrapped it all. It was the best decision the pair have made to date. The extra thump of the new production direction they’ve brought to the mixing desk helps furnish ’Get Over It’ with more bangers than are usually allowed on one album. It’s one of the most ambitious hip-hop records you’ll ever hear, with killer cameos from Cutty Ranks, Dynamite MC, J-Live, and more. By the time they reach their third album they’ll have the UK on lockdown.
sources: www.thenextmen.com

the nextmen discography: