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Robb G
Robb G has been DJ'ing for over 10 years and it certainly shows through his diverse and technical abilities on the turntables. He creates his unique sound by fusing together hard driving beats and anything funky with his energetic presence behind the decks. His hard work and abundance of energy that goes into every live performance has taken him to Europe, the US and more than 30 Canadian cities.
His newest release co-written with respected house producer Paranoid Jack entitled "Environmental Product" is being played by the likes of Rennie Pilgrem, Aquasky and Meat Katie as well as getting support on BBC Radio 1, Breaks FM and Ministry Of Sound Radio.
He's been called "one of Canada's breakbeat pioneers" and is responsible for founding the country's first breaks label, Laidback Lab Records. Created in 1998, the imprint was an outlet for Robb to express his early exploits in music production as well as being home to the first releases of other soon to be stars such as Jelo. Robb's second release "Stick up kid" topped charts across the continent all the while gaining him the respect of his peers back home. The underground hit was the final icebreaker for him to penetrate the incredibly competitive Toronto DJ market. During the peak of Canada's rave scene in 1999, Robb was a resident for the now legendary Lifeforce productions. He was on the bill of every major event in southern Ontario, including Syrous's 6 year Anniversary with Daft Punk, Moonshine's over Canada Tour, Dose's "Throwdown" with the Freestyler's and Kickit's inaugural event with Adam Freeland & Q-bert.
By the year 2000 Robb's production was taking him to new heights and his work was featured on the iDance compilations. The high profile CDs compiled by MC Flipside raised money and awareness for the local electronic music scene in conjunction with outdoor rallies held at city hall. The first iDance rally was held on the eve on a major vote by Toronto council on the use of city owned venues for dance music events. It was a huge success with over fifteen thousand people in attendance and the massive show of support influenced a positive vote by city officials the following day. In 2001 the event surpassed all expectations and drew well over 20 000 people while the CD featured Robb alongside respected producers such as Freaky Flow, the Vinyl Syndicate crew and Hatiras.
With the evolution of Robb's sound shying away from the sample heavy tracks that Laidback Lab Records was known for, starting a new label was inevitable. His launch of Promo Records in the spring of 2001 was met with instant success and in support of the new venture Robb went on a 20 date coast to coast tour. The title track of the first release, "Chunk", became a favorite with top North American DJ's like Donald Glaude and was licensed to compilations across the country.
As Robb's profile increased, so did the remix requests and after turning in a stellar remix to the owners of 2 Wars, they approached him to join their label group. Knowing full heartedly the benefits of teamwork, Promo Records became the second label to join the group. The 2 Wars label group is now 5 labels strong including; 2 Wars, Purephunk, DSV, Womp and Promo. The influx in sales and buzz overseas for the newly formed alliance was so strong that they had to relocate their pressing and distribution to England to meet the exporting demands. Individually, the releases on Promo Records have received the support of just about every major name in the breakbeat world such as DJ Icey, Rennie Pilgrem, and Krafty Kuts.
With an overwhelming passion for all he takes on, the sale of tens of thousands of records under his belt, a recent appearence on BBC Radio 1, several big releases scheduled for the next year alone and all while having the support of his peers, it's no wonder that Atomic Hooligan is saying "Robb G is definitely the name to check for this year".
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