Extra:
Joe Thompson from Down Low is now in the T-Music Forum and is answering
all the questions from the fans!! Don't miss this! Click
here to go straight to the topic
DOWN
LOW were founded in December 1995 in the K-Town studios in Kaiserslautern.
It is the biggest US community outside the USA (50% 0f the population
are American and it's a great place for Rap and Hip-Hop producers because
many US G's start a music career after leaving the army).
The members of this group are JOE
THOMPSON and MlKE DALlEN. Joe is a US American
born in 1972. He took part in operation Desert Storm in the Gulf whilst
in the army. He then left the forces and began rapping with friends like
Rod D (Fun Factory). Mike that has a father in the military, has devoted
his life to music. He met Joe and formed Down Low. The boys write good
melodies and commercial raps. Their first single "Vision
Of Life" was a big hit - Top 20 in Germany, Top 10 in France
plus chart entries in Austria and Switzerland.
This sound revolutionized almost
four months in the Charts the industry. Afterwards artist followed such
as C-Block, NANA,
A.K.-S.W.I.F.T, RīnīG,
etc.. European Hip Hop was on the move - as music direction and culture.
In addition, DOWN LOW proved that they are not only a "one hit wonder"".
They were represented as only act in this music style since 1 1/2 years
with each single in the Charts.
Inspired
by the O.J. Simpson story, the duo then wrote and recorded "Murder"
- which also charted in the above territories. This was followed by
the debut album "VISIONS", released in November
96 - which entered the German album chart. Their next single "Lovething" was considered by ZYX UK to be the track to introduce Down Low onto
home territory.
The
rapper Joe Thompson and the singer Mike Dalien are characterised however
also by their impressively represented Live appearances. Down Low got
the "Best Performance" award for the radio NRJ in 1997. This
was a firs big award for a European HipHop/Rap group. The Live Performance
of the interaction with the public, the souligen voice of German American
Mike Dalien and the printoutful raps lives and the Action of Rapper
Joe.
After the big success with their
debut album "Visions", DOWN LOW released their two first singles
from the 2nd album in late ī97 "Moonlight" and "Johnny B". "Johnny B" sold
gold in several countries, and they got their breakthrough in Scandinavia
aswell (nr 14 in the Swedish charts). Then they released the 2nd album "It Ainīt Over" and it god bigger then the
first one. The third and last single from "It Ainīt Over"
was "Hit Me Right", released in the summer
ofī98. It was a big summerhit with catching lyrics and sound.
The
first single from their 3rd album was " Once Upon A time
", published in October´98. In " Once Upon A time
" DOWN LOW of items from the classical author " play me the
song of death " from the "Love Story". This song
has incredible lyrics. "Once Upon A Time" was a huge success
(again) for DOWN LOW. It reached top5 in several countries. Their third
album "Third Dimension" was released in late
´98, and in the beginning of ´99, they released their single "H.I.V.",
which probably they recorded their best video ever too.
In
the summer of ´99 came the next single, "So Long Goodbye...".
They have slowed down the song and released a really different version,
then the album version. The song has some wonderful lyrics and it´s
about broken relationchips.
In August´99, DOWN LOW released a "Best
Of" album. The album contains the greatest hits of Down
Low like "Johnny B", "Once Upon A Time", "Vision
Of Life" and "So Long Goodbye...", a perfekt gift for
all the Down Low fans.
Then,
in December 1999, Down Low released the song "Thank You" as a x-mas´99 single.
After that, the group took a 1,5
year long break. In February 2001, Down Low made a comeback with the
brand new and previous unreleased single "Don't You".
The track hit the radio stations and charts all over Europe. Down Low
showed their public that they had grown very much in their music style,
and it was their first song, where Joe only had one rap verse, and Mike
got more of the verses.
Shortly after that, in the end of April, Down Low released their fourth
lbum "The 4th Level". The whole album was more R&B
style then the previous three and it showed a new direction where Down
Low was heading. But they never left their original beautiful choruses,
great flow on the rap and very catching lyrics. This was a new sound,
but still Down Low to the fullet.
In the end of May 2001, the new
single "Wouldn't it be good" was released, which features
the great singer La Mazz from Rappers Against Racism. Then the guys
took a long break, to release one of the best songs on this album, "La
Serenissima" in late 2002.
February
2003 was a important moth for Down Low. First of all they released a
fantastic DVD called "Visions - The Singles 1997-2003".
Shortly after that, the fans of Down Low all over the world got the
sad news that Mike Dalien had left Down Low for a solo career. When
Mike left, Joe invited the Rappers Against Racism singer La Mazz to
be the new voice of Down Low.
Some month later, the new
single "Living In The Ghetto" was released
in late october of 2003. This wasthe first single with Mike being gone,
and La Mazz singing instead. After that, Down Low had some troubles
with their record company. The fifth planned album "Adrenaline"
was canceled, and Joe and Rick are now working on new stuff. The new
single "Everyday (MMMM)" was released in
September 2005, and for the summer of 2006, the single "Start The Riot " came out and rocked the clubs!
In late october 2006, the fans got finally what they have been waiting for 5 long years. The 5th album "Return Of The Trendsetter" was released. It contained the good ols Down Low style, mixed together with modern sound. Check out here to listen to samples of the album, including the Intro, that features voices from T-Music members.
in 2007, the brand new song "Africa" was released. A very respected song among the fans. After that, some record deal problems followed, but Down Low were back on track, in the end of 2008. Joe Thompson was also recording a solo album called "Pathfinder", which unfurtunately never saw the light. Then, it was silence.
In the end of 2010, the dream project Legends & Diamonds, with over 40 artists, saw the light. 2 of them were Joe Thompson and Mike Dalien, the two main members of Down Low. This resulted in them connecting again, and getting back Down Low!
As you all know, we have now Joe
Thompson himself on the T-Music
Message Board, where he is answering all your questions and we keep
up with the fresh and latest all the time.
