Tommy Tee
Tommy Tee | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Tommy Flaaten |
Also known as | Father Blanco, The Crazy Minister |
Born | December 18, 1971 |
Genres | Rap, Hip Hop |
Occupation(s) | Rapper, Songwriter, Producer Radio Host |
Years active | 1986–present |
Labels | Tee Productions |
Associated acts | T.P. Allstars, diaz, Warlocks, Opaque, Son Of Light, Ken ring, B.O.L.T. Warhead |
Tommy Flaaten (born December 18, 1971), best known by his stage name Tommy Tee, is a Norwegian record producer, rapper, broadcaster, record executive, concert promoter and magazine publisher. He is known as the godfather of Norwegian hip hop. Tee owns the label Tee Productions, which is located in Oslo, Norway and is Norway's leading hip hop label. As well, he publishes Norway's only graffiti magazine and hosts a weekly national radio program.
Early Years (1980-1991)
Tommy Tee was first introduced to hip hop culture in the 1980s. He started as a graffiti artist and breakdancer, and later became moved on to music through DJing. He has been a radio and club DJ since mid 80´s - something that sparked his interest in music production.
In 1989, Tee started Norway's first hip hop magazine Fat Cap which has been amongst the world´s big graffiti magazines with international distribution. FatCap just celebrated 20 years of documentation of Aerosol Art FatCap Mag.
Tommy Tee also started doing production work in the late 1980s but got more serious on the music throughout the 90´s. That being said he is credited for creating one of the very first Norwegian Hip-Hop record on wax in 1989. The record "The Crazy Minister" (also Tee´s nickname at the time) appeared on the group Snikk Snakk´s album "More Muffens" in 1989. Tee has also said to have done a lot of tracks and remixes under many aliases from this time. For Ice Cube's 1990 Oslo concert he was the support act. He was the DJ for Norway's first rap group on record. Tee also arranged concerts by Ice Cube, Run DMC, The Fugees, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and 50 Cent in Norway.
Radio program
In 1992, Danish company Mega Records appointed Tee as its Norwegian sales manager. Norway's national broadcaster NRK offered him a prime time show on its new P3 network. The show is called "National Rap Show" and is still running. It quickly became popular and has featured guest acts such as Snoop Dogg, the Roots and Big Pun. DJ Herkules is the co-host of the show which is the channels longest lived show to date.
Tee Productions (1995-present)
Tommy Tee started Tee Productions in 1995. He produced his first whole album, jazz artist Helén Eriksen's Standards, in 1996. This album was later released by Blue Note Records in Europe and Japan. Eriksen won a Norwegian Grammy as Best New Artist in 1996.
Tee's first album Bonds Beats and Beliefs was released in 1998 becoming Norway's most successful hip hop record. It featured Talib Kweli on the track "Day by Day" which was released as a single in the US. While the album was not officially released in the US, it did have a following on college radio and in hip hop magazines and also received reviews in Australia, England, Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
Tee then featured on a compilation album of the artists on his label T.P. Allstars: Norske Byggeklosser debuted in the Norwegian top 5 and was released in the US in late 1999 through Fat Beats Records. It featured US rapper Pete Rock on the first single "World Renown". The Source said the single was a "contender for Indie Release of the year."
The T.P. Allstars album also featured a collaboration between Swedish artist Petter and TP artist Diaz on the track "Crossing Borders" which was a top ten hit in Scandinavia in 1999. In return, Tee produced two tracks on Petter's album Bananrepubliken which went platinum and won three Swedish Grammy awards in 2001.
In 2004, Tee released a collaborative album with Ken Ring of Sweden called 2 Legender utan Penger, as well as a single two videos, BB Berättelsen and Måste Seja Hei. He also releases the mixtape series H.E.A.T. (vol1-6) and the album Fred, Frihet & Alt Gratis with group Gatas Parlament which got international exposure in CNN, XXL, Billboard and more.
As of 2005, Tee Productions has seven artists on its roster including Tee himself, Diaz, Warlocks, Opaque, Son of Light, The Loudmouf Choir and Gatas Parlament.
In January 2007, Tee signed A-Lee to Tee Productions.
Tommy Tee's recent work includes producing the song "Church" on Sean Price's 2007 album Jesus Price Supastar, two songs on the album "Ghetto Warfare" by M.O.P., and five songs off the Smif-n-Wessun album "The Album" (2007).
In 2008 Tee signed newcomer Jesse Jones to Tee Productions.
Tommy Tee released a street-album entitled "No Studio No Time" with artists like Grafh, Masta Ace, Agallah, Tim Dog, AG, Party Arty, Large Professor, JoJo Pellegrino and many more to warm up for the new official album.
Tommy Tee released his newest album Studio-Time 5. October 2009. The album was highly praised in media and won a Norwegian Grammy (Spellemannsprisen) for best Rap/Hip-Hop album of the year.
Discography
Albums (as artist/producer)
- Bonds, Beats & Beliefs (1998)
- T.P. Allstars: Norske Byggeklosser (1999) (with other Tee artists)
- Various: ScandalNavia vol.1 (2000) (with various Scandinavian artists)
- Back To Work (2005)Official Tee Prod. mixtapealbum
- 2 Legender utan Penger with Ken Ring (2004)
- Tommy Tycker Om Mej (2005)
- No Studio No Time (2007)
- Absolute Music Tee (2007)
- 3 The Hard Way (EP Collection) (2009)
- No Pain No Profit (EP) (2009)
- Studio-Time (2009)
- Musikk Ække Viktig (2013)
- Bonds, Beats & Beliefs Vol.2 (2016)
Singles (as artist/producer)
- Takin Ova (feat. N-Light-N, Diaz, Warlocks, Opqaue & Father Blanco)(1998)
- Takin Ova US (feat. Shabam Sahdeeq, Mr. Eon, A.L., Joe Sexxx)(1998)
- Crossing Borders (feat. Diaz & Petter)(1999)
- International Connects (feat. Mike Zoot & El Da Sensei)(1999)
- Day by Day (feat. Talib Kweli and Punchline & Wordsworth) (1999)
- Blood Rush (feat. F.T. & P-Dap) (1999)
- World Renown (feat. Pete Rock, Mike Zoot, Large Pro & AG)(2000)
- Ya Heard A Him by Shockwave of Zombi Squad (2000)
- What's Your Name (feat. Nice N Smooth) (2002)
- BB Berättelsen (2004) with Ken Ring
- Måste Seja Hei (2004) with Ken Ring
- Gimme Dat (feat. Stat Quo, Rah Digga & Young Zee) (2006)
- Feelin' It (feat. JoJo Pellegrino & Noora Noor) (2007)
- Drabant (feat. Jesse Jones, Ken Ring & Saigon) (2008)
- Først & Fremst (feat. Jesse Jones & Lars Vaular) (2009)
- Keep Talking (feat. Madcon, A-Lee, Noora Noor & Loudmouf Choir) (2009)
- About That Girl (feat. CL Smooth, Tshawe (Mad Con) and Son of Light) (2009)
- Meet The Legends (feat. Bun B & Supa Sayed) (2010)
- Plocka Han (Ken Ring & Tommy Tee feat. M.O.P) (2011)
All Tee Productions release are available at iTunes and most other digital music outlets world wide.
Production credits
- The Crazy Minister by Tommy Tee/Snikk Snakk (1990)[albumtrack]
- Standards by Helén Eriksen (1996)[whole album]
- Top Notch by Warlocks (1998) [3 songs]
- Deep Green by N-Light-N (1997)[whole album]'
- Lovevirgin by Helén Eriksen (1998)[whole album]
- Mic Knights by Warlocks (1998) [3 songs]
- Bananrepubliken by Petter (1998) [2 songs]
- Mitt Hem Blir Ditt Heim by Ken Ring (1999) [2 songs]
- 2050 by Diaz (2000) [whole album]
- Trilogy by Souls of Mischief (2000) [2 songs]
- Ya Heard A Him by Shockwave of Zombi Squad (2000) [single]
- Gourmet Garbage by Opaque (2001)[whole album]
- Afterlife by Warlocks (2001) [2 songs]
- EP by Son of Light (2002) [whole album]
- Velkommen Hjem Andres by Diaz (2002) [whole album]
- Soundscience remix by Souls of Mischief ft. Del (2003) [single]
- The Great Escape by Paperboys (2003) [3 songs]
- It's All a Mad Con by MadCon (2004) [1 song]
- Klikk by SkillsMissseBaren (2004) [1 song]
- Planet Ph3 by Phenomena 3 (2004) [3 songs]
- Fred, Frihet & Alt Gratis by Gatas Parlament (2004) [4 songs]
- Difficult to Understand by The Loudmouf Choir (2004) [2 songs single]
- Neverending Story by Warlocks (2005) [1 song]
- Marxmen by MOP (2005) [1 song]
- Appointment with the Underground by Zombi Squad (2006) [3 songs]
- Jessheimfanden by Diaz (2006) [2 songs]
- Ghetto Warfare by MOP (2006) [1 song]
- Get Dirty Radio by AG (DITC) (2006) [2 songs]
- Disgusting by Bestruck (2006) [3 songs]
- Kohi De Browny by Kohinoor (2006) [5 songs + executive producer]
- Jesus Price Superstar by Sean Price (2007) [1 song]
- Antligen Hemma by Ken Ring (2007) [4 songs (3 singles)]
- The Album by Smif N Wessun (2007) [5 songs]
- Kidsa har Alltid Rett by Gatas Parlament (2008) [5 songs]
- Im The One by Mira Craig (2009) [single]
- When Tomorrow Comes by Mira Craig (2009) [album track]
- Smile by Mira Craig (2009) [album track]
- TBA by Mira Craig (2009) [album track]
- Først & Fremst by Mange Schmidt ft. Thomas Rusiak (2009) [album track]
- En Mann by Ken Ring (2009) [album track]
- Jag Gråter by Ken Ring (2009) [album track]
- Bror by Ken Ring (2009) [album track]
- Kör På by Ken Ring (2009) [album track]
- G-Optified (Tommy Tee Theme) by Saigon (2009) [album track]
- Copping Pleas) by Saigon (2009) [album track]
- Sannhets Serum by Joddski ft. Ida Maria (2010) [album track]
- Den Siste Revejakta by Joddski (2010) [album track]
- Lift It Up by Son of Light (2010) [single]
- Sminke by Karpe Diem ft. Masta Ace (2010) [album track]
- Kem Skøt Siv Jensen by Lars Vaular (2010) [album track]
- Utenfor Oslo, Utenfor Overalt by Lars Vaular ft. Nephew (2010) [album track]
- Helt om Natten Helt om Dagen by Lars Vaular ft. Jesse Jones (2010) [album track]
- Kommer Aldri Inn by Jesse Jones (2010) [single]
- 12 Blokker og 1 vei Inn by Jesse Jones (2011) [full album]
- War of The Words by Son of Light (2011) [Full Album]
- Cameltoe by The Loudmouf Choir (2012) [Full album]
- Oppvåkningen by Vinni (2012) [album track]
Mixtapes
- Florrockin' (1993)
- Beasts from the East vol.1. (1994)
- Beasts from the East vol.2. (1994)
- New York State of Mind (1995)
- Stikking' vol. 1 & 2' (m/Diaz) - 1995)
- Ol´ to the New. (1999)
- Basic Education (m/Dj Herkules) (2001)
- Girls, Girls, Girls (2003)
- H.E.A.T. vol.1-6 (2004/2005)
- Golden Era (2006)