One of the most influential hip-hop producers of the 1980s, Kurtis Mantronik returned in the mid-'90s with a solo career that showed him fitting in well with the legion of big beat artists he had inspired. As the nominal leader of Mantronix, he produced a good half-dozen early rap classics, including "Basslines," "Ladies," and "King of the Beats." By the late '80s however, Mantronik had moved into R&B and house; after Mantronix disintegrated in 1991, he spent several years working on production, then left music altogether. He returned in the mid-'90s with the mini-LP Burn the Elastic and his first full-length, I Sing the Body Electro. Praise for the album spurred him to re-form Mantronix and begin recording a new LP. ~ John Bush