BreakBeat Lou

A record collector, music lover, and historian, "BreakBeat" Lou grew up with Hip-Hop throughout the 1980s and 1990s, known as Ultimate Breaks and Beats, commonly abbreviated as UBB. His label, Street Beat Records, created by Lou and the late Leonard "BreakBeat" Lenny Roberts, released 25 compilation albums from 1986 to 1991. The UBB series and its iconic Octopus logo have always been synonymous with the sound of hip hop, preceding all of today's digital "shortcuts." They have become the blueprint used by legendary producers and crate diggers interested in finding "the source." This integral series has been sampled by many of hip-hop's elite producers like DJ Premier (Gangstarr), Large Professor, The Bomb Squad (Public Enemy), Pete Rock, Dr. Dre, Marley Marl, J Dilla, Salaam Remi, Rhettmatic, Mr. Len, Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez and Just Blaze among countless others. "BreakBeat" Lou revived Ultimate Breaks & Beats with a producer series with Oh No, which debuted in January 2017 on Stones Throw Records. Oh No's 17-track collection was made entirely with sources from the original UBB series. "BreakBeat" Lou founded the Original Beat Junky production company alongside world-renown editor and producer, the late Jose "Chep" Nunez. The two collaborated in producing for artists including 2 In a Room, Tim Dog, Ultramagnetic MCs, the late Scott LaRock, Paul C, and many other historic artists in hip-hop. As a DJ, "BreakBeat" Lou has shared the stage with Afrika Bambaataa, KOOL DJ Red Alert, Grandwizzard Theodore, Biz Markie, Todd Terry, Rich Medina, Q-Bert, Lord Finesse, Boogie Blind, DJ Scratch, Peanut Butter Wolf, Kenny Dope, Mark Robson, A-Trax, De La Soul The Pharcyde, Slick Rick, and Prince Paul. He also worked as a producer, collaborating with Sean Price, Nejma Shea, Intikana, John Robinson, Opio Imani from The Pharcyde, Chino XL, Beeda Weeda, and Cadillac Freeze. "BreakBeat," Lou began his foray into speaking engagements (UBB Hip Hop 101: Origins and History) at university lecture halls, including Yale and Stanford. In 2016, Music Director was also added to the mix: In cities such as Minneapolis and San Jose, Lou provided the soundtrack and performed as himself for the play "DJ Latinidad," merging new generations of Latino artists and playwrights with music.