Hank Shocklee

Hank Shocklee is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Grammy nominated producer, DJ, composer, remixer, culture evolver, and sonic architect who has worn many hats in the music business throughout the years and is perhaps best known for founding the group Public Enemy and the production outfit the BOMB SQUAD.

Sampling in music is now a part of the mainstream culture and Hank Shocklee, is one of the culture leaders who brought the art of sampling to the forefront by creating techniques such as filtering, multiband micro-loop sampling, introducing the use of sine waves to create kick drums and bass lines, truncating and mapping samples on keyboards and drum machines and using tuning to create warping in the late 80’s–early 90’s. These techniques were introduced to the world stage via his landmark albums with Public Enemy such as ‘It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back’ and ‘Fear Of A Black Planet’, two albums which consistently rank high amongst most of the ‘greatest albums of all time’ lists such as those by Rolling Stone, Spin, Pitchfork, VH1, Vibe, Mojo, NME, The Village Voice and many others.

Shocklee’s name became synonymous with sampling shortly after creating the BOMB SQUAD style. He has been at the centerpoint of debates on copyright laws and studied by pop culture historians and academics alike. As a constant developer of numerous audio production and sampling techniques, he has been both an inspiring force for music producers and a disruptor of music industry politics.

In our current digital landscape, he has expanded his reach and grown into a sound designer, film composer, media company and champion of electronic music worldwide. Always seeking new and innovative ways to transform the audio arts, Shocklee launched his NYC based company Shocklee Entertainment, to develop a series of multimedia projects which he calls the Future Frequency.

For more: shocklee.com