Early in his career, “This is Acid” became the catalyst for the chemical reaction that brought Maurice onto the global scene. The single reached #1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Play Chart, as well as the Dance Sales Chart. In addition to its U.S. chart success, “This is Acid”, (which was originally released on the Chicago independent label Trax Records) became the milestone for house music. The record was later licensed and released by Vendetta/A&M Records, setting the airwaves of Europe ablaze and earmarking a universally strong beginning to his career. |Many will also recall Maurice’s prominent role as one of the members of Chicago’s worldwide famed triumphant trio, I.D. Productions. Along with Steve “Silk” Hurley and Eric “E-Smoove” Miller, Maurice completed the trinity that helped to redefine what a “remix” was. Instead of just extending the length of the song, the track was completely reworked, reproduced and given a whole new form ready to take clubland by storm. His hit-making flavor soon enabled Maurice to go solo. He then reached greater career heights as the proprietor of Vibe Music & Music Plant (a company with which he is no longer affiliated). During this time, he produced several massive club anthems such as the #1 Billboard hit “For the Love of You” by Meechie. He also produced some of Kiss FM London’s favorite tunes: “House 101”, “House 102”, “Got a Hold On U” by Chantay Savage, “Good Love, Real Love” by D’Bora, “Just Can’t Get Enough” by Mixx Vibes, and “La La” by Maurice Joshua featuring Liquid Soul to name but a few. For Maurice, timeless hits like these prove that is consistently ahead of his time by producing massive tunes that set the standard for today’s dominating dance genres. These tracks also allow him to constantly expose clubs to his seamless mixing skills—a talent that fills dance floor after dance floor. With his numerous DJ performances throughout the world, Maurice has “been there and done that” long before many other DJs have. Whether being played in famous clubs like Ministry of Sound (London), Cream (Liverpool), Sound Factory (NYC), Cocorico (Rimini), and MZA (Tokyo), or at dance festivals and music conferences, Maurice has gained worldwide respect as being one of the world’s top DJs. His sets are more than outstanding: he knows what to mix and when to mix it, reaching his fans’ inner hearts and souls. If you are looking for soulful odysseys, disco filtered dubs, Afro Cuban rhythms, Middle Eastern percussion or even classic disco, hip-hop and reggae, Maurice’s sets are definitely the ones that will lead the way to your “entranced” club journeys. Maurice has also established his exquisite versatility as an artist by adding songwriting to his roster of talents. In 1996, he struck an EMI Publishing Agreement with VP Jody Gerson. Most recently, Maurice has written tracks for both Jamie Foxx and Beyoncé new albums and his credits also include writing and producing hits for world renowned artists like Crystal Waters, CeCe Peniston, Byron Stingily, Kim English, Whiteboy and RCA recording group Public Announcement. He has even written for McDonald’s commercials. As Maurice has expanded his creative palette and branched out into pop, hip-hop and R&B, he has approached it all from his uniquely artistic point of view. Aside from touring the world, producing essential club cuts, and remixing both pop and urban artists, Maurice has even hit the airwaves hosting his own exclusive mix show for Chicago’s B96 (96.3 FM). His goal was always to educate and entertain his fans by providing them with the freshest and funkiest house/garage and hip-hop/R&B/reggae tunes, long before they were officially promoted to club DJs. While on the air, Maurice was considered to be one of the few U.S. radio DJs with the ability to effortlessly break records into airplay – whether dance or urban –by playing them for his audience of more than two million listeners. Artists and record labels (major and minor) always made sure Maurice had two copies of every project, considering him at that time to be the USA’s answer to the UK’s Pete Tong, Judge Jules and Gilles Peterson. Years ago, because of his ongoing effort to infiltrate new markets and genres, Maurice predicted the next big thing in music that would take Generations X and Y by storm would be R&B and hip-hop. He also realized that this genre had no DJ/ producers providing dance mixes of the original tracks. So he gave it a chance… Sure enough, Maurice became the darling of the R&B/hip-hop circuit, adding his magic touch to artists such as Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, John Legend, Omarion, Michael Jackson, Faith Evans, and Amerie. He also produced the dance version of Mary Mary’s contemporary gospel hit “Shackles” and became the Exclusive Remixer of the world’s hottest pop/R&B group, Destiny’s Child, remixing all of their tracks on their albums, and ensuring him a position on the production of upcoming LPs for the group and its members. This type of success though did not come easy for Maurice. Continuous requests for remixes by major label A&R executives would not be possible if he hadn’t put his entire heart and soul into his craft. The mixes he delivers are not simple edits, additional dance beats and computerized stretching of the vocals. He puts in the effort to completely reconstruct a song from scratch. The beats are fresh, not sampled; instruments are live; melodies are new. And most times, the vocals are re-cut, giving a whole new meaning and flavor to the track. Essentially, Maurice produces the artists and does not simply “remix” them. The ultimate achievement for Maurice came in 2004 when all of this hard work earned him his first Grammy after three previous nominations. He also signed a management deal that year with MusicWorld/Sanctuary Music Group (run by Beyoncés father, Mathew Knowles). Even in the midst of this success, Maurice has remained humble and thankful; he realizes that his Grammy win is a simple acknowledgement of his hard work and that more hard work was about to come. “It’s hard to get on top, but it’s easy to fall down,” Maurice said of his Grammy Award in a recent TV interview. “And you will fall down faster than you got up if you do not realize this.” When asked how it felt to be a celebrity, Maurice replied with a smile of satisfaction: “I love style, fashion, glamour, expensive cars, elegant houses and the whole entourage that follows a superstar DJ/Producer, but nothing comes for free and nothing stays for free.” And as Maurice prepares for his future goals – making more hit records, artist development and a new recording studio – one thing is certain: he has truly earned every moment and accolade in his career.| |
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