Review
Genre and Mood
DJ Marky, XRS and Stamina MC made LK the drum and bass record people who never went to a drum and bass night could sing. Brazilian guitar, a British MC and a fast electronic beat meet in a track that 909originals called a feel-good summer classic: uplifting and euphoric, which was exactly what made part of its own scene suspicious of it.
Song Summary
LK samples the vocals and guitar of Carolina Carol Bela, Toquinho and Jorge Ben’s B-side to Que Maravilha, a record DJ Marky found at his mother’s home. It was made in XRS’s studio, XRS at the computer and Marky bringing the samples on a MiniDisc. The title is short for Liquid Kitchen, after Marky walked in on XRS’s mother doing the dishes. This is the vocal original mix as collected on the pair’s 2004 album In Rotation, five and a half minutes long.
Musical Breakdown
No source walks through the track bar by bar; these are the parts the sources name.
The Sample
Resident Advisor heard Spanish guitar and a vocal sample of Jorge Ben. Marky chose the riff because it matched drum and bass tempo and its guitar sounded clean.
Stamina MC’s Vocal
Stamina MC, Linden Reeves, first freestyled over the instrumental at a gig in Newcastle. Fans began asking for It’s the Way, his line, and he was brought in to record it properly.
Breakdown
At a second Newcastle gig, near closing time, the crowd sang the breakdown back; Marky rewound the record and the same thing happened again.
Concepts in Focus
LK is a lesson in sampling: a Brazilian B-side that Marky reckons was some forty years old turned into the base of a 2002 UK chart hit. The rights came later, when the track reached America and Jorge Ben’s son Gabriel heard it; Toquinho approved the sample. Compare the source’s world in Jorge Ben Jor – Take It Easy My Brother Charles.
The breakdown, where the beat drops away and the music thins, is usually a breath before the drums return. Here it became the crowd’s moment.
Stamina MC is the <a href=“https://korczis.github.io/sonic-playground/concept/featured-artist/” class=“concept-link font-medium text-primary-700 underline decoration-dotted underline-offset-4 hover:decoration-solid dark:text-primary-400” data-concept=“featured-artist” title=“A guest performer credited on another artist’s track, usually as “feat.”: a rapper’s verse, a singer’s hook or a second voice. Features bring together different styles and audiences and are central to hip-hop, R&B and dance music.“>featured artist, but an unusual one: his part was not commissioned, it grew out of a live freestyle the audience adopted.
Artistic Context
DJ Marky, born Marco Antonio da Silva in São Paulo, and XRS, Xerxes de Oliveira, were among the Brazilian producers who made their country’s drum and bass popular abroad. Marcus Intalex first turned LK down for his new label Soul:R; Bryan Gee signed it to V Recordings after meeting Marky in Miami. In Rotation, their 2004 album on Innerground, was praised by XLR8R as a beautifully crafted debut of humid funk.
Impact and Reception
The vocal single, released in July 2002, reached number 17 in the UK, number 2 on the dance chart, was playlisted by BBC Radio 1 and performed on Top of the Pops. NME later called it seminal, and in 2021 Piri & Tommy made it the first song they covered live. Put it on loud and wait for the breakdown.
