Beef

Beef was a Dutch band. While generally classified as reggae, their music combined many different styles. History Beef was formed out of an underground radio show called "The Chop Shop" in 1999. Their early recordings, released only on cassettes (the 1.1Gr.Fm Sessions), have become collector items. The same holds for the 10 inch EP release Babylon by Beef (Drunken Maria, 1999). After the first full studio album, entitled Flexodus (Partners in Crime, 1999), record company PIAS picked up on the buzz, signed the band and had them record their self-titled second album in England. Under productional leadership of singer Bitty McLean, "Beef!" was created. "Late Night Sessions", the first single from the album, became a big hit. In 2002, the band was invited to the Nuit Tipique festival in Burkina Faso. Later, in 2005, they were voted "the most popular foreign band to attend the festival in the last 10 years" by the festival visitors. In the same year, the band also won the prestigious "Zilveren Harp" (Silver Harp) for their contribution to Dutch pop culture. Michel Schoots (Urban Dance Squad) was responsible for the production of their third album Last Rudy Standing (PIAS, 2005). He took the band into the ICP studios in Brussels and on a different musical path. This resulted in an album with singles like "Cashing the Money" and "Last Rudy Standing". The latter was used by Amnesty International in their Control Arms campaign, in which the band took up the role as ambassador.