Published
Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 13:10
- The UK artist was best known for his partnership with LTJ Bukem.
Beloved jungle and drum & bass vocalist Conrad Thompson, AKA MC Conrad, has died aged 52.
The news broke earlier today, April 30th, via social media and Clash Magazine, which spoke to Thompson's family and friends. No cause or place of death have been mentioned.
Born in the English town of Northampton in 1972, Thompson became revered in the jungle and drum & bass scene for his soulful voice, sharp lyrics and long-standing partnership with LTJ Bukem. As a teenager in the '80s, he fell in love with electro, hip-hop and breakdancing before realising that the path to success as a hip-hop artist was likely to be a long one. He then sidestepped into rave culture and discovered hardcore, jungle and, later, drum & bass.
"Someone mentioned a rave called Telepathy on Marshgate lane in East London," Thompson told UKF in 2021. "We went there and it was mind-blowing. I heard so many seminal tunes in that space. I was a Rat Pack fan and they'd come and do the early morning sunrise set. They were my heroes. I was in awe of their synergy and energy and I'd be that guy. Like 'give me the mic, give me the mic.'"
It was at Telepathy that Thompson first MC'd with a DJ, joining Jumping Jack Frost onstage. In 1991, he first connected with LTJ Bukem, igniting arguably the scene's best-known DJ/MC partnership. As well as tunes like 1998's "Orchestral Jam," their Dreamscape 4 set is among the most sampled rave tapes in history, while 1995's Essential Mix and 1998's Progression Sessions 1 (and its subsequent instalments) are considered stone-cold classics.
Away from LTJ Bukem, Thompson enjoyed hits with Total Science ("Soul Patrol") and Makoto ("Golden Girl"), and also released his own tunes as Con*Natural. These mostly came out via his Resonance label, which launched in 2020. He was still touring as an MC as recently as last month.
Listen to Dreamscape 4 and Progression Sessions 1, and read social media tributes from across the jungle and drum & bass scene.