Maxi Jazz is best known for being lead vocals in Faithless. He is a Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist black rapper from the United Kingdom.
Pre-Faithless
Before Faithless, Maxi created an album called Soul Food Café . He also worked in pirate radio for a time with LWR in 1987.
Lyrics
His lyrics can be anything from upbeat (for example in Reverence from the album of the same name) to melancholy (this time from Giving Myself Away from Outrospective). From despairing at current affairs (Mass Destruction from No Roots) to social comment (this time with LSK in In The End , again from No Roots).
Maxi Jazz's comments on society generally look at the harsher aspects of life. For example, in Bring My Family Back , he explores what comes from lacking a happy, nuclear family. In the first verse he views the situation through the eyes of a two-year-old ('Child, I'm working so there's nothing you lack/But she know, I want my Dad, I want my family back.'), in the second a forty-three-year-old, and in the last a house, long deserted by its last occupants ('Derelicts sneaking in to fix, speaking/On the way, my timbers creaking, roof leaking and bricks coming loose/Knee high in refuse.').
1 Giant Leap
Maxi also sung alongside Robbie Williams on the collaborative album 1 Giant Leap in the single My Culture . 1 Giant Leap was produced by Duncan Bridgeman and Jamie Catto, the latter also of Faithless.
Racing
Maxi is very fond of his sports cars, and on the morning of Sunday 9th December 2001 had a serious car accident, postponing several of Faithless's UK tour dates. He races with Maxi Jazz Racing, which was set up in 2000 when Maxi asked Rae Claydon to run him in the Ford Fiesta championship . Maxi Jazz has also been stopped for speeding on a couple of occasions, the latter of which he was found under the influence of alcohol.
External Links
Last updated: 08-08-2005 11:03:24
