BBE  

The Barely Breaking Even movement began nearly ten years ago when Peter Adarkwah and his partner Ben were discussing music and discovered a shared interest in diverse, eclectic sounds covering all genres - from old scratchy Brazilian grooves, through 70's funk, via jazz fusion, hip - hop and soul to newer garage, disco and techno music.
 
Pete had been DJ'ing at friend's parties for several years and had just graduated to his first gig on the club scene. First and foremost a music lover and collector Pete had discovered a previously unknown aptitude when he started spinning the tunes. They decided to promote a night where the music that was played would not be restricted as it was in other clubs - the new night would be across styles and freestyle.
 
The first club promotion took place at a tiny club in Chinatown under the name 'Shake It Loose.' The club was a resounding success, but unwittingly another promoter had already employed the name used. A change was necessary and so it became Barely Breaking Even - taken from the seminal track by The Universal Robot Band (re -issued on Dimitri's 'Disco Forever' album in Oct 2000, and true of the state of finances at that time).
 
With the change of name came a change of venue. BBE moved onwards and upwards - promoting at different venues and on different nights but with a fresh attitude and an already distinct style, the nights became more and more popular. Ben & Pete also began to appear as guest DJs elsewhere and DJing and promoting became a full time occupation.
 
Despite being busy with club activities, Ben & Pete decided to move into the record industry, founding a label named after the Promotion Company. BBE Records began with releasing the acclaimed 'Stop and Listen' series late in 1996, and the ball has rolled on and on since then.
 
Having single handedly run the label since early 2000, Pete has continued to develop the label, taking it to new heights. BBE model's itself on the motto of 'real music for real people' and this is clearly seen by the fact that there are now over 100 compilations and artist albums released, profiling a variety of sounds and styles from funk and soul to disco and Latin as well as house and hip hop. Compilers from home and abroad have been brought in to add their expertise and in turn the label has aligned itself with many artists as well as many genres of music.
 
This association with artists has been strongly built upon by the introduction of the Beat Generation; a series of beat based albums from a number of exceptional and pivotal hip -hop producers. The ethos behind this series was to allow these producers to create albums that drew from all their influences and all the sounds that had in some way contributed to the music they had made and continue to make. The series kicked off to a fantastic start with Jay Dee's 'Welcome to Detroit' (shortlisted for the American Award for Artistic Achievement) and this was shortly followed by DJ Jazzy Jeff, Will.i.am (of the Black Eyed Peas) and DJ Spinna. Each album is an individual experiment but also enables the series to flourish in its aims and the music it is exhibiting.
 
BBE has gone on to release great compilation series such as The Kings of.... featuring heavyweight DJ compilers, The Strange Games Series, The Kon and Amir Off Track series, Cocktail Disco from Dimitri from Paris, as well as albums from Roy Ayers - The Virgin Ubiquity anthologies of previously unreleased material, DJ Vadim - The Soundcatcher and Luisito Quintero amongst others.
 
BBE club promotions is still flourishing with weekly Sundays at Bar Rumba (hip hop/RnB) (12 years on and still going) There are also monthly Saturday nights at Cherry Jam and Herbal, last Thursday of every month at AKA, 3 of London's hottest spots!
 
2008 promises to be a prolific year with original albums and compilations from London's own Fanatix and Aaron Jerome, the crazy world of DJ Al Kent, Still Music, Dimitri from Paris, David Rodigan, J LIve, Kon and Amir, Mr Thing, Tha 4orce, London club Amplified, Innervisions (Henrik Schwarz, Dixon and Ame), Keb Darge w Paul Weller and many more. Who knows? We may see the release of the final installment in the Beat Generation series from a certain prolific west coast based hip hop producer.
 
So stay tuned and watch this space for more.