Kaliphz were formed in
Rochdale (a working class town in
Greater Manchester) by the
British Asians 2-Phaan and Jabba da Hype. Inspired by a performance of the
Rock Steady Crew they saw in 1982, the
duo formed a breakdance and
graffiti crew called Dizzy Footwork, Dizzy footwork were formed and inspired by the Original Members of Dizzy Footwork Crew Mush, Zulf, and Peps childhood friends from the Wardleworth area of Rochdale. Kaliphz were ultimately born out of Dizzy footwork. Mush and Jabba also began to do rap based politically charged
spoken word performances under the name Nu Konshus Kaliphz. They were joined by Poet Saquib who managed the band for a short while, Chok the Phunky Polak, DJ XL, Sniffa Dog NAD and Sefton to form the first line up of what became the Kaliphz. In 1993, the
production team of Martin Price and Nel Johnson a.k.a. 'FunkRegulators' arranged for the group to be signed to
London Records and Payday records in the US. Funk Regulators recorded and produced the Kaliphz debut album along with a
track for the
soundtrack to the
film Shopping. The
album,
Seven Deadly Sins (Payday/FFRR, 1995) featured a strong political and anti-racist stance, and received moderate critical acclaim, but London Records were not satisfied with its sales. The group expanded with the addition of
Leeds-based rapper Wiz (aka Oddball, real name Paul Edmeade) who had recently departed the group Breaking the Illusion. Following this, London's
A&R man
Pete Tong suggested them to
Jive Records, who paired the group with the
record producer Pete Waterman. Under Waterman's influence, and
record label pressure, the group changed their name again to Kaleef and moved their musical style in a more pop direction. This led to the recording of their second album,
53rd State of Mind (Jive, 1997). Unhappy with the directions they were moving in, the group split shortly after the release of their second album. The group appeared on the
UK Singles Chart with (as Kaliphz) "Walk Like a Champion" (Payday/FFRR, 1995) featuring boxer Prince Naseem Hamed, and (as Kaleef) "Golden Brown" (Jive, 1997) - a re-working of
the Stranglers song about drug use. ==Discography==