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Music of Life

British independent music label

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 28, 2026
Entity authorityQ16998312
Source-derived summary

Music of Life is a British independent hip hop and dance music label formed in 1986 by Froggy and Simon Harris, managed by Chris France.

At first, the label licensed new rap music from US production company Powerplay for the first compilation album Def Beats 1, but as an addition to the US material, Harris produced an extra track under his own 'Music of Life Productions' recorded in London by the label's A&R man Derek Boland. "Rock the Beat" by Derek B created a demand for British hip-hop; the label signed artists including the Demon Boyz and Daddy Freddy.

Music Week wrote in 1988 that Music of Life was "the most successful hip hop label in the UK right now." Record Mirror identified Music of Life as one of the few hip hop labels "to believe in home grown talent." In 1989, Studio Week magazine called Music of Life "the foremost rap label in this country at the moment."

Furthermore, in 1989, Music of Life expanded its portfolio with the launch of its sister label, Living Beat. Specialising in dance music, house, and pop recordings, Living Beat achieved chart success with releases such as "Supermarioland", which reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart. Notable contributions include Harris's collaboration with Nintendo under the pseudonym 'Ambassadors of Funk', Samantha Fox's "Go for the Heart", and facilitating Prince's first UK No. 1 single, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World".

The label's founder, Harris, is credited with producing a series of breakbeat albums, comprising 12 volumes of Beats, Breaks & Scratches. Collaborations with prominent artists such as Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), Paul Oakenfold, Afrika Bambaataa, and George Clinton have resulted in the production and release of similar influential albums, all of which formed an integral part of the Music of Life catalogue.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Music of Life” as british independent music label. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Music, Life and British.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1986, 1988, 1989—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1986. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Music, Life and British providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Music of Life”, the useful work is to connect “british independent music label” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16998312. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1986, 1988 and 1989.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Music of Life” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.