Freestylers

The Freestylers are a British electronic music group, consisting of producers Matt Cantor and Aston Harvey. They have released five studio albums and a number of mix compilations for, among others, Fabric and BBC Radio. The group took their name from their first sample "Don't Stop the Rock" by Freestyle, which they also sampled on "Drop the Boom". The Freestylers formed in 1996 when DJs and dance music producers Matt Cantor and Aston Harvey joined forces. Both Cantor and Aston had been involved in the British dance music scene since the early 1990s. Cantor had recorded both as Cut & Paste and Strike with Andy Gardner (Plump DJs). Aston Harvey recorded as Blapps! Posse, best known for their 1990 breakbeat dance hit "Don't Hold Back", before working with Definition of Sound, Rebel MC and DJ Rap (as DJ Rap and Aston). The trio's first single, "Drop the Boom (AK-48)", on their own Scratch City Records in 1996 became a dancefloor hit in the United Kingdom and Miami. The band released the Freestyle EP in 1996 on Freskanova (Freskanova's parent label, Fresh, had released Cantor and Harvey's previous works).