Who was Baraka? It wasn’t Jonny L after all…
Over the last few years “I’ll Be There“, by the apparent mystery producer Baraka, has become an extremely sought-after, cult tune.
As it was never clear on the label who Baraka actually was – although Kid Andy is listed as ‘co-ordinator’, many people (myself included) had speculated that Baraka was in fact an alias for Jonny L. The main evidence would be the similarities in the amen work on this and Jonny L’s remix of U Can Be My Lover.
However, a while back when browsing the Beautifully Crafted Jungle Facebook group, I noticed this post from one half of Serial Killaz; Tobie Scopes.
Baraka was Kid Andy, aka Andy Lysandrou – the guy who owned Boogie Beat. I was good friends with him at the time.
Jonny L might have engineered it, as they both went on to be True Steppers together (who then produced that Out Of Your Mind track with Dane Bowers & Victoria Beckham). He didn’t mention Jonny’s name to me at the time, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved of course.
What Tobie doesn’t know about jungle / D&B really isn’t worth knowing!
Andy Lysandrou is also the man behind the essential UK garage label Ice Cream (along with Tim Deluxe), a label probably best known to the masses for the speed garage anthem RIP Groove by Double 99.
So there you have it, mystery solved.
About Law
Main author and creator of Drumtrip. I have been listening to and mixing drum and bass in its various forms since 1998. Drumtrip was designed to celebrate the glory years between 1991 and 1997.
