Easy Mo Bee

Osten S. Harvey Jr. (born December 8, 1965), better known by his stage name Easy Mo Bee, is an American hip hop and R&B record producer and DJ, known for his production work for artists such as Big Daddy Kane and Miles Davis, as well as his affiliation with Bad Boy Records in its early years, and his production involvement in The Notorious B.I.G.'s debut album, Ready to Die. He also produced two songs on 2Pac's album, Me Against the World.

Biography Early career Easy Mo Bee was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, and raised in the neighborhood's Lafayette Gardens projects. He began producing after hearing music by Ced Gee of Ultramagnetic MCs and Marley Marl, producer of early hip-hop hits for the Juice Crew and LL Cool J. His first production placement came on Big Daddy Kane's breakthrough album, It's a Big Daddy Thing, after which he was approached to work with another Cold Chillin' Records artist, The Genius — an early alias for Wu-Tang Clan co-founder GZA. Mo Bee produced the majority of the rapper's debut album, Words From the Genius, as well as produced "Sexcapades", a track that featured on the B-side of fellow future Wu-Tang co-founder RZA's first single, "Ooh I Love You Rakeem", which the rapper/producer released under the alias Prince Rakeem.

Around that same time, Mo Bee had a group with neighborhood friends A.B. Money and J.R. called Rappin' Is Fundamental. The trio released only one album on A&M Records in 1991: The Doo-Hop Legacy. Jazz pioneer Miles Davis approached the young producer to help fuse jazz and hip-hop. These sessions would become his last studio album, 1992's Doo-Bop. The project was released posthumously after Davis died during the recording process (leaving the project unfinished) and garnered generally mixed reviews.

1990s Mo Bee first linked up with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment in 1993, when he produced the first single for Combs' up-and-coming artist, the Notorious B.I.G., "Party and Bullshit". Easy also went on to produce much of the label's two flagship releases: Project: Funk da World by Craig Mack, and Ready to Die by B.I.G. During this time period, he also crafted moderate radio hits for the Lost Boyz ("Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz"); Das EFX ("Microphone Master"); and Busta Rhymes ("Everything Remains Raw"). these songs would mark the last time Easy would produce for Bad Boy.

In 2000, he put out an album called Now or Never: Oddysey 2000, featuring East Coast staples Busta Rhymes, Raekwon, Prodigy, Smif-N-Wessun, Kool G Rap, and Sauce Money, along with Goodie Mob and Kurupt. Over the next decade he would craft songs for Big Daddy Kane, Ras Kass, the Wu-Tang Clan, Mos Def, Black Rob, Sean Price, Wiz Khalifa and others, eventually winning a Grammy for his work with Alicia Keys on her album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003).

Personal life Easy Mo Bee's younger brother is the producer The LG Experience, who produced the Ill Al Skratch album, Creep Wit' Me.

Discography

Studio albums Now or Never: Odyssey 2000 (2000) Two for One (2015) This Is My Life (2019)

with Rappin' Is Fundamental The Doo-Hop Legacy (1991)

Instrumental albums ...And You Don't Stop! (2015)