Spek(I)
- Composer
- Actor
Literally schooled on hip-hop, Spek started swapping rhymes at the
impressionable age of 14 in his hometown of Montreal and never looked
back. Tutored through his tenure with world-recognized boombasters
'The
Dream Warriors', he joined the
band hot on the heels of their worldwide smashes "My Definition" and
"Wash Your Face In My Sink." At the age of 17, he signed a worldwide
record contract with EMI and toured the globe before eventually
continuing his quest for knowledge settling in London. An incubator of
sorts for his ideas, Spek soon found himself touring again. Only this
time with multi-million selling British Jazz-Rap crew Us3 across Europe
at the height of their popularity. Hooking up with musical partner
Brian Rose (Longview/Robbie
Williams), he made his mark through various collaborations with members
of Jamiroquai and
Nitin Sawhney (whose breakthrough album
"Beyond Skin" featuring Spek was highly touted by
Sting and Madonna,
won the South Bank Album Award and went on to be nominated for the
Mercury Music Prize). He appeared on the BBC's Later (with
Jools Holland), and was soon bestowed the
honour of having his single "Smell The Coffee" featured several times
in the Old Vic in the British mainstay "Eastenders."
International recognition beckoned as his songs were picked up in Worldwide campaigns used by Nokia, Fox and DreamWorks Films' comedy Envy (2004) (starring Ben Stiller and Jack Black), having what The Times described as, "a gentle and genial collection of dreamy love songs and street smart hip hop grooves." Loaded magazine went a step further by calling his album Don't Sweat The Small Stuff, "like Prince and De La Soul in a mucky mudwrestle. Exceptional" with a 10 out of 10 review. In 2003, Spek was asked to Co-Host the Juno Awards ceremony (Canada's version of the Grammys), a testament to the impact he made after releasing his debut album to rave reviews all round. Garnering hard to come by kudos (voted number one on MTV UK's "Daily Chart Live" for his Look Me Up video, scoring a Top 20 smash with his single I'm A Hippie in his native Canada). Spek's trippy Beatles holding court with De La Soul, Mazzy Star and Paul Simon-Art Garfunkel style of music left quite an impression.
In 2005, Spek was cast in a lead role in the UK/European feature film Nefarious (2024), starring alongside Danish star, Kim Bodnia among others. That film premiered in Cannes 2005. Playing a dual role, Spek also provided the score and soundtrack to Wicked with his long time co-writer Brian Rose.
2005 saw him developing several film projects in the UK. Most notably is the film project Fricky Khan. The real story of the daredevil Sri Lankan motorcycle racer and multiple Grand Prix winner who lived fast and died young.
International recognition beckoned as his songs were picked up in Worldwide campaigns used by Nokia, Fox and DreamWorks Films' comedy Envy (2004) (starring Ben Stiller and Jack Black), having what The Times described as, "a gentle and genial collection of dreamy love songs and street smart hip hop grooves." Loaded magazine went a step further by calling his album Don't Sweat The Small Stuff, "like Prince and De La Soul in a mucky mudwrestle. Exceptional" with a 10 out of 10 review. In 2003, Spek was asked to Co-Host the Juno Awards ceremony (Canada's version of the Grammys), a testament to the impact he made after releasing his debut album to rave reviews all round. Garnering hard to come by kudos (voted number one on MTV UK's "Daily Chart Live" for his Look Me Up video, scoring a Top 20 smash with his single I'm A Hippie in his native Canada). Spek's trippy Beatles holding court with De La Soul, Mazzy Star and Paul Simon-Art Garfunkel style of music left quite an impression.
In 2005, Spek was cast in a lead role in the UK/European feature film Nefarious (2024), starring alongside Danish star, Kim Bodnia among others. That film premiered in Cannes 2005. Playing a dual role, Spek also provided the score and soundtrack to Wicked with his long time co-writer Brian Rose.
2005 saw him developing several film projects in the UK. Most notably is the film project Fricky Khan. The real story of the daredevil Sri Lankan motorcycle racer and multiple Grand Prix winner who lived fast and died young.
