Richard Wolf - Record Producer and Songwriter

Record Producer and Songwriter

In 1989 Wolf teamed up with his former studio intern Brett "Epic" Mazur to form what major west coast artist manager Jerry Heller (of N.W.A and Eazy-E) would describe as "the hottest producing team of the early 1990s:" Wolf & Epic (initially named Peace Productions). Wolf's vision was to record live the type of funk and R&B that was commonly sampled by hip hop producers and then overlay scratching and other hip hop techniques to give it a new dimension. Wolf played guitar and keyboards, Mazur played drums and deejayed, and other musicians were brought in to fatten the sound. Mazur praised his older counterpart as having "the knack to come up with that undeniable hook. Even if it's just a keyboard part, he goes beyond just a chorus".

The two musicians used the generation gap to their advantage and were able to span several genres and styles in their acclaimed productions.

Wolf & Epic's first project together was with Laquan on his album Notes of a Native Son. This record was one of the first to combine a live band with hip hop scratching, sampling, and rapping. The New York Times praised Laquan, saying that listening to his music is "to hear the shape of urban debates to come" and admired the "slick pop choruses buoy his songs". One of the tracks was included on the compilation The Rebirth of the Cool Vol. 1 (Island Records), which spawned a string of albums that pioneered the "Acid Jazz" movement of jazzy hip hop. The duo later wrote and recorded another acid jazz hit, "Eyes of the Soul," on MC Lyte's Atlantic Records album Act Like You Know.

In the early 1990s, Wolf & Epic, along with other producers, worked on Bell Biv Devoe's album, Poison: a triple-platinum album that pioneered the fusion of soul and hip hop. Wolf & Epic, who had a #1 hit with their remixed version of Bell Biv Devoe's "Do Me", went on to "use the finished record as raw material... completely re-produce it". The result was WBBD-Bootcity!: The Remix Album, the chart topping, certified gold album of Bell Biv Devoe remixes that sealed Wolf & Epic's reputation as "the hot new kids on the remixing block".

Some of Wolf's other notable projects during this time include work on Ralph Tresvant's "Public Figure," Sheena Easton's "You Can Swing It", remixes of Prince's "Horny Pony" and Seal's "Crazy", and work with the New Kids on the Block and Nona Gaye.

After Wolf and Mazur amicably parted ways, Wolf continued to write, produce, and remix records with artists including Freddie Mercury, Coolio, Ce Ce Peniston ("I Will Be Received"), MC Lyte, Ricky Bell, and Johnny Gill.