Us3

Best known for the 1994 hit "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)," Us3 is a jazz-rap collective launched by British producers Geoff Wilkinson and Mel Simpson. The two began working together in London in 1991, creating songs that fused hip-hop and jazz with vintage samples. That unique approach earned them a record deal with Blue Note Records, as well as the ability to source their samples from the label's historic catalog of jazz music. The first of those albums, 1993's Hand on the Torch, became Blue Note's first platinum-selling record, thanks in large part to the single "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)." Built around a Herbie Hancock sample, the song peaked at Number 9 in March 1994 and went gold later that year. Us3 underwent multiple lineup changes during the years that followed, with Wilkinson remaining in the driver's seat throughout. Although 1997's Broadway & 52nd was the group's last album to chart in the U.S., the group remained active, releasing records like 2001's An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place, 2004's Questions, 2006's Schizophonic, and 2013's The Third Way.