Egyptian Lover

We've got something pretty special this week.

Our exclusive In Session mix was recorded in Chalmun's Cantina – the bar made famous in the Star Wars trilogy – that lies deep in the heart of the pirate city of Mos Eisley, on the desert planet of Tatooine. It's by Greg "The Egyptian Lover" Broussard.

He delivers a set on which eastern undertones wash through a sea of fully-charged, bass-ridden electro funk. Playing to a haunt of bounty hunters and intergalactic criminals of various alien races is no mean feat, but Lover keeps things bouncing in the bar famed for blaster face-offs and other sinister showdowns.

Not quite sure what we're on about? Well, he recently played within the depths of London's Secret Cinema, which is currently hosting a very special re-conjuring of The Empire Strikes Back. We were there to record the whole thing and witness the old-skool pioneer give a perfect display of what had so many people pop lockin' in Los Angeles dancehalls right through the 80s. Albeit on the spot where Luke Skywalker famously first met Han Solo and Chewbacca.

Originally recruited as a DJ for Uncle Jamm's Army in 1982 – which also included rapper turned actor Ice-T – he was part of the outfit that was instrumental to the LA electro and West Coast hip hop scenes, releasing singles including 'What's Your Sign', 'Dial-A-Freak' and 'Yes, Yes, Yes' on the Freak Beat and Dunk Yer Funk labels.

The Egyptian Lover quickly established himself as the main DJ for Uncle Jamm's Army with his skills on the turntables, and a steady release of tracks from the outfit made them legends on the West Coast scene. Lover is still seen by many as an absolute master of the Roland TR-808, sitting at the forefront of how it revolutionised the way we make music to this day.

Following the success of Uncle Jamm's Army – which saw the outfit play to dancehalls of up to 10,000 people by the mid-80s – Broussard started his own label, Egyptian Empire Records, releasing his breakthrough 12" 'Egypt, Egypt', taken from his 1984 album 'On The Nile', one of seven records to be released under his The Egyptian Lover name over the following 14 years. But it was his 12"s that garnered the most attention, with tracks like 'I Need a Freak' and 'Freak-A-Holic' becoming a mainstay for selectors on the LA scene right into the 90s.

Following the release of his 1998 full length 'Get Into It', and after the birth of the gangster rap sound, The Egyptian Lover took an extended break from recording; with his next release being his 2006 return 'Platinum Pyramids'. Despite being a relative commercial failure, it demonstrated Broussard hadn't lost his knack of making low-down party tracks, and reinvigorated his solo DJ career, which sees him combine spinning wax alongside interludes on the mic and vocoder.

With his latest record, '1984', set to drop soon, the mix demonstrates The Egyptian Lover's full package. Demonstrating his inimitable turntable skills, an intimate knowledge of how to make an 808 pop and a knack for delivering hard-hitting robot funk, he clearly still brings a certain dynamite to any dancefloor he comes into contact with. Perfect for the punters of Tatooine's most infamous dive bar.

You can get tickets to Secret Cinema's Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back experience here, also check out the trailer below