N'fa

N'fa (born N'fa Forster-Jones; also known as N'fa Jones, 21 March 1979) is an African Australian hip hop recording artist born in London, but raised in Perth, Western Australia, best known as the frontman for 1200 Techniques. Forster-Jones was a nationally ranked 110m hurdler and placed third at the 2001 and 2002 Australian Championships, and fourth in the 2000 Olympic trials.^[1] His personal best recorded time was 14.08s (wind: +1.8) set in Brisbane on 25 March 2001, though clocked 13.91 "unofficial" in Auckland's trans-tasman test meet in 2001.

Early life

N'fa was born in London to mother Michela Johnson, from Western Australia and father, Quashie Forster-Jones, from Sierra Leone.^[2][3] Brought up in suburban Perth, he met Heath Ledger at Guildford Grammar School and remained friends until the actor's death in 2008.^[4] At a young age, Forster-Jones also dabbled in acting and appeared as a genie in a Tim Tam commercial and played a small role in the film Queen of the Damned - a 2002 film adaptation of the third novel of Anne Rice's, starring Aaliyah and Stuart Townsend.^[5][6]

Musical career

1200 Techniques formed in 1997—the band originally included N'fa and his brother Kabba.^[7] Kabba left the band in 1998, when he moved to the United Kingdom.

As of 2006, Forster-Jones has shipped over 50,000 albums with 1200 Techniques alone.^[8] In 2010, N'fa re-released the song "Cause An Effect" remastered as an EP with various remixes of the track and video clip on iTunes.^[9] Heath Ledger conceived and directed two video clips for Cause An Effect ("Seduction Is Evil", and the title track "Cause An Effect").^[10]

In 2011, N'fa became known as N'fa Jones (with the introduction of his surname) with the release of the collaborative single "Wayooy" Ft Roots Manuva and M-Phazes, the lead single from his EP "Babylondon" on Australian Independent Label Rubber Records, who he originally signed to with Hip Hop act 1200 Techniques.

Discography

1200 Techniques

Albums

• Choose One (2002, Rubber Records) - #20 Australian album chart
• Consistency Theory (2004) - #38 Australian album chart

Singles

• Infinite Styles EP (2001)
• Karma (2002) - #36 Australian singles chart
• Eye of the Storm (2003) - #84 Australia^[11]
• Where Ur At (2003) - #35 Australia
• Fork in the Road (2004) - #55 Australia^[12]
• Time Has Come (2014)^[13]

DVDs

• One Time Live with "1200 techniques" (2003)

Solo

Albums

• Cause An Effect (2006)
• Black + White Noise (2014)

EPs

• First Step EP (2006)
• Brain Wash EP (2008)^[14]
• Cause An Effect remastered EP (2010)
• Babylondon (2012)

Singles

• Universal King (Left Right Left) (2006)
• Cause An Effect (2006)
• Seduction Is Evil (She's Hot) (2006)
• Wayooy featuring Roots Manuva & M-Phazes (2011)
• March On featuring Bass Kleph (2012)

Collaborations

• "Stage Presence" Koolism featuring BVA (Mnemonic Ascent) and N'fa (Credited as N'famas) on the album Random Thoughts (2004)
• "Move Up" by Resin Dogs on the album More (2007)
• "Twist the Kids" by Daedelus on the album Love To Make Make Music To (2008)
• "Crazy" by Diafrix on the album Concrete Jungle (2009)
• "Keep Runnin" by M-Phazes on the album Good Gracious (2010)
• "Let It Go" & "Grey Skies Blue" by Nick Thayer on the album Just Let It Go (2010)
• "Bali Party" by Drapht (featuring N'fa) on the album The Life of Riley (2011)
• "Satellite Disco" on the self-titled album by Bitrok (2011)
• "Hope You Don't Mind" by 360 on the album Falling & Flying (2011)
• "Like Boom" by Nick Thayer featuring Wizard Sleeve, N'fa & Kaba Jones on the EP Like Boom (2012)
• "What Props Ya Got" by Nick Thayer featuring N'fa on the EP Like Boom (2012)
• "1990's" by Drapht (featuring N'fa Jones, Ta-Ku & Joyride) (2012)

References