For this post, lets start off with the song you probably all knew and loved at some point. For a trip down the mid 90s memory lane, I give you “Lucas With The Lid Off”:

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“Lucas With The Lid Off” brought the Danish-American artist Lucas international attention, and his album Lucacentric shot up the charts in many countries. This groundbreaking video (shot in one take!), directed by Michel Gondry, was nominated for a Grammy and an MTV Video Music Award in 1995. With a unique jazz-influenced sound (and a little reggae thrown in), Lucas managed to shake off the Vanilla Ice-esque stigma he experienced after the release of his first album, To Rap My World Around You.

Since his success with Lucacentric, Lucas has worked mainly behind the scenes as a songwriter and producer – and has been extremely successful. He’s had a hand in selling over 20 million records working with artists such as the Pussycat Dolls, Sugababes, Damian Marley, Mos Def, Aaron Carter and many more. Hold on – did I just say Aaron Carter?? I kind of laughed at this one, but before you completely dismiss Lucas consider this – one of the songs he wrote for Aaron, “Leave It Up To Me”, was the lead single off the soundtrack of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, an Academy Award nominated film, i.e. big bucks. If you’re looking for a little amusement, here’s the link for the video:

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mp3: Lucas & Mos Def “Ms. Fat Booty Pt. 2″

Download audio file (lucas-mos-def-ms-fat-booty-pt-2.mp3)

Currently, Lucas is working with Pixie, a 16 year-old R&B/Pop artist from the UK who is signed to Def Jam. He’s also co-writing a track for the Pussycat Doll’s new album and working with the mega-popular UK Pop/R&B/Electro trio Sugababes. Check them out:

mp3: “Future Shokk”

Download audio file (future.mp3)

His most exciting current project is Freefonix, an animated show about a futuristic hip-hop group. The show is BBC’s largest animation projects in history, and is now the second most watched show on British TV. It is set to go worldwide this year with tracks written and produced by Lucas. I’ll try to break down the storyline for ya – the lead characters, Freezbone, BB and Mo Start, are “Freewavers” whose music is a blend of rock, rap, techno and pop. They have to fight off the evil organization ComaCo, who markets “plastic” girlband music and suppresses other genres. Take a minute to dig around their website, and then check out this clip from YouTube:

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And now – in closing – some fun facts about Lucas:

• He attended NYU and studied Psychology, Philosophy and Music Business.

• His dad, Paul Secon, was a songwriter, a reporter at Billboard and founded Pottery Barn – which sells gorgeous house wares that are out of my price range.

• His mother, Berta Moltke, was/is a world-renowned Danish artist.

• He had his son Fabian rapping at an early age – recording his first track at the age of three.

If you’re interested in learning more about Michel Gondry and the video for “Lucas With The Lid Off”, check this out.