Overlord X (born Benjamin Balogun,[1] in Hackney) was one of the earliest British hip hop artists to receive national acclaim in the UK, with his most well known song still being his second single release, "14 Days in May" (Westside Records, 1988) about Edward Earl Johnson.
[2] This was followed by his break-through single, "14 Days in May" (Westside Records, released 21 March 1988)[3][2] where he raged against capital punishment, and in particular the case of Edward Earl Johnson, who was executed on the grounds of a confession that he claimed was made under duress.
The album, Weapon Is My Lyric (Mango, 1989),[2] pioneered a new British hip hop, laying a blue print for a rock influenced hardcore style that was to dominate the scene for many years.
[citation needed] The album's success led to some strange ventures: one of the tracks, "Visa To Rock", was re-recorded by Overlord X with new lyrics relating to chess for a BBC documentary about the game fronted by a young Stephen Fry.
A clip of the documentary, featuring Overlord X's re-recorded tune, was shown when Fry was a guest on Jonathan Ross' BBC chat show in 2005.
That single was taken from the follow-up album X Versus the World (Mango, 1990)[2] which features a distinctive cover and comic strip story by artist Joe Jusko.
[5] Just before that, X put together the girl group Tommi, who released the single "What Part of No" which garnered industry attention and lead to their signing with Universal and then Sony.
Overlord X is credited with writing, producing and remixing a number of songs for artists such as Big Brovaz, Martine McCutcheon, Craig David, Peter Andre, Michelle Gayle, Beverley Knight and Aaron Soul.