Editing Marley Marl (section)

== Early career ==
Marley's career started with an interest in [[electronica]].<ref name=":0" /> As a young intern at [[Unique Recording Studios]] in the early 1980s, he had an opportunity to experiment with very expensive samplers like the [[Fairlight CMI]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last1=Muhammad|first1=Ali Shaheed|last2=Kelley|first2=Frannie|date=September 12, 2013|title=Microphone Check: Marley Marl On The Bridge Wars, LL Cool J And Discovering Sampling|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/microphonecheck/2013/09/11/221440934/marley-marl-on-the-bridge-wars-ll-cool-j-and-discovering-sampling|access-date=August 10, 2020|website=NPR|archive-date=August 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813181920/https://www.npr.org/sections/microphonecheck/2013/09/11/221440934/marley-marl-on-the-bridge-wars-ll-cool-j-and-discovering-sampling|url-status=live}}</ref> One day during a studio session with an artist named Captain Rock he discovered sampling by accident. <blockquote>"I was actually trying to get a riff off of a record. I made a mistake and got the snare in there before the sound came. I was truncating the vocal part but the snare was playing with the beat — we was truncating while the beat was playing. Thank God the beat was playing, because it probably wouldn't have happened if the beat wasn't playing. So I was playing it and the snare sounded better than the snare that I had from the drum machine when I was popping it."<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>A short time later pioneering hip-hop radio DJ [[Mr. Magic]] heard Marley Marl's remix of [[Malcolm McLaren]]'s [[Buffalo Gals (Malcolm McLaren song)|Buffalo Gals]], leading to Marley becoming his DJ.<ref name=":0" /> They eventually started the hip-hop collective the [[Juice Crew]] together in 1983. 1986 saw the foundation of [[Cold Chillin' Records]], where Marley served as in-house producer for many projects. He earned $250,000 per year for his production work.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Kondo|first=Toshitaka|date=May 2005|title=Karma: Marley Marl's Juice Crew ran rap in the '80s, but nothing lasts forever|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FCcEAAAAMBAJ&q=marley+marl&pg=PA56|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426203737/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FCcEAAAAMBAJ&q=marley+marl&pg=PA56&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=marley%20marl&f=false|archive-date=April 26, 2021|magazine=Vibe|pages=56|via=Google Books}}</ref> The label was also home to many Juice Crew artists.

Marley caught his big break in 1984, with artist [[Roxanne Shante]]'s hit "[[Roxanne's Revenge]]". In a 2008 interview Shante noted how seriously he took recording despite his limited setup. "We'd be recording in his living room on a reel-to-reel and four-tracks. I really just wanted to go to the mall after one take, but Marley always made me do it again."<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Gonzales|first=Michael A.|date=2008|title=Crew Deep: Marley Marl Forms the Indomitable Juice Crew|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyYEAAAAMBAJ&q=marley+marl&pg=PA88|magazine=Vibe|pages=88|via=Google Books}}{{dead link|date=May 2024}}</ref>

Another significant early record was 1985's "Marley Marl Scratch" featuring MC Shan. The song was recorded on a four-track cassette recorder and Shan used a mic with a missing ball to record his lyrics.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Merlis|first=Ben|title=Goin' Off: The Story of the Juice Crew & Cold Chillin' Records (RPM Series Book 3)|publisher=BMG Books|year=2019|isbn=978-1-947026-32-2}}</ref>

Several of his early records featured inventive use of the [[Roland TR-808]] drum machine. On [[MC Shan]]'s 1986 Pop Art single "The Bridge', which later appeared on his 1987 album ''[[Down by Law (MC Shan album)|Down By Law]]'', Marley used the 808 pulse to trigger different samplers.<ref name=":0" /> According to Biz Markie, the button on Marley's 808 stuck during the recording of his hit "Make the Music with Your Mouth, Biz", leading to sound heard on the record today.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Coleman|first=Brian|title=Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies|publisher=Villard|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8129-7775-2|location=New York|pages=50}}</ref> Juice Crew member [[Big Daddy Kane]] praised his ability to pair 808 drum sounds with sampled drums. "Regardless of how clean or brand-new the record was that he was sampling, or light the production may have been, he always gave it a really gritty feel when he sampled it. He always put the 808 to it and gave it a heavy bottom and warm feel."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Coleman|first=Brian|title=Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies|publisher=Villard|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8129-7775-2|location=New York|pages=38}}</ref>

In the late 1980s, the Juice Crew gained increased attention from mainstream publications. [[Spin (magazine)|''Spin'' magazine]] wrote, "they've produced some of the genre's toughest, most uncompromising music."<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Leland|first=John|date=December 1988|title=Singles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5oyYjDeNc_AC&q=marley+marl+spin&pg=PA112|magazine=Spin|pages=112|via=Google Books}}</ref> At the time Marley began a streak of producing entire albums for several Juice Crew members. He produced all of the tracks on [[Craig G]]'s ''[[The Kingpin (album)|The Kingpin]]'' (1989), [[Big Daddy Kane]]'s ''[[Long Live the Kane|Long Live The Kane]]'' (1988)'','' [[Biz Markie]]'s ''[[Goin' Off]]'' (1988), [[Kool G Rap]] & DJ Polo's ''[[Road to the Riches]]'' (1989), [[MC Shan]]'s [[Down by Law (MC Shan album)|''Down By Law'']] (1987) and ''[[Born to Be Wild (MC Shan album)|Born to Be Wild]]'' (1988), and [[Roxanne Shante]]'s ''[[Bad Sister (album)|Bad Sister]]'' [[Bad Sister (album)|(1989)]].

In 1988, he produced the Juice Crew posse cut "The Symphony" by using a [[Hal Jackson]] record from the [[WBLS]] record library as a sample source.<ref name=":0" />