Biography

Mr. Tack a.k.a. Tack-Fu runs a hip-hop record label (Tack-Fu Productions) and a audio production company (85 decibel Monks) in Iowa City, Iowa. Three of his independently released CDs have featured underground heavyweights DJ Vadim, Braille, Mars Ill, Sev Statik, Blueprint, and Illogic. Several instrumentals produced by the production company have appeared on many popular cable television shows, (MTV’s “Cribs,” VH1’s “Behind the Music,” & Comedy Central’s “Mind of Mencia”) educational documentaries, and independent film since 2005.

The 85 decibel Monks were formed in 2001 as a production team consisting of several producers and musicians from the Iowa City area. The collective's main focus nowadays is writing underscore music for visual presentations. This shift in priorities, from selling CDs to licensing music, has moved Tack-Fu’s style from a loop based boom-bap foundation to more of a jazz / funk orientated brand of hip-hop.

Half musical visionary and half ambassador to the musical collective, Tack simply states, “My goal is to complete tracks, adding my work to the work of others until the sonic painting is mixed and mastered. It's a tedious process, but time is needed for the tracks to develop and breath." He concludes, ”If jumping through hoops is required? So be it."