[Editor's note: Over the holiday season, SonicNet is looking back at 1999's top stories, chosen by our editors and writers. This story originally ran on Tuesday, June 22.]

LOS ANGELES — Chatting in the courtyard of the Roosevelt Hotel

on Friday, Freestylers programmer Aston Harvey and MC Navigator joked

that their debut album's title, We Rock Hard, might be fooling

some modern-rock radio programmers into spinning the LP's second single,

"Here We Go."

Not that We Rock Hard, released last month, is a bogus title —

the British electro-dance group actually does plenty of rocking on the

album.

Also, the Freestylers recently proved their rock credibility by performing

at two annual rock radio festivals — the Washington D.C.-area station

WHFS-FM's annual HFStival last month and Los Angeles station KROQ-FM's

Weenie Roast on Saturday.

It's just that "Here We Go" (RealAudio

excerpt) is built on old-school hip-hop, which makes it somewhat

unlikely as a rock-radio fixture between the rap-laden metal of Limp Bizkit

and the funk rock of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Navigator and Harvey sat discussing their album and their stateside success

with Freestylers breakdancer Marat Khairoullin at a poolside table in the

courtyard of the fabled Hollywood Boulevard hotel. Harvey puffed on a

cigar, while Navigator, who often drummed the table as he talked, watched

the passing bikini-clad parade.

"It goes against the grain," Harvey, 29, agreed. "Maybe it's being placed

there because [radio programmers] know what the band's about — that

we're more than 'Here We Go.' But it's good — it's breaking down

barriers, really."

Harvey said the attention "Here We Go" is receiving in the States has

raised eyebrows back home and prompted British radio programmers to take

notice. Meanwhile, he said, it's giving some kids on both sides of the

Atlantic their first taste of a style that salutes rap's pioneers.

"There's [tons] of kids out there that don't know about old-school rap,"

Harvey said. "They only know about the Jay-Zs and the Nases. They don't

know about Grandmaster Flash and Ultramagnetic MCs and Public Enemy —

groups that inspired me to make music."

On We Rock Hard, the Freestylers explore a variety of textures and

styles, pulling hip-hop, reggae, jazz and funk into their mixture of

programmed sounds. While the album features a few instrumentals, a selection

of MCs appear on various tracks. "Here We Go" features vocals by the

British rap group Definition of Sound, while the Freestylers' own Tenor

Fly and Navigator trade the mic elsewhere.

Aston said he and Freestylers co-mastermind Matt Cantor instinctively

know which MC is right for each track based on the track's overall flavor.

For instance, Tenor Fly (born Jonathan Sutter) offers his traditional

reggae style to "Dancehall Vibes" (RealAudio

excerpt), while Navigator directs the jungle beat of "Warning."

The latter song features Navigator rhyming over a thick track of hip-hop

beats and rock guitar.

"It's a millennium beat, man," 36-year-old Navigator (born Raymond Crawford)

said of the song. "Jungle music, drum & bass, was really inspired by hip-hop

breaks, but done in a UK style, and I really believe that is the millennium

music. That format of beats, the way that's been programmed, has really

transformed how music is going to be perceived and made next year and

beyond."

After Harvey and Cantor formed the Freestylers in 1995 and before they

began collaborating with MCs and musicians for live gigs, they played

several dates as a duo. "Originally ... it was just two geezers —

two blokes making music in the studio ... doing instrumental tracks with

loads of samples," Harvey said.

Though the guitar riff on "Warning" is the only sound on We Rock Hard

that wasn't electronically programmed, the Freestylers' live act features

a full band in addition to three vocalists, a DJ and two breakdancers.

"The sound that we perform live and [the] vibe we bring to the album

is ... 3-D," Harvey said.