Hip-Hop Legend Easy Mo Bee Recalls Studio Sessions with Miles Davis, Tupac & Biggie

For over 25 years, Easy Mo Bee has functioned within the music industry and worked with a slew of the hottest artists in the business. Before the COVID-19 Quarantine, Media Assassins had the pleasure of sitting down with Easy Mo Bee to talk about his life, legacy and his experience working with some of the greatest artists in Hip-Hop and beyond. We hope you enjoy and continue to support the Media Assassins Podcast. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to gain access to part 2 of our interview.   

Easy Mo Bee (born Osten Harvey, Jr. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York) is a hip-hop legend who got his start producing for Big Daddy Kane, and then produced 10 tracks on The Genius’ (before Wu-Tang and before he was The Gza) debut LP, Words From The Genius. He got in good with Andre Harrell’s Uptown Records camp, which lead to a working relationship with Diddy. When Diddy split Uptown and formed Bad Boy, Mo produced the bulk of the label’s early material, most notably the first singles from both Craig Mack (“Flava In Ya Ear”) and the Notorious B.I.G. (“Party and Bullshit”). During this time, he also worked with 2Pac, even producing the original version of “Running,” which featured 2Pac and Biggie. He worked with Tupac on his 1995 LP, Me Against The World, before putting in more work with B.I.G. on both Ready to Die and Life After Death. 

Over the course of his career, Mo Bee has worked almost exclusively with New York artists within the genre of Hip-Hop. Aside from his former close ties with Big Daddy Kane and The Notorious B.I.G., Easy has also worked with NY rappers Afu Ra (on Life Force Radio), Mos Def (on The New Danger) and Blaq Poet of Screwball (on his solo album, Rewind Deja Screw); the last project came through DJ Premier, also a former Biggie affiliate.

Mo Bee first linked up with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment in 1993, when he produced the first single for Combs' up-and-coming artist, the Notorious B.I.G., "Party and Bullshit". Easy also went on to produce much of the label's two flagship releases: Project: Funk da World by Craig Mack, and Ready to Die by B.I.G. Additionally, Mo Bee produced the "Flava in Ya Ear (Remix)," a driving single for both projects, featuring Craig Mack, Biggie, Busta Rhymes, Rampage and LL Cool J. 

In 1994-'95, Mo Bee was also associated with 2Pac, having produced songs for both, including one called "Runnin' from tha Police," featuring both 2Pac and B.I.G. as well as rapper/producer Stretch and 2Pac's crew Dramacydal. Mo Bee went on to produce two songs for 2Pac's 1995 album Me Against the World, although the two recorded several other songs that did not make the cut. During this time period, he also crafted moderate radio hits for the Lost Boyz ("Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz"); Das EFX ("Microphone Master"); and Busta Rhymes ("Everything Remains Raw"). Later during his career in 1997, Mo Bee produced for Biggie's double-disc album, Life After Death; two songs, “I Love the Dough" and "Going Back to Cali"; these songs would mark the last time Easy would produce for Bad Boy. 

In recent years, Easy has also worked with non hip-hop artists such as Alicia Keys, for whom he produced a cover of Gladys Knight & the Pips' 1971 hit "If I Were Your Woman". If you follow Easy Mo Bee on Instagram @easymobee like I do, you will continue to see why he is such a legendary DJ and Music Producer. Make sure you catch his midnight shows on Instagram live, "The Time Machine Sessions" as he continues to feed our hearts, minds and spirits with some great music hits. 

P.S - Easy Mo Bee has the largest Vinyl collection I have ever seen in my life....