Praga Khan (born Maurice Engelen) is a Belgian techno music musician. His New Beat style stems back to the 1980s when techno came out of the Belgian underground.
Overview
Born Maurice Engelen, he is the son of an award-winning mathematician and astrophysicist.[2]
Praga Khan is one of the pioneers of the New Beat / Acid House / rave sound and has contributed to the theatrical scene with his musical collaborations in The Next Dimension and Code Red.
In the late 1980s, he teamed up with Jade 4U and Olivier Adams to form Lords of Acid (also known as Digital Orgasm).[3] Praga Khan's most famous solo work is the rave anthem "Injected with a Poison" in 1992.
In the same year, his "Rave the Rhythm" was included in the soundtrack for Basic Instinct, after director Paul Verhoeven had by chance heard the track in a New York disco during the shooting. After this, other tracks were included into other movies, including Sliver, Virtuosity, Strange Days and Bad Lieutenant. He also composed the soundtrack for the video game Mortal Kombat with Olivier Adams as The Immortals.[4]
With the release of the CD 21st Century Skin in 1999, Praga Khan became a major music act in his home country, with singles such as "Breakfast in Vegas", "Luv U Still" and "Lonely". The album sold 25,000 copies. This earned him a place at Rock Werchter, where they played in the tent.
At the end of 1999 Praga Khan performed in the United States for the first time (as an opener for Lords of Acid, with the same musicians), and they released the album Mutant Funk in the same year. The album went up the charts in no time (two weeks at #2 in the Belgian album chart). The band performed at Werchter again and this time as headliners on the big stage of the first day. They were the first Belgian band to achieve this. The album was a big success including hits like "Power of the Flower", "Sayonara Greetings" and "Love".
Praga Khan also appeared as a judge on X Factor.
In June 2010, Praga Khan announced that his Lords of Acid project would be touring the US during July and August 2010, bringing along their friends, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, for what was being billed as the "Sextreme Ball." [5] Although LOA had indicated that there was a dispute over the ownership of some of their "official" websites, Praga Khan began using his personal and professional social media accounts to help raise awareness of the tour.
Albums A Spoonful of Miracle (1993) Conquers Your Love (1996) Pragamatic (1998) 21st Century Skin (1999) Mutant Funk (2000) Falling Soundtrack (2001) Freakazoids (2002) Not Strictly Rubens Soundtrack (2003) Fantastic (A Fest of Album) (2003) Electric Religion (2004) Soundscraper (2006)
Singles "Bula Bula" (House Records, 1988) "Out of Control" (Beatbox, 1989) "Rave Alarm" (Beatbox, 1991) # 27 Netherlands "Free Your Body" (Sonic Records, 1992) # 21 US Dance "Injected with a Poison" (Beatbox, 1992) # 16 UK "Rave Alert" (Beatbox, 1992) # 39 UK "A Spoonful of Miracle" (RCA, Avex, 1993) "Phantasia Forever" (RCA, 1993) "Begin to Move" (Avex, 1994) "Gun Buck" (Jive, 1995) "Love Me Baby" (Never Records, 1996) "Jazz Trippin" (Never Records, 1996) "Injected with a Poison" '98 Remixes (Never Records, 1998) "Lonely" (Antler-Subway, 1999) "Luv U Still" (Antler-Subway, 1999) "Breakfast in Vegas" (Antler-Subway, 1999) "Visions & Imaginations" (Antler-Subway, 1999) "The Power of the Flower" (Antler-Subway, 2000) "Love" (Antler-Subway, 2000) "Sayonara Greetings" (Antler-Subway, 2000)
