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E Smoove began in 1982 as a DJ in Chicago, the city that gave birth to "House Music". His influences were shaped by his father's own eclectic musical tastes and the early 80's dance music of labels like WestEnd, Prelude, and Salsoul. He spent weekends absorbing the vibes of legendary Chicago DJ's Steve "Silk" Hurley and Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, and weekdays honing his own skills. Like most of the DJ's to emerge from Chicago's budding "House" scene, E's interest turned to making records as well as spinning them. Early recording sessions financed by his mother brought collaborations with Jere McAllister and pioneer house vocalists Reggie Hall, Kevin Irving, and Candy J. It was Steve "Silk" Hurley that first took note of E Smoove's potential.
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It wasn't long before E Smoove was an integral part of Hurley's ID Productions. Here with fellow Grammy nominee Maurice Joshua, the trio became the most sought after remix team of the early 90's. The never ending list of remixes included work for Michael Jackson, Simply Red, Diana Ross, and countless others. That creative environment was the setting for E Smoove writing a variety of songs including Ce Ce Peniston's "We Got A Love Thang", as well as discovering Chicago's Chantay Savage. In 1993, with the blessing of long time mentor Hurley, E Smoove started his own production company called Focus Music Group. Continuing with the successful remixes that have been the cornerstone of his career, he is constantly expanding his client list with the likes of Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, C&C Music Factory, The Backstreet Boys, Deborah Cox, Musiq Soulchild and N'SYNC to name a few.
As a producer, E Smoove has worked in the studio with a vast cross section of artists from Paula Abdul, to Barbara Tucker, INXS, and MC Lyte. In between these high profile productions and remixes he finds time to produce underground house classics such as Dajae's "Time", Latanza Waters' "Ordinary People", and his own "The Guitar" and "Lift Your Hands Up". E Smoove has also taken an interest in developing new artists such as Michael White and most notably Love Tribe with their A&M classic house anthem "Stand Up".
E Smoove's Focus Recordings is currently being distributed by Subliminal Records and has a healthy release schedule set to give birth to some future club anthems. Current projects include a full length album under the moniker Thick Dick featuring the already cult single "Welcome To The Jungle" on Sondos Records as well as developing new projects for his gospel house incarnation Praise Cats on Subliminal Soul.
The scope of E Smoove's Focus does not stop there. He is developing three new Hip Hop projects and is overseeing the albums of Latanza Waters and Michael White, not to mention his connection with Bronzeville Filmworks, a film company he helped start with Chicago director Darryl Bullock. "My mother taught me early on to dream and I'm trying to follow through on every possibility", says E Smoove. And, if the past is any indication of the future, he will no doubt succeed.
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