Mr.De
Detroit's music scene is one of a kind, home to some of the biggest artists of every genre. Not everyone knows the genre of GhettoTech specifically, but it's a guarantee that you will have a crowd dancing and singing along to “Ass N Titties” if you play it at any given time, at any given party in Detroit. You can even catch a snippet of the song featured in an episode of “Chappelle's Show,” which only cements the fact that GhettoTech has it's own place within pop culture.
Growing up between Panama City, FL and Detroit, MI, Ade' Henderson Mainor experienced two vastly different cultures. Although, it was mainly his time spent in Detroit around a musically-inclined family- which included his mother and aunts, who were singers, and his grandmother, who taught piano- that helped to shape his musical background. Learning to play piano at age six, teaching himself guitar shortly after, and investing in drum machines and turntables to produce Hip-Hop tracks inspired by Kurtis Blow, Mr. De' found himself infatuated with music and embraced the various music scenes within Detroit, even exploring breakdancing when not tasked with the job of programming drum machines and synthesizers.
At a young age, Mr. De' soon found himself working among some of the biggest producers and influencers in Detroit. First, a staff producer at former Detroit Piston John Salley's Hoops Studio for three years, and then an employee at the infamous Buy Rite, a record store just outside of Detroit's Fashion District, owned by Cliff Thomas, who is well known for helping to launch the careers of many of Detroit's first Techno artists. It was during his time at Buy Rite that Mr. De' met and began working with Craig Adams under the DJ Assault moniker. With Mr. De handling production on original songs and Craig's incorporation of the productions into recorded DJ sets, the two released their first of a series of mixtapes, titled “Straight Up Detroit Shit.” The mixtapes and subsequent albums were all very well received within the city of Detroit, as that was the intended audience. Many other artists had a similar presence in Detroit, but it was the albums released on the Electrofunk label that resonated most within the city.
By the end of the 1990's, Mr. De' and DJ Assault ended their partnership. Assault went on to focus on more tracks that would feature him rapping, as well as DJing gigs at local bars, while Mr. De' continued with production and managing Electrofunk's distribution arms. Eventually releasing “ElectronicFunkyShit” after a short hiatus, Mr. De' managed to become one of the first GhettoTech artists to release a full-length, self-produced album, featuring the breakout hit, “Sex On The Beach 2000,” a rendition of a previous hit, but integrating singing into what was originally bass-heavy production featuring spoken words by Craig Adams.
After releasing more albums and helping other local artists to release their albums, Mr. De' took another short break from artistry. Marrying the love of his life and fathering two children led to taking on more business-based career moves, instead of creative. It wouldn't be too long before the desire to create music would come back again, and now, Mr. De' can once again be found in his Detroit studio, creating his newest albums and assisting the artists on his label with developing their sounds and releasing their own albums.
Many stories have emerged from the streets of Detroit, - what you see on the news, what you hear from visitors- but only one things remains consistent and true: Detroit and it's creatives are the embodiment of perseverance.
Mr. De'- producer, songwriter, CEO of Electrofunk, and an all around connoisseur of music, is one of these creatives. Though being a major player when it comes to the birth of the GhettoTech genre, some of his first loves are Funk and Jazz, which come across in nearly every album he has released. With a distinct and multi-faceted production sound that can be recognized almost immediately, Mr. De' is a result of the melting pot that is the Detroit music scene and serves as an influence to local artists and musicians of all genres.