Us3

Us3's broad palette includes jazz-rap, acid jazz, and neo-soul, created with sample-based production, live instrumentation, and an array of rappers and singers. Originally led by Geoff Wilkinson and Mel Simpson, they scored a global hit with "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" (1993), a Top 25 single in their native U.K. Both the parent album, Hand on the Torch, and its follow-up, saw release on Blue Note, the pioneering jazz label that also allowed the group to sample from their extensive catalog. Simpson left before the second album and Blue Note exited the picture after its release, but Wilkinson ensured that Us3 retained their identity while continually moving forward with five albums issued in the 2000s alone. After two albums in the 2010s, Wilkinson was sidelined by illness, but after a prolonged period of recovery, he became a prolific producer of library music, and reinstituted Us3 with Soundtrack (2025), an instrumental LP combining trap beats and jazz orchestration.