A truth rarely admitted to is that house music is largely a sausage-fest. The higher echelons consist of a large number of very dodgy characters, who defend each other and ensure the whole house of cards doesn’t come crashing down. If one gets exposed, it often means more will too.
This is why you rarely see the big names within dance music criticising or speaking out against each other. Essentially, the whole structure is designed to maintain compliance and silence. The prize of taking part in the system? A career where you can make a lot of money and travel the world – just don’t forget to leave your conscience at home!
Mark Knight is certainly a person who’s made a lot of money out of the music business. Accounts filed on Companies House for Toolroom Productions confirm the business had net assets of £107,595 as of 31st December 2020 – a significant rise from £60,782 the previous year. They also confirm the company took out £50,000 under the Bounce Back Loan scheme.
Another truth is that many of the older generation like to have it both ways. They like to complain about a lack of new music to play, yet they have no problem milking their own records from back in the day dry. “Believe” by Ministers De La Funk and Jocelyn Brown is no different, having been remixed several times since its original release in 1999.
The latest is by the Toolroom Records boss himself. Apparently, Morillo phoned him shortly before his death to ask him if he could milk the cash cow one more time – although I wonder if Morillo mentioned to Knight that he needed the money to pay some upcoming legal bills?
Friend Within has probably reduced his chances of working with Toolroom again to zero by speaking out in the comments against Knight’s decision to remix the song – but at least he’s shown himself to be a man of principle by doing so…
Knight has taken the above post down now – literally as I was writing this post, but not before I took the screenshot – and posted this utterly tone deaf clarification…
You appear to have forgotten to say something about your friend being a sexual predator, Mark…