b. Jason Beck. Raised in Canada, Beck learned to play the piano at an early age and later studied at Concordia University. After finishing his studies he played with the Toronto-based alt-rock band Son, who released two albums in the mid-90s. After the band's final album was rejected by Warner Brothers Records, Beck relocated to Berlin where he invented Chilly Gonzales, a medallion wearing MC and the "only one-eyed Jewish rapper in Berlin.' He allegedly created his bizarre cut-and-paste electronica and pastiche hip-hop from a squat in a disused television station in East Berlin, Germany. His excellent solo debut, 2000"s Gonzales Uber Alles, was released on the trendy German label Kitty-Yo. The album revelled in a sense of fun, with Gonzales attacking everyone from Cole Porter to Leonard Cohen and castigating techno snobs for not writing melodies. The Entertainist and Presidential Suite delved further into Beck's bag of tricks, running the gamut from perverse rap to squelchy funk. He was joined on the latter by his sometime duettist, Peaches.
Following one more album as MC Gonzales, Beck unceremoniously retired his rap persona and moved to Paris, France to work with fellow Canadian Feist and chanteuse Jane Birkin. He returned to his first love with an album of piano pieces released through Universal Jazz.
