MC 900 Ft Jesus

Mark Griffin (born 1957), better known as MC 900 Ft. Jesus, is an American classically trained musician turned rapper and experimental musician. MC 900 Ft. Jesus' music is influenced by hip hop, incorporating many sound samples.

Early Life and Education
The son of an army officer, Griffin moved around quite a bit before settling in Dallas, Texas in 1979. Griffin studied the trumpet and has a BA in Music from Morehead State University as well as an advanced degree in music from North Texas State University.Before becoming MC 900 Ft. Jesus, Griffin played in local Dallas bands The Telefones and Lithium X-Mas.

Career
Hell with the Lid Off (1990) was Griffin's first full-length release for MC 900 Ft. Jesus as well as the first time Griffin had appeared on a major record label. Featuring DJ Zero (Patrick Rollins) and the single "Truth is Out of Style" which gained a cult following.

The following year Welcome to My Dream (1991) was released. DJ Zero appears on Welcome to My Dream under his real name, Patrick Rollins, because of uncertainty about whether he would have been able to tour in support of the album. His subsequent single, "The City Sleeps", was featured in the album in which explored the mind of a serial arsonist.The song sparked controversy in Baltimore when a then ABC affiliate, WJZ, ran a report suggesting that a series of arson in the area was a result of WHFS allowing the song play time.

His final album, One Step Ahead of the Spider, was released in 1994; it contained the single "If I Only Had a Brain", which became his best-known song. The song gained increased exposure from the music video directed for it by Spike Jonze,as well as exposure on MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head cartoon show. Rollins once again appears but is not listed in the credits

In 2007, he began DJing weekly at a Dallas music venue, Lee Harvey's, located in the Cedars neighborhood next to downtown.

Coming Out of Retirement
On November 26, 2016, Griffin announced via Facebook that he was set to perform a show at The Kessler Theater in Dallas with a quartet including Chris McGuire, Greg Beck, and Wanz Dover in hopes of kick-starting a tour as well as a possible fourth album with his former label Nettwerk of which had approached Griffin about.On February 3rd, 2017, the quartet played a sold-out concert performing several of the MC 900 songs, receiving a rapturous ovation.

Name
Griffin's stage name came from a sermon by Oral Roberts, in which the televangelist claimed that he had received a vision of a 900-foot-tall (270 m) Jesus, who commanded him to build a hospital on the campus of Oral Roberts University.

Discography
Albums
Hell with the Lid Off (1989): MC 900 Ft. Jesus With DJ Zero
Welcome to My Dream (1991): MC 900 Ft. Jesus
One Step Ahead of the Spider: (1994) MC 900 Ft. Jesus
Singles[edit]
Too Bad / Shut Up: (1988) MC 900 Ft. Jesus With DJ Zero
I'm Going Straight To Heaven: (1989) MC 900 Ft. Jesus With DJ Zero
Truth Is Out of Style: (1989) MC 900 Ft. Jesus With DJ Zero
UFO's Are Real: (1990) MC 900 Ft. Jesus With DJ Zero
Killer Inside Me: (1991) MC 900 Ft. Jesus
The City Sleeps: (1991) MC 900 Ft. Jesus
If I Only Had A Brain: (1994) MC 900 Ft. Jesus
But If You Go: (1994) MC 900 Ft. Jesus
Falling Elevators: (1996) MC 900 Ft. Jesus

"This fellow called Jesus wants to feel insanity, get inside the head of somebody crazed" ??? Melody Maker, August 1989

(Above text taken from the official Nettwerk "Hell With The Lid Off" press release)