Moby might not be what we would normally think of as a commercially successful musician, but he has gone on to create his own success with very sound business decisions. On top of it all, the musician has gained some popularity when he publicly trashed rapper Eminem. Born Richard Melville on September 11, 1965 in Harlem, New York, Moby was raised in Hartford, Connecticut. After finding he was a distant relative of Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick, he adopted the stage name of Moby.Mostly an artist in the UK, Moby was originally part of Vatican Commandos, a punk band.
He quickly abandoned that genre and instead got into the electronic/techno sound. His first techno album out on his own was The Story So Far (aka Moby), and it spawned a hit, Go, that landed on the UK charts. This song is one that uses the string line from the theme to the television series, Twin Peaks. After four more albums full of singles and hits, Moby creatively released an album of all B sides. Rare: The Collected B-Sides 1989-1993 even included a song for the record books, as the fastest song ever.
Moby switched record companies and went to Elektra Records. After a series of commercially unsuccessful albums, such as Animal Rights, Moby moved on yet again. V2 Records brought Moby his biggest success yet, and the breakthrough album he’d been waiting for. Play placed Moby back in the record books, as it was the first record ever to have all eighteen tracks licensed commercially. Because the tracks were used in television, commercials, and films, the album would have been considered a success in sales without radio play, yet it still managed to do well in radio play as well. The songs on this album were used for, among other things, Bailey’s Irish Cream, Volkswagen’s MKIV Jetta, and even American Express, featuring golfer Tiger Woods.
There exists a long list of Moby’s songs that have had exposure on television, film, and commercials. Among them, First Cool Five was featured in Scream. Good Morning Over the Face of the Waters was featured in the movie Heat, the trailer for the movie Syriana, the documentary One Day in September, and commercials for Rover 400 and the Intel-based iMac PCs. Natural Blues was heard in a commercial for the BBC News and the movies Basic and Freddie Got Fingered. Bodyrock was featured in the video game FIFA 2001, the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the opening credits for the later episodes of the television series, Veronica’s Closet.
Moby has also released a number of albums under different musical pseudonyms. Under the name The Brotherhood, he released Time’s Up. Under the name DJ Cake, Moby released the album Sugar Baby. Baby Monkey and The End of Everything were released under the name Voodoo Child, yet Instinct Dance was released with a variety of artists. Moby and his pseudonyms made up half of the artists on the album, as the artists were Moby, Barracuda, Brainstorm, and Voodoo Child. Perhaps what Moby became most known for was his public tiff with rapper Eminem.
Moby said that Eminem’s music was misogynist and homophobic. Eminem retaliated by releasing a song, Without Me, where he calls Moby a “fag” and says that no one listens to techno anymore. Moby replied that he hadn’t even played techno recently. The two then had an on-air confrontation at the MTV Video Music Awards. Through it all, Moby has always said he respects Eminem’s music. Aside from music, Moby has many other interests and business ventures.
He is a staunch animal rights activist, and is a vegan, along with also being a member of P.E.T.A. He even owned a vegan restaurant for awhile, TeaNY. Moby founded the rock music festival, Area: One Festival, and also had his own television show, Señor Moby’s House of Music on MTV. When not spending his time as an activist for P.E.T.A., Moby works with MoveOn.org and serves on the board of Amend.org.