Maurice Joseph Francois Engelen, known by his stage name Praga Khan, is a Belgian electronic musician. Khan is considered one of the leading pioneers of the new beat/acid house/hardcore electronic dance music scene that originated in Belgium. Khan has also contributed to the theatrical scene with his musical collaborations in The Next Dimension and Code Red.
Career
In the late 1980s, Engelen teamed up with Jade 4U and Olivier Adams to form Lords of Acid and multiple other projects including Channel X and Digital Orgasm. Khan's most famous solo work is "Injected with a Poison". The single "Free Your Body / Injected with a Poison", by Praga Khan featuring Jade 4U, reached #16 in the UK. "Rave Alert" also charted. In the same year, Channel X's "Rave the Rhythm" was included in the soundtrack for Basic Instinct, after director Paul Verhoeven had by chance heard the track in a New York Citydisco during the shooting. After this, other tracks were included into other movies, including Sliver, Virtuosity, Strange Days and Bad Lieutenant. He also composed for the video game, Mortal Kombat, with Olivier Adams as The Immortals. With the release of the CD 21st Century Skin in 1999, Khan became a major music act in his home country. The album included the singles "Breakfast in Vegas", "Luv U Still" and "Lonely". The album sold more than 25,000 copies. This earned him a place at Rock Werchter, where he performed live. At the end of 1999, Praga Khan performed as a solo act in the United Statesfor the first time and released the albumMutant Funk that same year. The album rapidly climbed the charts, spending two weeks at No. 2 in the Belgian album chart. The band performed at Werchter again, this time as headliners on the big stage on the first day. This was the first Belgian act to achieve this. The album was a success and included the hits "Power of the Flower", "Sayonara Greetings", and "Love". Praga Khan also appeared as a judge on X Factor. In June 2010, Khan announced that the Lords of Acid project would be touring the US during July and August 2010, bringing along their friends, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, for what was being billed as the "Sextreme Ball". Although the Lords of Acid had indicated that there was a dispute over the ownership of some of their "official" websites, Khan began using his personal and professional social media accounts, to help raise awareness of the tour. Praga Khan released the album SoulSplitter in 2013 and performed a concert at Ancienne Belgique to celebrate 25 years on stage. Praga Khan announced via his Twitter that his 10th album MindSnatcher would be released on 31 March 2015, but the album was delayed due to the re-establishment of Praga Khan's second studio. The new album was renamed MindGames and the release date was rescheduled for 27 October 2016 but further postponements led the CD to ultimately be released on May 21, 2017.
Praga Khan has recorded material with Olivier Adams and Nikkie Van Lierop frequently simultaneously. These names include, but are not limited to, Digital Orgasm, The Immortals, Lords of Acid and MNO.
