Much has been said by now on the debate over the latest Beyoncé track “Break My Soul” – not least on Ears To The House. But one particular person has a role in this debate which goes back a lot further in time than anyone might think – and few seemed to have mentioned him yet.

Terry Hunter is one of those who has been officially commissioned to do a remix of “Break My Soul” – but it’s another one of the Chicago heads whose role goes back further. You might remember the name Maurice Joshua for tracks such as “This Is Acid” or the apparently endless number of remixes he was doing in the 1990s.

Well, it turns out he did his first remix for Beyoncé Knowles all the way back in 1998 – if you count when she was part of the hugely successful Destiny’s Child. Discogs lists two remixes of “Illusion” which received a limited edition run at time. Ears To The House understands he was commissioned to do it in order to get the interest of European and British DJs – remember that this was an era where the support of the house music community could make or break a song.

He was brought back three times in 1999 on “Say My Name”, “Bills, Bills, Bills” and “Bug A Boo” and featured on several more Destiny’s Child releases in the early 2000s. And guess who was also present when Beyoncé released “Work It Out” in 2002? Yes, Maurice Joshua once again.

So when Knowles returned to house music, Joshua had surprisingly little to say on the subject – aside from this post on his Facebook page on 21st June…

It remains to be seen whether Maurice Joshua will be gracing us with a remix of “Break My Soul” – but given the extensive history between Knowles and Joshua, stranger things have happened…