Maaike Kito Lebbing, known professionally as Kito, is an Australian record producer, songwriter and DJ currently based in Los Angeles, California. Kito originally debuted in 2009 on Skream's record label Disfigured Dubz. After independently releasing an EP in 2018 called ''Haani'', Lebbing debuted under

Astralwerks Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featur ...

/ Capitol, releasing singles featuring Empress Of, AlunaGeorge, Fletcher, Zhu and Jeremih. She has created official remixes for

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's " Run the World (Girls)" (2011), Broods' "Too Proud" (2019) and Wafia's "Flowers and Superpowers" (2019), and produced music for musicians such as

Mabel Mabel is an English female given name derived from the Latin ''amabilis'', "lovable, dear".Reclams Namensbuch, 1987, History Amabilis of Riom (died 475) was a French male saint who logically would have assumed the name Amabilis upon entering th ...

, Jorja Smith, Banks and Ruel, and in 2019 was nominated for the Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year (Los Angeles) at the 2020 Global APRA Music Awards. Between 2011 and 2014, Lebbing released music as a part of the duo

Kito & Reija Lee Kito & Reija Lee are an Australian electropop duo formed in 2009 in Perth, Western Australia. They are currently based in London, England. Maaike Kito Lebbing & Reija Lee Thomas met as teenagers and began working together as the duo Kito & Reija ...

, as well as a collaborative EP with Feadz entitled ''Electric Empire'' (2012). She has had her productions sampled and used in songs by America rap artists Trinidad James, Big Boi, T.I. and Ludacris.

Biography

Lebbing grew up in the small town of Denmark, Western Australia, and first began producing music as a teenager using FruityLoops. At 17, Lebbing moved to Perth to study fashion, however soon quit and began working at a record store while studying music for a year at

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

. Lebbing began working as a DJ at nightclubs in Perth, and in 2006 travelled to Europe for a year, which led her to develop a love of dubstep and inspired her to become a full-time musician. In 2008, she debuted her first releases through Skream's Disfigured Dubz label. Lebbing later sent demos of hers which she had created with friend and vocalist Reija Lee to producer

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

on MySpace, which caused him to sign them to his label Mad Decent as a duo.

relocated to London in 2011, releasing their debut extended play ''Sweet Talk'' in the same year, as well as remixing

's " Run the World (Girls)". Lebbing collaborated with Feadz in 2012 on the EP ''Electric Empire'', and in 2013, rapper Trinidad James sampled the group's song "Run for Cover" for his song "Females Welcomed", which was also later used as a sample for Big Boi, T.I. and Ludacris' song "King Shit". The group released a second EP in 2014, ''II'', however disbanded in 2015. Lebbing remained in London and worked as a producer, creating songs for musicians such as

, and worked on Jorja Smith's 2018 debut album '' Lost & Found''. After a break-up in 2017, Lebbing moved back to her hometown in Western Australia, and recorded her second solo EP, ''Haani''. The EP, released in the following year, featured collaborations with musicians such as Elley Duhé, Broods and Hudson Mohawke. She soon relocated to Los Angeles, and after signing to

/ EMI Music Australia released "Wild Girl", a collaboration with Empress Of, soon followed by "Alone with You" featuring AlunaGeorge. In 2019, Kito was nominated for the Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year (Los Angeles) at the 2020 Global APRA Music Awards. In September 2022, Kito released "Sad Girl Music" featuring Banks.

Artistry

Lebbing was influenced by her mother's love of Kate Bush as a child, as well as DJ Shadow's '' Endtroducing.....'' (1996) and Dr. Octagon's '' Dr. Octagonecologyst'' (1996) which were introduced to her by her sister. As a teenager, Lebbing primarily listened to

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

and hip hop, and cites

Burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

as one of the dubstep musicians who influenced her love of the genre.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Remixes

Guest appearances and production credits

References

External links

Official Website

Kito
at SoundCloud
Kito
at Facebook {{DEFAULTSORT:Kito Living people 21st-century Australian women musicians 21st-century Australian musicians Australian electronic musicians Australian DJs Australian record producers Australian women in electronic music Drum and bass musicians Dubstep musicians Electro musicians Electronic dance music DJs People from Denmark, Western Australia Musicians from Perth, Western Australia Year of birth missing (living people) Remixers