Malik Turner (Michael Muhammad) is an American rapper and

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

from Fayetteville, NC, who came to prominence in the 1990s as a rapper. He is known for his politically aware, socially conscious lyrics, and sample heavy production. Malik is the other half of the duo, "Malik Turner (Malik - Mad Lyrics) and DJ Master Jam". The duo was formed in the early 1990s when Malik and DJ, Master Jam were college students at

Cheyney University Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is a public historically black university in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1837, it is the oldest university out of all historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States. It is a mem ...

. In 1992 Malik and Jam, along with two friends, Allen "Nadir" Muhammad and Milton "Fahyim" Sharp formed "Son of Man Productions". In 1994, with the support of

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

from Gang Starr, and DJ Sean Ski, Son of Man Productions released the classic independent single, ''No More 9 to 5'' and ''The Last Days of Wax'' on their own label "Mpacked Sounds". The classic record was mastered by mastering engineer

Tony Dawsey Tony Dawsey is an American mastering engineer at Masterdisk in New York City. He has been active since 1980.Rap Pages'' featured Malik and Master Jam as a rising duo to look out for. Projects with Mpacked Sounds led to opportunities to share the stage with the likes of Brand Nubian, the Fu-Schnickens,

Black Sheep In the English language, black sheep is an idiom that describes a member of a group who is different from the rest, especially a family member who does not fit in. The term stems from sheep whose fleece is colored black rather than the more comm ...

Poor Righteous Teachers Poor Righteous Teachers was a hip hop group from Trenton, New Jersey, founded in 1989. Often referred to as PRT by its fans, Poor Righteous Teachers was known as a socially and politically conscious hip hop group, with musical content inspired ...

, Da Bush Babees,

The U.M.C.'s The UMC's was an American hip hop duo from the borough of Staten Island in New York City. The group was composed of Haas G and Kool Kim, who released the critically acclaimed full-length album ''Fruits of Nature'' in 1991, which garnered chart ...

, Rakim, and others. Malik is also known for being a group member and lead vocalist (rapper) for the "New Blackbyrds", a Jazz fusion group formed by the legendary trumpeter,

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

; a sister project to

's (GangStarr) ''Jazzmatazz, The New Reality''. Malik's work with Donald Byrd included numerous unreleased recorded songs, and performances at The Supper Club (NYC),

SOB's SOB's is a live world music venue and restaurant in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan. S.O.B.’s is an abbreviation of Sounds of Brazil. Larry Gold started SOBs in June 1982, and he currently still owns the space. Gold opened the ven ...

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

(BAM), the

Playboy Jazz Festival The Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival is an event held in the Hollywood Bowl that celebrates jazz and features both established and up-and-coming jazz musicians. Founded in 1959 by Hugh Hefner as the Playboy Jazz Festival, it was held in Chicago but d ...

(Hollywood Bowl),

Catalina Jazz Club Catalina Bar & Grill, popularly referred to as Catalina Jazz Club, is a prominent jazz club and restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA, located to the east of Hollywood High School and to the west of the Blessed Sacrament C ...

Black Entertainment Television Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

(Jazz Central) and more. Malik's association with Donald Byrd and the New Blackbirds has allowed him to share the stage with Jazz musicians such as Ramsey Lewis, Max Roach, Joe Sample, and others. Malik's unique lyrical ability and flexibility landed him the opportunity to perform in the dance musical "The Predators Ball -Huckstersof the soul" produced by Karole Armitage (The Armitage Foundation) and John Gould Rubin. The musical was performed at the '' Next Wave Festival'', Brooklyn Academy of Music, and in Florence, Italy at Teatro Comunale Florence. Malik has written and perform for the sitcom " Cosby" with friend and actor

Doug E. Doug Doug E. Doug (born Douglas Bourne; January 7, 1970) is an American actor. He started his career at age 17 as a stand-up comedian. He played the role of Griffin Vesey on the CBS sitcom ''Cosby (TV series), Cosby'', Sanka Coffie in the film ''Co ...

, and also Jazz musician Don Braden.

Early life

Malik is the son of Juarita L. Turner and James M. Davis. He was raised by his mother in Fayetteville, NC, while his father lived in

Trenton, NJ Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...

and later a member in the community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed (son of Elijah Muhammad), who merged into mainstream Islam. Malik was not exposed to Islam until the age of 16. Malik at a young age moved to Fayetteville, NC, but lived in numerous states including, New Jersey, and New York. He attended and graduated from Terry Sanford Senior High School in Fayetteville, NC. At 10 years old, while living in

Plainfield, NJ Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City."

, he knew his calling was in Hip Hop and set out on a path to be an emcee. At a young age he would be found break dancing, and rhyming in middle school with childhood friend and rapper, Skillz (Mad Skillz). He started recording music in the mid-1980s with a childhood friend who was his DJ. After rocking many house parties, and working on his lyrical skills, he was offered to travel as a performer with a friend's father who DJ'ed parties throughout North Carolina. This was Malik's first paying gig a mere $50.00 a week. After visiting

Trenton, NJ Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Five Percent Nation The Five-Percent Nation, sometimes referred to as the Nation of Gods and Earths (NGE/NOGE) or the Five Percenters, is a Black nationalist movement influenced by Islam that was founded in 1964 in the Harlem section of the borough of Manhattan, ...

, Malik soon began spending his summers between Trenton, and

Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...

. Around the same time Malik met

Wise WISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * WISE (AM), a radio station licensed to Asheville, North Carolina *WISE-FM, a radio station licensed to Wise, Virginia * WISE-TV, a television station licensed to Fort Wayne, Indiana Education * ...

, Human Beat Box and rapper of Hip Hop band Stetsasonic at a show in Fayetteville, NC. The elder Wise took a liken to Malik, they kept in contact, and Wise began to school him on the music business. Malik was soon introduced through a relative to Melquan Smith (Melquan Productions) and Shabazz Fuller (Shabazz Brothers) of then Yamaka Records, who managed at the time

Prince Rakeem A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

(RZA, Wu Tang Clan), The Genius (

GZA ''Gary Eldridge Grice'' (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage names GZA ( ) and The Genius, is an American rapper and songwriter. A founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both ...

, Wu Tang Clan), an
Divine Force
Malik soon began to hone his lyrical skills under the tutelage of Melquan and Shabazz and was soon taking lessons from his peers on Yamaka Records. With this new exposure, Malik continued working on his skills, recording music, and going to shows with the Yamaka Records team while spending more time in Brooklyn. While attending

, Malik would travel back and forth to New York to get as much exposure as possible. In between traveling back and forth to New York, sitting in on recording sessions, and frequent visits to the Nuyorican Café ( Lyricist Lounge), Malik began to redirect his focus on the business of music. In order to increase his knowledge of the music business and gain more insight and exposure, a friend recommended that he do an internship. He was soon introduced to Justo Faizon (Founder, Annual Mix Tape Awards), who was the A&R at

Nervous Records Nervous Records is a UK rockabilly music independent record label. It was formed in 1979 by Roy Williams, a DJ on the UK rock'n'roll scene. Nervous Records is credited by many as the leading record label behind the emergence of the British neo ...

and soon started working under Justo as an intern. Interning at

, eventually led to an Internship with

Select Records Select Records is an American record label. Among its most popular acts were the Real Roxanne, Chubb Rock, AMG, The Jerky Boys, Kid 'n Play, UTFO, Whistle, and Gary Private. From 1990 to 1995, it had a distribution deal with Elektra Records ...

Education

Malik Turner attended Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the oldest

HBCU Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

in the United States. He also attended the College of New Rochelle,

Metropolitan College of New York Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY), formerly Audrey Cohen College, is a private college in New York City. MCNY is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and consists of three schools: The Audrey Cohen School for Huma ...

and New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey. Malik holds Bachelors and master's degrees.

Discography

Malik Turner and Master Jam recently released music from the 1990s, which includes the re-release of "No-More 9 to 5" with additional unreleased songs on London based record label Chopped Herring Records. In 2016 Malik released ''Settlement #2 First Resurrection, Instrumentals'' on Mpacked Records. In 2011 Malik released two singles from his unreleased album ''Orgena: A Negro Spelled Backwards'' – "Serious???" feat.

Adam Blackstone Adam Blackstone (born December 4, 1982, in Trenton, NJ) is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, and bassist. He is the musical director for Nicki Minaj and Justin Timberlake. Blackstone has also directed and played in performances with ...

and "Get Your Mind Right". Malik has also done production on Ill Adrenaline artist's, Beneficence's 2016 album ''Basement Chemistry'' and did most of the production on his 2017 solo-album ''Invisible Freedom'' released on Osceola Music Group. Malik's work includes recordings and collaborations with artists and producers such as

Beneficence Beneficence may refer to: * Beneficence (hip-hop artist) * Beneficence, a synonym for philanthropy * Beneficence (ethics), a concept in medical ethics * Beneficence (statue), a statue at Ball State University * Procreative beneficence * Order of ...

Jasiri X Jasiri X (born Jasiri Oronde Smith) is a Pittsburgh-based rapper and activist who gained attention for his 2007 song "Free the Jena 6." He is a recipient of the Rauschenberg Artist as Activist award and co-founder of anti-violence group 1Hood. In ...

, Dominique Larue,

Megahertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, me ...

, 12 Finger Dan, DJ Sean Ski, DJ Master Jam, the late P-Original, Prince Strickland of Elwood, and more.

References

External links

Malik Turner on SoundCloud

Malik Turner on Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Malik Living people Musicians from Fayetteville, North Carolina Rappers from North Carolina Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American rappers