King Britt (born 1968) is an American

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, DJ and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Biography

Britt is a 1986 graduate of Central High School in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. In 1987, he started working at Tower Records, as a buyer for the singles/import section. His extensive knowledge of dance music made him an in demand buyer in the company. He went on to make many connections in the music community, bringing in records and new labels from all over the world. King attended

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptists, Baptist minister Russell Conwell an ...

. In 1990, King Britt began his first DJ residency at the Silk City in Philadelphia and the now defunct Revival. These two DJ residencies would help change the course of dance music in Philadelphia and lay the foundation for King's musical future. In collaboration with music partner Josh Wink, King also produced his first commercial release "Tribal Confusion" on dance label

Strictly Rhythm Strictly Rhythm is an American house music record label. History Strictly Rhythm relaunched in 2007 after a five-year break, following a venture with Warner Music. The label made a number of its recordings available for digital download and sig ...

. Their musical partnership continued until 2001. In 1992, he started touring worldwide for the group Digable Planets for two years with a three-month opening slot with Sade. In 1994, Britt and Josh Wink started the label Ovum Recordings. Their first release was a collaboration between King and wordsmith/singer Ursula Rucker called "Supernatural". The song went on to become a staple tune in the US rave scene and is revered as a classic in many countries. Ovum Recordings is still in operation but King resigned from his position in 2001. In early 1998, under the name Sylk130, King released the neo soul album ''When the Funk Hits the Fan'' on Ovum/Columbia Records. This album went to sell over 500,000 copies worldwide and was scheduled to be re-released in 2012 as part of a box set collection for Sylk130. In a favorable review of the 1998 album ''When the Funk Hits the Fan'', '' Billboard'' compared his sound to that of Soul II Soul and

De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternat ...

. In 2001, Britt released ''Sylk130 Re-Member's Only'', which features Alison Moyet, Martin Fry from ABC, Kathy Sledge,

Grover Washington Jr Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre. He ...

and others. It was his last album for Ovum Recordings and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

as he began to pursue doing more production work. Britt released ''Adventures in Lo Fi'' on London's BBE label in 2003. Guests on the album included Madlib as

Quasimoto Quasimoto is a side project of hip hop producer Madlib, from Oxnard, California. Quasimoto is composed of Madlib and his animated alter ego Lord Quas. Lord Quas is known for his high-pitched voice, which often interacts with Madlib's regular ...

, Dice Raw, Ivana Santilli and Butterfly from Digable Planets. He produced '' King Britt Presents: Sister Gertrude Morgan'' in 2005. A recreation of self-proclaimed bride of christ, Sister Gertrude's original

Preservation Hall Preservation Hall is a jazz venue in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The building is associated with a house band, a record label, and a non-profit foundation. History of the jazz hall In the 1950s, art dealer Larry Borenstein ...

album gets new life. The record was included in the

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American film director, director, screenwriter, and Film producer, producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include ...

's 2006 film ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two Me ...

'', on the AdBusters compilation, ''Live Without Dead Time'' and the HBO television show ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television show, television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a ...

''. Still continuing to DJ/produce, King changed his direction and began focusing on techno music and in 2006 released Interpretation under the moniker ''The Nova Dream Sequence''. Released on Munich based label

Compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting ...

, this record was praised by Derrick May and

Carl Craig Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980 ...

, including many of the songs in their sets. May also contributed to the liner notes. Britt won the

Pew Fellowship in the Arts The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage is a nonprofit grantmaking organization and knowledge-sharing hub for arts and culture in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US established in 2005. In 2008, Paula Marincola was named the first executive director. Th ...

for composition in 2007. Britt and multimedia artists

Rucyl Rucyl (Rucyl Frison, born Rucyl Mills) is a new media and sound artist, singer, musician, and producer. Her interests involve experimentation and process as performance, time-based analog effects systems, and using sound to represent concepts that ...

started the project 'Saturn Never Sleeps' in 2009. It is an electronic improvisational group as well as a label. They came together to curate an evening of music for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia to coincide with a

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

exhibit, that was touring. They soon took the concept further, while they were residents at The Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia. Saturn Never Sleeps went on to become a band, label and is curated monthly in Philadelphia. ''Intricate Beauty'' by Britt was released in 2010 on Nervous Recordings. Special guests included Lady Alma,

RYAT Ryat (often stylized as RYAT and pronounced "riot") is an experimental electronic music project created by female producer Christina Amalie Mattei, also known as Christina Teleaer, based in Los Angeles, California. She has released music on Obvio ...

and Astrid Suryanto, who sings on the club hit "Now". Tim Conley a.k.a.

MAST Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mast ...

played guitar on the title track "Intricate Beauty". Britt also produced for Canadian rock stars Bedouin Soundclash on the album ''Light the Horizon''. Britt has remixed for musicians

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

, Saul Williams and Meredith Monk and Wendy & Lisa. In 2014, he produced ''The Phoenix'' by Fhloston Paradigm for the Hyperdub label. 2016 brought two album projects, ''Donna'' by Cassy and ''Pendulous Moon'' by the German singer, Clara Hill. 2017 saw the return of the Fhloston Paradigm project with an album ''After...'' It featured guest appearances by Nosaj Thing, Ryat, Jacqueline Constance, Moor Mother, Pia Ercole, Stephanie Yu, Alexa Barchini, Kate Faust, Petra, Puerto Rican Space Program and Tim Motzer. In 2017, he also contributed to

Gonjasufi Sumach Ecks (born 1978), better known by his stage name Gonjasufi, is an American vocalist, producer, disc jockey, and yogi. Life and career Ecks was born in 1978 to a Mexican mother and an American-Ethiopian father. He spent his formative yea ...

's album '' Mandela Effect''.

Curatorial

In 2014, King curated a day at the

MoMA PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, the ...

called ''Moondance: A Night in the Afrofuture''. Since then, his curatorial pursuits have included a series of music inspired events for FringeArts in Philadelphia.

Discography

Albums and production

*1998: ''When the Funk Hits the Fan'' *2001: ''Re-Members Only'' *2002: '' The Philadelphia Experiment Remixed'' *2002: ''Hidden Treasures'' by Scuba *2002: ''Black to the Future'' *2002: ''Cosmoafrique'' by ObaFunke *2003: ''Adventures in Lo-Fi'' ( BBE Records) *2005: ''Late Night with King Britt '' *2005: ''King Britt Presents: Sister Gertrude Morgan'' *2006: ''Nova Dream Sequence: Interpretations'' *2007: ''Cosmic Lounge'' *2007: ''This Is King Britt'' *2009: ''Deep and Sexy 4'' *2010: ''The Intricate Beauty'' *2011: ''Yesterday's Machine'' by Saturn Never Sleeps *2014: ''The Phoenix'' by Fhloston Paradigm *2015: ''Cosmosis #1'' by Fhloston Paradigm *2015: ''Cosmosis #2'' by Fhloston Paradigm *2016: ''Pendulous Moon'' by Clara Hill *2016: ''Donna'' by Cassy *2016: ''What Happened Was...'' *2017: ''After...'' by Fhloston Paradigm

References

External links

* – official site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Britt, King American dance musicians Remixers Rappers from Philadelphia American hip hop DJs Breakbeat musicians Living people Pew Fellows in the Arts 1968 births 21st-century American rappers Six Degrees Records artists Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni Electronic dance music DJs Barely Breaking Even artists