You certainly won't find an artist with a better potential to transpose the many different musical genres into a marvelous standard of grooves full of feelings. His comprehension of what we should call the phonographic culture lies much ahead than the common ones. With a work forged a mixture of Jazz, Soul, Funk, the percussive Afro beats, Hip Hop, Broken Beats, Deep House and the new Electronic Jazz fusion,
King Britt has proved to be a very eclectic and open minded soul.
Original from Philadelphia, he absorbed the many styles of grooves and settled a unique vibe. His professional career had its first major ascension in 1992, times when
King Britt was the DJ for the Grammy winner Hip Hop-Jazz fusion band Digable Planets (alongside Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Doodlebug and
Ladybug Mecca). Their absolutely innovative sounds are a mixture of the contemporary side of Hip Hop with the Jazzy scats and lyrics.
His career pointed to different directions as he started to travel the World with the Digable Planets tours and with his own ones on the international House scene as Disc Jockey. At the very beginning of his journey as solo DJ, he settled a partnership with the well-known New York DJ, producer and owner of the label Ovum Recordings:
Josh Wink, who also contributed for the development of his career. One of their first projects together was E-Culture, the one behind the classic "Tribal Confusion" released by Strictly Rhythm in 1990.
The seventies funk roots of this Philadelphia native are also represented through his Sylk 130 project, which brought the traditional Philly sounds elements and alliances with artists such as Ursula Rucker, Alma Horton and Alison Crockette in a combination of a funk-soul aura. The highlight of this alias was attained with the long play "When The Funk Hits The Fan", an excellent combination of the traditional grooves and more contemporary elements.
King Britt's natural talents as a remixer resulted in a total subversion of rhythms and of the original tunes conceptions, from the works of Yoko Ono and Femi Kuti to the ones of Erykah Badu and Macy Gray. Perhaps that should be the cause why he received, as well as other celebrities like Masters At Work and
Joe Claussell, the invitation by the people from legendary Jazz label Verve Records to give his contribution to the acclaimed compilation "Verve Remixed". He finally owned the title on the category "Remix of the Year" with Danny Tenaglia and
Basement Jaxx, which granted him the status of one of the most respected remixes all over the World.
The musical conception of
King Britt can be explained by the depths of his backgrounds. All his influences mix together in a unique sound with no limits of style, and his combination of Soul, Hip Hop, Afro Beats, House, Funk and Future Jazz will be always worth of listening.
