King Britt is a pioneer of all things soulful, rhythmically textured and melodically provocative. This Philadelphia native has found a way to escape the strictures of a single category of music by expressing his creations through deep house, hip-hop, broken beat, nu-jazz, funk and afro-tech. Whether it’s film scoring for Hollywood, rocking the playa at Burning Man or consulting for the leading urban lifestyle brands, there are no limits to what King Britt will do next.
King began his career in music as E-Culture, producing the underground hit 12-inch, “Tribal Confusion (Strictly Rhythm, 1990)”. After touring Europe’s dance clubs, King became DJ for the Grammy award winning Digable Planets in 1992. As the wax poet for Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, Doodlebug and Ladybug, the band changed the face of modern hip-hop by fusing skat-style jazz with lyrical, deep and soulful vocal flow. While touring the globe with Digable, King continued to develop his love of the dance music culture and made numerous appearances in house music clubs all over the world. These international escapades set the stage for his planetary DJ career. He continues to deliver performances as a house, hip-hop, funk and even 80’s DJ, to adoring fans the world over.
As a band leader and music director, King Britt heads up the Sylk 130 collective. This ensemble, formed in 1994, weighs in with over a dozen top-notch Philadelphia musicians and performers, including Ursula Rucker, Alma Horton, Doc Gibbs, Chuck Treece and Alison Crockette. The group has released two full length LPs, “When The Funk Hits The Fan (Ovum/Sony, 1998)” and “Re-Members Only (Six Degrees, 2001).” The band crafts an eclectic soul-ridden sound “that flows like a dope mix tape from a bygone era of Britt’s own imagination “ according to Gear magazine. In the Fall of 2007, The Sylk130 collective bring back King’s ten year Monday night residency at Philadelphia’s legendary Sylk City venue.
As producer and song-writer, King has released numerous full-length albums including the hip-hop odyssey “Adventures in Lo-Fi (Bbe/Rapster Records 2002),” for the highly acclaimed BBE Records Beat Generation Series; “Cosmo Afrique (Karma Giraffe, 2003),” an LP of original Afro-Tech productions that features the vocal stylings of Soul II Soul’s Wumni, Zap Mama and Diva Blue; “King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan (Ropeadope Records, 2005),” celebrating and reinterpreting the New Orleans gospel legend Sister Gertrude Morgan; and most recently “The Nova Dream Sequence (Compost, 2006),” a fusion of Kraftwerk-inspired techno and deep sexy house.
As a remix producer, King has flipped and funked everyone from Macy Gray and Tori Amos to Yoko Ono and Femi Kuti. His remix of breakthrough artist Josh One’s “Contemplation (5.1 Entertainment)” was nominated for the Dancestar Remix of the Year award, alongside remixes by Danny Tenaglia and Basement Jaxx. Within the last year he has completed remixes for the likes of Curtis Mayfiled, The O’Jays, Gamble and Huff, Ben Watt, Dizzie Gilespie, Everything but the Girl, and Digable Planets. Several collections of his remixes and original productions have been released including, under his “Scuba” moniker, “Hidden Treasures (Om Records, 2002),”a two-disk greatest hits compilation “This Is…King Britt (V2 UK, 2005)” and the fourth installment of Franciois Kevorkian’s Deep and Sexy compilation series (Wave Music, 2007). In August 2007, King’s first free jazz compilation, “King Britt Presents the Cosmic Lounge” was released (!K7, 2007).
As a composer and film music scorer, King Britt has created underscore and interpretations for the forthcoming blockbuster, Miami Vice (Universal Pictures, 2006), directed by Michael Mann, as well as the National Park Service’s civil rights film, Never Lose Sight of Freedom (US Dept of Interior, 2006) and most recently for two Rolex television and film advertisements.
