King Britt

King Britt
King Britt by Olinda Del Mar
Background information
Also known as Fhloston Paradigm, Sylk130, Scuba, The Nova Dream Sequence
Born November 28, 1968
Origin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres Electronica, soul, trip hop, broken beat
Occupation(s) DJ & live producer, studio producer & recorder, Composer
Years active 1988–present
Labels
Associated acts Sylk130, Fhloston Paradigm, Scuba
Website kingbritt.com

King Britt is an American DJ, composer and record producer from Philadelphia.[1]

Life

Mr Britt is a 1986 graduate of Central High School (Philadelphia). 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.

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. King also produced his first commercial release "Tribal Confusion" on dance label Strictly Rhythm. He collaborated with music partner Josh Wink to create this classic. Their musical partnership continues until 2001.

In 1992 he started touring worldwide for the Grammy Award winning 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.[2]

In 2001 Britt released Sylk130 Re-Member's Only, which features Alison Moyet, Martin Fry from ABC, Kathy Sledge, Grover Washington Jr, De La Soul and others. This was his tribute to his 80s heroes. It was his last album for Ovum Recordings and Columbia Records as he began to pursue doing more production work.

King Britt released Adventures in Lo Fi on London's BBE label in 2003. Guests on the album included Madlib as Quasimoto, De La Soul, 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 album gets new life. The record goes on to be included in the Michael Mann's 2006 film Miami Vice, on the AdBusters compilation, Live Without Dead Time and the HBO television show True Blood. 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, this record was praised by the legends of techno Derrick May and Carl Craig, including many of the songs in their sets. May also contributed to the liner notes.

King Britt won the prestigious Pew Fellowship in the Arts for composition in 2007.

King Britt and multimedia artists Rucyl, 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 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.

The Intricate Beauty by King Britt was released in 2010 on Nervous Recordings. Special guests included Lady Alma, RYAT and Astrid Suryanto, who sings on the club hit Now. Tim Conley aka MAST plays guitar on the title track Intricate Beauty. King Britt also produced Canadian rock stars, Bedouin Soundclash on the album Light the Horizon.

King Britt has remixed musicians Tori Amos, Miles Davis, Saul Williams and Meredith Monk and Wendy & Lisa.

In 2014 he produced and composed the critically acclaimed "The Phoenix" by Fhloston Paradigm for the groundbreaking Hyperdub label.

2016 brought 2 great album projects, Donna by Cassy and Pendulous Moon by German singer, Clara Hill. Both making a splash in the electronic and dance genre.

2017 saw the return of the Fhloston Paradigm project with a beautiful album of cosmic electronic sonics. The new album After... is the continuation of the story… ascension and polyrhythmic primal energy through unexpected process. After... features 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.

Curatorial

In 2014, King curated an entire day at the MoMA PS1 called Moondance : A Night in the Afrofuture. Since then, his curatorial pursuits have included a series of music inspired events for FringeArts in Philadelphia. More information here.

Quick Discography

  • 1998: When the Funk Hits the Fan
  • 2001: Re-Members Only
  • 2001: 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

  1. ↑ Allmusic
  2. ↑ Verna, Paul (January 31, 1998). "King Britt Presents Sylk 130—When The Funk Hits The Fan", Billboard 110 (5): 24.
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