Ropeadope

rarely will you find a talent whose vision supersedes the boundaries of genre, until you have met king britt. this philadelphia native has found a way to escape the boundaries of a single category of music by expressing his creations through deep house, hip-hop, broken beat, nu-jazz, funk and afro-tech. he has been honing his dj and production skills for the greater part of a decade. the result: a pioneer of all things soulful, rhythmically textured and melodically provocative.



king began his dj tenure in 1992 when he became the wax poet for the grammy award winning digable planets. together with ishmael "butterfly" butler, doodlebug and ladybug, this quartet changed the face of modern hip hop by fusing skat style jazz with the ingenious lyrical witticisms of butterfly's kafka inspired language. while touring the globe with digable planets, king continued to develop his love of the dance music culture by making numerous appearances in house music clubs all over the world. with his gifted knowledge of music past, present and future, he crafted timeless sets that remain legendary. 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.



1994 witnessed the birth of king's sylk130 collective. this ensemble of top notch philadelphia musicians and performers, including ursula rucker, alma horton and alison crockette, collaborated to create a tribute to the funkafied philly of the '70s and, in 1996, release the full length lp "when the funk hits the fan (ovum/sony)." as a follow-up to this red-hot debut, "re-members only (six degrees)" was released in 2001 to pay homage to the dance music of the 80's. this time, king consulted british chanteuse alison moyet of yaz fame, abc's martin frye and grover washington jr. to craft what gear magazine referred to as "an album that flows like a dope mix tape from a bygone era of britt's own imagination." a third installment of this incomplete trilogy will be dedicated to the future, a finishing touch that is eagerly awaited.



as a remix producer, king has flipped and funked everyone from macy gray and tori amos to yoko ono and femi kuti. he is included amongst masters at work and joe claussell on verve records "remixed" compilation. his recent 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, placing him in the ranks of the top notch, most sought after remixers in the world.



as a curator of remixes, king, alongside a team of his favorite producers, reinvents the original work of the philadelphia experiment's ahmir "Questlove" thompson, uri caine and christian mcbride (ropeadope records.) with his unfaltering ability to discover the latest new talents and his appreciation for those who have paved the way, he is also curating an lp of original material for japanese label handcut records. he has selected choice cuts from jody watley, yesterday's new quintet and ivana santilli to appear on the forthcoming album.



as his "scuba" moniker, king released "hidden treasures (om records)" in july 2002. this compilation of lushly layered underwater inspired house remixes features new versions of songs by 4hero, fantastic plastic machine and michelle shaprow. a full length of original scuba material is slated for 2003 release, also on om records.



never one to hog the spotlight, he recently collaborated with nigerian born producer oba funke to create "cosmo afrique (karma giraffe)," an lp of original afro-tech productions that features the vocal stylings of soul ii soul's wumni, zap mama and diva blue and is an exploration of polyrhythmic beats, chants and tribal grooves. oba funke celebrated a massive premiere at the 2002 winter music conference, where radio one's gilles peterson named "bush workout" as one of the hottest debut tracks at the wmc.



as a return to his love for hip hop, king will release a full-length album of original tracks for the highly acclaimed bbe records beat generation series in the autumn of 2003. for this, he called in ishmael "butterfly" butler, quasimoto and bahamadia to drop serious licks over space aged sonic beats.



when he's not busy in the studio or trotting the globe, king can be found at the office of fivesixmedia, his multi-media, studio and marketing corporation. together with his team of dawn englehart, rob yancey, dozia blakey and justin paul, fivesixmedia provides music licensing and production, video production and editing and market branding services.



whether, it's hip-hop or house, afro tech or funk, there are no limits to what king britt will do next. watch, listen and experience as he continues to craft the sound of music and pop culture in the 22nd century.