King Britt

King Britt

King Britt with Saturn Never Sleeps live
Background information
Birth name King James Britt
Also known as Sylk130, Scuba, Obafunke, The Nova Dream Sequence
Born 1968
Origin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres Electronica
Soul
Techno
Occupation(s) Disc Jockey
Record producer
Label Owner
Years active 1988–present
Labels Saturn Never Sleeps
Associated acts Sylk130, Saturn Never Sleeps, ObaFunke
Website kingbritt.com

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

Life

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 Rucyl, RYAT and Astrid Suryanto, who sings on the club hit Now. He also produced Canadian rock stars, Bedouin Soundclash on the album Light the Horizon.

King Britt along with partner Rucyl in 2011 released Yesterday's Machine, the debut album from Saturn Never Sleeps. King Britt has remixed musicians Tori Amos, Miles Davis, Saul Williams and Meredith Monk.

Quick Discography

External links

References

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