King Britt

House DJ and producer King Britt grew up immersed in music within his southwest Philadelphia household, absorbing sounds that ranged from James Brown to Duke Ellington. Starting at age seven, he purchased records and steadily assembled a library exceeding 10,000 singles. He observed the early development of the city’s rap community, which featured Schooly D., Three Times Dope, Steady B., DJ Cash Money, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. His listening habits broadened further to embrace Depeche Mode, Roxy Music, Kraftwerk, Front 242, and the Smiths.

While studying at Temple University, Britt began crafting his own tracks and crossed paths with Ishmael Butler, aka Butterfly, who brought him into the jazz-rap collective Digable Planets. Adopting the nickname Silkworm, he remained on tour with the group for more than two years. A mutual contact introduced him to Josh Wink, and the pair soon experimented in their separate bedroom MIDI studios. Their efforts produced the international dance success “Tribal Confusion” by E-Culture in 1993. Britt and Wink subsequently launched Ovum Recordings, handling production and remixes for Tori Amos, Donna Lewis, Solsonics, and Mary Wilson.

The notion of a solo album first took shape during Britt’s time on the road with Digable Planets. A devoted soundtrack listener without resources for a real film, he chose instead to score an imaginary movie, recruiting Philadelphia musicians collectively known as Sylk 130. The lineup included legendary bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, drummer Darryl Burgee, keyboardist James Poyser, vocalist Alison Crockette, poet Ursula Rucker, rapper Tony “Capital A” Green, and guitarist Monnette Sudler. When the Funk Hits the Fan appeared on Ovum/Sony in 1998, followed a year later by The Remixes.

Entering the new millennium, King Britt’s Sylk 130 project continued with Re-Members Only, released in March 2001; the album highlighted classic funk and soul grooves alongside appearances by ABC’s Martin Fry, De La Soul, and Alison Moyet of Yaz. His debut solo production effort, Adventures in Lo-fi, arrived in 2003 on BBE, after which he assembled a mix album for Chicago’s Park Hyatt hotel in 2004. Beyond these recordings, Britt stayed active developing artists on his label and completing dozens of remix assignments. One standout release, the compilation The Cosmic Lounge, gathered mostly early-’70s avant-garde jazz and surfaced in 2007.