MK

Detroit native Marc Kinchen, widely known as MK, belongs to the small circle of house producers who have sustained both artistic innovation and major commercial breakthroughs across three decades. Early releases on Detroit imprints such as Kevin Saunderson’s KMS helped him forge a singular sound that fused New York garage soul with hard techno drive and sharply fragmented vocal hooks. That approach later exerted a decisive influence on New Jersey house figure Todd Edwards and the broader UK garage movement. During the 1990s he logged consistent club successes with several Alana-fronted singles, later compiled on the 1993 album Surrender, while also delivering remixes for other acts, most memorably his transformation of the Nightcrawlers’ “Push the Feeling On,” first issued in 1992. In the opening years of the 2000s Kinchen worked closely with Will Smith and Pitbull, then re-engaged with house music once renewed interest in his catalog surfaced in the early 2010s. His remix of Storm Queen’s “Look Right Through” delivered one of his biggest achievements, reaching number one on the UK pop chart in late 2013. Fresh original material followed, earning silver and platinum certifications in the UK for singles such as “Piece of Me,” “17,” and “Back & Forth.” In 2023 the Dom Dolla collaboration “Rhyme Dust” became his eleventh UK pop-chart entry as lead or co-lead artist.

Kinchen’s first production credit arrived with “First Bass,” recorded as part of Separate Minds alongside Terrence Parker and included on the 1989 KMS compilation Techno-1. Several MK singles preceded his 1991 move to Brooklyn, where he launched Area 10 Records and released “Burning,” a track that gained moderate club traction and led to remix work for the Shamen, Tom Tom Club, the B-52s, D-Influence, and, most prominently, the Nightcrawlers, whose “Push the Feeling On” received his “dub of doom” treatment. He soon signed an album deal with Charisma, resulting in the 1993 full-length Surrender, credited to MK Featuring Alana (aka Alana Simon) and featuring the deep-house club hits “Always” and “Love Changes.” Additional remixes for Pet Shop Boys, Opus III, Ethyl Meatplow, Jodeci, and Brandy appeared alongside further recordings under his own name and as 4th Measure Men.

After withdrawing from house music in 1996 for an extended period that included close work with Will Smith, Kinchen returned as producer, remixer, and DJ. The early 2010s brought dozens of high-profile remix assignments, among them Lana Del Rey, Sky Ferreira, and Sam Smith. Yet his greatest commercial impact came with the remix of the underground Storm Queen track “Look Right Through” by Morgan Geist and Damon Scott, which topped the UK pop chart. Around the same time Defected’s ITH division assembled his earlier productions for its House Masters series. “Bring Me to Life,” featuring singer Milly Pye, emerged in 2015 as the first single from a new album project; one remix was supplied by Dantiez Saunderson, son of Kevin Saunderson. The 2016 follow-up “Piece of Me,” with Becky Hill on vocals, carried remixes by Groove Armada and the Saunderson Brothers. “17” reached number one on the UK dance chart and number seven on the pop chart in 2017, marking his strongest solo showing to date. He reunited with Hill for the 2018 single “Back & Forth,” also featuring Jonas Blue, which narrowly missed another UK top-ten placement. Chart entries arrived early the next decade with “Lies” and “Better,” and 2023 brought another UK-chart appearance via the Dom Dolla collaboration “Rhyme Dust.”