The Kingdom

Kingdom's productions fuse modern R&B textures with U.K. bass elements, shaping underground dance scenes and experimental R&B since the early 2010s. Based in Los Angeles, the producer issues material through Night Slugs and Fool's Gold, co-operates the Fade to Mind imprint, and helped launch alternative R&B artist Kelela by featuring her vocals on the single "Bank Head" from the 2013 EP Vertical XL. After further club tracks and mixtapes, his debut album focused more on songcraft, Tears in the Club, surfaced in 2017 and featured guest work from Syd and SZA. Later joint efforts such as Neurofire (2020) and Transmission (2021) delved deeper into electro, house, and post-new jack swing R&B.

Born Ezra Rubin in Massachusetts, Kingdom relocated to New York City at 18 to pursue art studies at the Parsons School of Design. Although he had already been producing music for years, he first gained notice in the late 2000s through DJ residencies on the city's club circuit, including Vortex, which began in 2008, and ddarkk, which blended contemporary R&B and U.K. garage with electro and house selections. In summer 2010 he made his commercial production debut with "Mind Reader" on A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs' Fool's Gold label. The track, featuring vocalist Shyvonne, became a notable success in the electro community, while a concurrent Fact Magazine DJ mix also drew attention. He followed it with the five-track EP That Mystic on Bok Bok and L-Vis 1990's Night Slugs imprint.

Dreama, a four-track Night Slugs EP of intense club cuts, and the more pop-oriented Fool's Gold single "Take Me" both arrived in 2011. That same year Rubin moved to Los Angeles and co-founded the Fade to Mind label and collective with Nguzunguzu, Prince William, and Total Freedom. Positioned as an American counterpart to the British Night Slugs, the venture sought to issue experimental yet accessible dance music that bridged mainstream and underground worlds. His late-2012 EP VIP Edition contained a remix of Ciara's "Goodies," and 2013 marked a major breakthrough. The Vertical XL EP featured "Bank Head," whose vocalist Kelela achieved wider recognition; an extended version of the song, plus two additional Kingdom productions, appeared on Kelela's acclaimed debut mixtape Cut 4 Me, released on Fade to Mind in October 2013. Over the next several years Rubin worked extensively as a producer and remixer for artists including Chvrches, Glass Animals, and Dawn Richard, yet issued none of his own material until "Shox" emerged in 2016. "Nothin," with vocals from the Internet's Syd, followed later that year. In 2017 he delivered his long-awaited debut album Tears in the Club, refining his experimental club aesthetic with appearances by Syd, SZA, and Najee Daniels. He released the VIP Edition, Vol. 2 mixtape in 2018 and the two-volume EXTERRA EP in 2019.

Kingdom opened the following decade with the double A-side single "CoeurWorld," a collaboration with Petite Noir, and issued Neurofire in September 2020. The second full-length highlighted "High Enough" featuring Tiara Thomas and included contributions from LUVK, Kayla Blackmon, and Ghost. In November he teamed with singer/songwriter and producer Rush Davis—whom he first met in Los Angeles at the queer club night Mustache Mondays—for Transmission, a collection of intimate ballads and club tracks issued on TOKiMONSTA's Young Art label. Kingdom and Davis resumed their partnership nearly a year later with the XMSN DS EP.