Birth nameKarriem Riggins Years active1990s–present Associated actsJ Dilla, Madlib InstrumentsDrums, Sampler GenresJazz, Hip hop music
Occupation(s)Musician EducationSouthfield High School OriginDetroit, Michigan NameKarriem Riggins
Websitehttp://karriemriggins.com RoleMusician · karriemriggins.com AlbumsThe Detroit Experiment, Alone Together Similar PeopleMadlib, J Dilla, James Poyser, Orrin Evans, Freddie Gibbs Profiles TwitterMyspace
Karriem riggins spotlight interview
Karriem Riggins is an American jazz drummer, hip hop producer, DJ, and occasional rapper. He is a former member of the Ray Brown Trio and Mulgrew Miller trio and currently appears with Diana Krall.
Riggins was born in Detroit, Michigan. His father, Emmanuel Riggins, is also a musician, and Karriem would often play drums with him as a child. Riggins began producing hip hop in middle school and continued through high school. He studied music at Southfield High School and joined Betty Carter's band Jazz Ahead soon after, at 17. In 1994, Riggins moved to New York City and joined the Ray Brown Trio four years later. Riggins has also recorded and performed with Paul McCartney, Donald Byrd, Hank Jones, Milt Jackson, Oscar Peterson, Norah Jones, Cedar Walton, Roy Hargrove, Esperanza Spalding and Bobby Hutcherson.
Away from jazz, Riggins has done production work for hip hop artists including Slum Village, Erykah Badu, Common, J Dilla, The Roots, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Earl Sweatshirt, Phat Kat, Consequence, and Dwele. He has collaborated with the hip hop multi-instrumentalist Madlib, performing on his 2007 album Yesterdays Universe and in collaborations entitled Supreme Team and The Jahari Massamba Unit. and also produced a portion of the soundtrack for the 2007 film Smokin' Aces.
Riggins first met J Dilla, a fellow Detroit native, in 1996. The two were later reintroduced through Common and developed a close friendship through the end of Dilla’s life. Riggins frequently cited Dilla as a primary influence and being personally responsible for helping him overcome multiple creative ruts throughout his career. During the course of their friendship, Riggins produced and appeared on multiple J Dilla albums including Welcome 2 Detroit and The Shining.
Riggins released his debut full-length album, the instrumental double-LP Alone Together on Stones Throw Records on October 23, 2012. Prior to the full album release, Stones Throw released the two halves of the album separately on vinyl as well as digitally exclusively through their website. Alone was released on July 30th and Together followed on October 2nd. On February 24, 2017 Riggins released his second album on Stones Throw, Headnod Suite.
Along with Common and Robert Glasper, Riggins received the award for Outstanding Original Music & Lyrics at the 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for the song “Letter to the Free” which appeared in Ava DuVernay's Netflix documentary “13th”.
He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.
Albums
Alone Together (2012)
Headnod Suite (2017)
Production Credits
with Common
1997: One Day It'll All Make Sense
2000: Like Water For Chocolate
2002: Electric Circus
2003: Come Close (Remix) (Closer)
2005: Be
2007: Finding Forever
2016: Black America Again
"Joy and Peace" (featuring Bilal)
"Home" (featuring Bilal)
"Black America Again" (featuring Stevie Wonder) (co-produced with Robert Glasper)
"Love Star" (featuring Marsha Ambrosius and PJ)
"On a Whim Interlude"
"Red Wine" (featuring Syd and Elena)
"Pyramids"
"Unfamiliar" (featuring PJ)
"A Bigger Picture Called Free" (featuring Syd and Bilal)
"The Day The Women Took Over" (featuring BJ The Chicago Kid)
"Rain" (featuring John Legend)
"Little Chicago Boy" (featuring Tasha Cobbs)
"Letter To The Free" (featuring Bilal) (co-produced with Robert Glasper)
with J Dilla
2001: Welcome 2 Detroit
2002: The Diary
2006: The Shining
with others
1994: Stephen Scott - Renaissance
1995: Mulgrew Miller - Getting to Know You
1996: Rodney Whitaker - Children of The Light
1996: Eric Reed - Musicale
1998: Rodney Whitaker - Hidden Kingdom
1999: Junko Onishi - Fragile
2000: The Ray Brown Trio - Some of My Best Friends Are... The Trumpet players
2001: Daft Punk - Aerodynamic (Remix)
2002: Mulgrew Miller - The Sequel
2002: Slum Village - Dirty District
2002: Slum Village - Trinity (Past, Present and Future)
2002: The Roots - Phrenology
2003: Dwele - Subject
2003: The Ray Brown Trio - Walk On
2003: Mulgrew Miller - Live at Yoshi's, Vol. 1
2003: Mulgrew Miller - Live at Yoshi's, Vol. 2
2003: The Detroit Experiment - The Detroit Experiment
2005: Slum Village - Prequel to a Classic
2006: Gilles Peterson - Back in Brazil
2007: Consequence - Don't Quit Your Day Job!
2008: Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
2009: Diana Krall - Quiet Nights - Live in Madrid
2010: Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)
2010: Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - Timeless: Suite For Ma Dukes
2011: M.E.D. - Classic
2012: Madlib - Medicine Show: The Brick
2012: Paul McCartney - Kisses on the Bottom
2014: Theo Croker - Afro Physicist
2015: Orrin Evans - The Evolution of Oneself
2015: Diana Krall - Wallflower
2015: Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside: An Album by Earl Sweatshirt
