Birth name Michael Keith Simmons Name Mychal Simonz Years active 1988 – present | Origin Brooklyn, New York Also known as "88 The Composer" Role Composer | |
Born September 11, 1960 (age 63)
New York, New York ( 1960-09-11 ) Occupation(s) Impresario, Conductor, Record producer, Arranger,
Composer, Acoustic Guitar Instruments Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar Genres Smooth jazz, Rhythm and blues, Hip hop music, Bossa nova Record labels Atlantic Records, Priority Records | ||
Mychal Simonz a.k.a. Mychal Kae Simmons ( born Michael Keith Simmons born on September 11, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York City) is a multi instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, record producer and author. He is best known for his work as part of a record production duo “The 88/X Unit” which he with production and songwriting credits with former partner Victor N. Taylor a.k.a. “The X-Man”. He currently records and produces records for his label Playatime Recordings.
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Biography
Mychal was born in Brooklyn, New York where his singing father taught him the concept of harmony; he was closely associated with singer Sam Cooke. Growing up a seventies kid, Mychal was greatly influenced by the Motown sound and particularly The Jackson 5.
His affection for the “Motown” sound and the Jackson 5, inspired his desire to play guitar and make records. His ability to play guitar and bass opened opportunities to play at local churches and bands in Brooklyn. He also studied music at the school of performing arts Erasmus Hall High School with fellow students, former Motown President Kedar Massenburg, jazz singer Will Downing and R&B singer D-Train during same time period in Brooklyn.
There he learned to read, notate and orchestrate music. Once Michael was confident he had honed his skills he joined the U.S. Navy as a means to moving to Los Angeles to pursue his dream to be a record producer.
Music career
In 1981 Michael changed the spelling of his name from traditional “Michael” to “Mychal-Kae” after the Navy printed a typo on his paperwork. He later added a “Z” to his last name and became Mychal Simonz. Even though his name changed, his musician friends still called him by his street name “88” (a name his partner X-man gave him after his self dedication to the pursuit of his music in 1988.)
The 88/X Unit formed Gaphlin Entertainment Group in 1989 and were part of California’s contribution to “Gangster Rap”. Producing such clients as Rap artists’ “Ice Cube”,”Da Lench Mob” “Mack 10” and singers Atlantic Records artist “Troop”. In the early 90’s they were labeled “The Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis” of Hip-Hop by Hip-Hop publication “Rap Pages”
The “Unit” also produced songs and score music for feature films i.e. “Set it Off” with film director F. Gary Gray, and “B.A.P.S.” with film director Robert Townsend. Film composer Christopher Young mentored Mychal as he worked on feature films with him as a copyist.
Gaphlin Entertainment Group was dissolved in 1997 and Mychal formed a new multimedia company Faithnote Recordings LLC that is an umbrella for his many media business transactions including a book publishing company (Faithnote Press). In 2009 released his fifth CD entitled “Simple Pleasures” on Playatime Recordings.
Book Author
In 2007 Mychal completed an auto-biography entitled “Maybe Tomorrow” where he speaks very candidly about his life in New York, his rise to success, fall from grace and journey back to success again.
Personal life
Mychal has one daughter from his marriage before his divorce in 1987. In 2001 Simonz suffered a mild stroke and experienced a challenge to his coordination of his right hand. Through this challenge he has recorded four CD’s playing his bass and guitars.
In addition to his music endeavors, he also seeks out opportunities to speak on diabetes, heart disease, stroke and sensitive subjects like incest and drug abuse.
Awards and recognition
While producing records with Gaphlin Entertainment Group, Mychal received platinum and gold record awards From the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for his work with Priority Records Recording Artist Ice Cube, Da Lenchmob and Mack 10.