Few artists have had the same impact on contemporary pop music as Kurtis Mantronik. Starting from the mid-80’s, Kurtis wrote and produced a string of hip hop-based tracks that would forever change the style and substance of hip-hop, r&b, dance, and rock.

Songs such as “Hungry for Your Love” by Hanson and Davis and “Come Into My Life” by Joyce Sims foreshadowed the emergence of “New Jack Swing” and the “Uptown” sound. While tracks like “Bassline” and “Who Is It?,” featuring the decidedly novel fusion of big analog-synth sounds with raw breakbeats, laid the groundwork for successive generations of electro and techno producers (i.e. chemical beats, big beat, digital hardcore, etc.). And “king of The Beats,” an incredible journey through funky beats and other rhythmic coolness, is revered today as a classic hip-hop anthem. Little wonder then that samples of Kurtis¼ music figured prominently in the success of international hits by the likes of Snap, Redman, and Beck.

Born in Jamaica and raised in Canada and the US, Kurtis first got into music while working at the now defunct New York DJ record store, Downtown Records, in the early 1980s. With $80 he saved from his record store/DJ gigs, he produced his first record, “Fresh is the Word,” which became his first hit when the owner of Downtown Records introduced him to Will Sokolov of the legendary Sleeping Bag Records. Other hits on Sleeping Bag soon followed, including such classics as “Bassline,” “Ladies,” “Cold Getting Dumb,” and “Who Is It?” By late 1980s, Kurtis signed to Capitol Records, where he produced a series of chart-topping singles like “Gotta Have Your Love” and the aforementioned “King of the Beats.” While at Capitol, Kurtis also produced several lesser known projects including India¼s (of Masters at Work fame) first record “Right From the Start,” with a then newcomer David Morales, and “Cuban Gigolo” by Sound Factory, a prototype of the house/hip hop fusion sound that had only recently gained popularity with the Jason Nevins/Run DMC collaboration.

Family obligations kept Kurtis away from music during the mid-1990s. By late 1996, however, Kurtis re-emerged and begin to record and produce again in earnest. His releases on OMW last year, the “Bass Machine Re-tuned” single and “Music For The Dusted” EP, have variously been described by US and UK press as “floor destroyer” and “massive,” and have set the stage for his first album in years, “I Sing the Body Electro.”

Clearly, Kurtis follows the beat of a different beatbox when it comes to production, and his sound, ever kinetic, funky, experimental yet accessible, is just as relevant today as it was ten years ago. Last year’s remix of Future Sounds of London’s “We Have Explosives,” for instance, was hailed by the UK music press as one of the “essential tunes of the year.” Similar praises have been heaped on his remix of BT¼s “Love, Peace and Grease” and “The Gospel Truth” by Jocelyn Brown. More recent remixes such as “Strictly Business” by EPMD (Priority/Parlophone), “Say What You Mean” by D-Note (Virgin), and “Initiate the Creative” by The Quest Project (Island) are all being met with overwhelming enthusiasm by the notoriously jaded British press and are currently enjoying considerable pre-release radio exposure.

In an industry known for its fickle nature where stars fade as soon as they arrive, Kurtis is proving himself to be not only a survivor but also an artist with incredible musical resources, diversity and depth. The “King of the Beat” is back by popular demand, and he had just issued his latest edict to the faithful: dance!