Karriem Riggins | |
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Karriem Riggins in Germany in 2014
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Background information | |
Birth name | Karriem Riggins |
Born | August 25, 1975 |
Origin | Detroit, Michigan |
Genres | Jazz, hip hop |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instruments | Drums, percussion, sampler, keyboards, bass guitar, turntables |
Years active | 1990s–present |
Associated acts | Slum Village, J Dilla, Madlib |
Website | karriemriggins |
Karriem Riggins is an American jazz drummer, hip hop producer, DJ, and sometimes 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 as well, and joined Betty Carter's band Jazz Ahead soon after, at 17. When he was 19 (in 1994), Riggins moved to New York City, and joined the Ray Brown Trio in 1998. Riggins has also recorded and performed with Paul McCartney, Donald Byrd, Hank Jones, Milt Jackson, Oscar Peterson, 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, 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.