Kurtis Mantronik | |
---|---|
Birth name | Kurtis el Kahleel |
Born |
Jamaica |
September 4, 1965
Origin |
New York City (previously) London, England (current) |
Genres | Electronica, hip hop, house, big beat, trip hop |
Occupation(s) | DJ, Producer |
Instruments | Turntables, synthesizers, keyboards, drum machine, sampler, sequencer, programming |
Years active | 1984–1991 1998–present |
Labels |
Sleeping Bag Records (Mantronix) Capitol/EMI Records (Mantronix) Oxygen Music Works Southern Fried Records Eye Industries Street DNA |
Associated acts | Mantronix, T La Rock, Just-Ice, Maria Nocera, Joyce Sims, EPMD |
Kurtis el Khaleel (Arabic: خليل) (born September 4, 1965, Jamaica), known by the stage name Kurtis Mantronik, is an American-British hip hop and electronic-music artist, DJ, remixer, and producer. Mantronik was the former leader, DJ, and keyboardist of the influential 1980s hip hop and electro-funk group Mantronix. Currently, Mantronik lives in South Africa, where he has produced and remixed house and techno music tracks by artists such as Junior Senior, Kylie Minogue, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, Michael Gray, Victoria Beckham, Liberty X, and Mim.
Mantronik was born in Jamaica to a Syrian father and a Jamaican mother. He emigrated to Canada with his family at age 7, before eventually settling in New York City. It was around this time that his interest in electro music began when he heard "Riot in Lagos" (1980) by Yellow Magic Orchestra's Ryuichi Sakamoto on the radio, inspiring him to experiment with electro music a few years later.