Music
Karriem Riggins
born 1975 · jazz drummer, record producer, DJ
Detroit drummer and producer who went from Betty Carter's and Ray Brown's bands to producing hip-hop with J Dilla and Common, bridging Detroit jazz and beat culture.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 51- Detroit years
- 1975–1994
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Riggins is the son of Detroit keyboardist Emmanuel Riggins and as a child watched his father play with Grant Green and Marcus Belgrave. He joined his elementary school band on trumpet under Belgrave's teaching, switched to drums full-time in eighth grade, and at Southfield High School played in three school bands while DJing and making hip-hop beats. At seventeen he joined Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead band, moved to New York in 1994, and worked with Mulgrew Miller, Roy Hargrove and then bassist Ray Brown's trio. In 1996 he met Common and fellow Detroiter J Dilla, who became a close friend and bought his first production; he went on to produce for Slum Village, Erykah Badu, The Roots and Kanye West. As a drummer he has recorded with Hank Jones, Milt Jackson, Oscar Peterson and Paul McCartney, and his Stones Throw albums Alone Together (2012) and Headnod Suite (2017) blend both worlds. With Common and Robert Glasper he formed the trio August Greene.
Highlights
- Studied trumpet and drums with Marcus Belgrave as a child
- Joined Betty Carter's band at 17; later drummer for Ray Brown's trio
- Close collaborator of J Dilla and Common from 1996
- Drummer on Paul McCartney's Kisses on the Bottom (2012)
- Stones Throw albums Alone Together (2012) and Headnod Suite (2017)