Craig King and Ray Charles
“That’s Him!” Ray Charles stood up and shouted. “No, No, no…Keep Playing!” Ray had found Craig King. Auditions were being held to fill the organist position in Ray’s ensemble. You’ve got to have big chops to fill Billy Preston’s shoes. Ray needed an organist to join the tour and finish it out in Preston’s absence. Craig King filled those shoes.
Key parts of King’s success can be attributed to his church. Craig was involved with his local church even when he attended Howard University in Washington DC. Noel C. Taylor, Roanoke’s mayor and pastor of High Street Baptist Church, was continually impressed with Craig’s playing. Reverend-Mayor Taylor would eventually point Craig in the direction of those impromptu auditions that he had heard Ray Charles was conducting in the area. Charles had listened to many keyboardists that day, but only this one took his breath away. King would fill Billy Preston’s shoes for the next month or so until the tour ended. A tour conducted by the living legend himself, Quincy Jones.
Craig King and David Foster
From this point, a college friend of Craig’s had some recording equipment in his basement and he encouraged Craig to spend some time in the basement and see what he could come up with. Craig started practicing songwriting and production on a daily basis. He would also frequent the practice rooms in the music department at Temple University in Philadelphia. He ran across a vocalist/fine-arts student named Jean Norris. She sang so well, he wanted to put her on some of his songs. Almost immediately, her voice could be heard on just about everything he produced. Jean had a talent show with her group ‘Zhané’, for which Craig produced the music. Jazzy Jeff was on campus to see the talent show and he ended up getting a ‘Zhané’ tape. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Will Smith, were about to embark on a new TV sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Craig King, Alfonso Riviera, Heavy D, Will Smith, Jazzy Jeff
When Will Smith heard the tape from the college talent show, he immediately wanted to know who did the music. Back in Nashville for the summer, Craig was informed that they wanted him to come to Philly and talk about doing the music for their new CD, titled “Homebase”, and possibly music for the new TV Series. “To Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith, I was the keyboard man”, King explains, “I could figure out anything on the keys.” From this, King got his 3-C’s: the Car, the Condo, and most importantly, the Contract. It was the start of something good. King produced and/or influenced the musical direction for the show.
Traveling back and forth from Philly to L.A., King was hired to be musical director on the most ambitious tour that Will Smith had ever been part of…it was called “The Greatest Hip-Hop Tour in the World.”
Craig King and Queen Latifah
The tour featured Public Enemy, supported by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Naughty-by-Nature, Kid & Play, Queen Latifah, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, and the Gheto Boyz. “I remember talking with Latifah at great lengths about her dreams of becoming an actress, this was a time when anything was possible in Hip-Hop,” King recalls. I was wanting to break into the musical mainstream and start working with artists determined to grow roots in the hip-hop game.” King was introduced to hip-hop mogul, Eddie Farrell. King found himself working with a monster development company, “The Untouchables”, responsible for the careers of Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs, Heavy D, Mary J. Blige, and Donnell Jones, to name a few. It was Eddie F.
- Craig King and Brian McKnight
who introduced Craig to Marley Marl, legendary hip-hop producer and ‘groomer’. Marley Marl wanted King to come down and work at his ‘House of Hits’ in Spring Valley. “He said, ‘we need a good keyboard guy that understands hip hop’. I get to his house, and we immediately started working on Lords of the Underground.”
Among his many accomplishments with Eddie F., he had won a platinum album for his work on Monifa’s album. At the same time, Craig was working out of Detroit with Aaliyah on her upcoming album
Craig King and Quincy Jones
“One In A Million”, where he produced songs and arranged her vocals. “I got a label deal with Atlantic as a result of the Aaliyah CD”, says King. “At that time, I got back to L.A. and started working with Quincy Jones doing all the necessary production on a pet project of Jones’, a group called Youth Asylum. The highlight of the group was the inaugural performance at the White House, where Bill Clinton famously picked up his saxophone. “I got to meet so many great folks there, it was a life-inspiring event.”
September 11th changed things, though. King had bought a home in New Jersey right across the river from the World Trade Center disaster, desperately wanting to find meaning in his life and looking for a ticket out of New York city.
“I was attracted to Atlanta”, King says, partly because of it’s close proximity to his hometown, Nashville, “but I knew there were several big players that I would have enjoyed working with, including Ludacris, Usher, and Jermaine Dupri”. King had done work with one of Jermaine Dupri’s artists had been discussing business opportunities with Usher, but King explains “though I had met with most of the major players, the person that I was really trying to get at was Ludacris because of his business savvy…who was not the easiest guy to find.”
Craig King and Kanye West
It didn’t happen for what seemed to be the longest time, but out of the blue, while King was working with up and comer T.I., Kanye West stopped by the studio. Kanye was on his way to meet Luda for a session, and he wanted to take King with him. “They were working on Stand Up for his ‘Chicken and Beer’ album,” says King, “Kanye tells Luda ‘this kid Craig has some hot shit, you NEED TO HEAR THIS’. Ludacris took the CD, but said he couldn’t listen to it at that moment, but he would later on that night.” Sure enough, Luda called back that night. He was targeting songs for his upcoming album, and he thought Craig’s production was right up his alley.
Craig King and Ludacris
King produced “Who Not Me” for Ludacris’ Red Light District album, the insanely popular follow-up to his debut, Chicken & Beer. This was start of the musical relationship between the two that will continue for years.
As well as producing “Freedom of Preach” on Ludacris’ Grammy Award winning album Release Therapy, King’s signature piano can also be heard on “Woozey” featuring R. Kelly from that same album. King has also provided instrumentation for Kanye West’s Grammy Award winning hit song “The Good Life” from his Graduation album.
When he’s not touring or working as a producer, Craig’s greatest role to date has been as humanitarian. Recently he was commissioned by the TN National Guard to produce the theme song, STAY AWAY, for the upcoming launch of the REP YOUR VOICE campaign which is geared toward substance abuse and violence prevention among today’s youth.
Craig King at a speaking engagement
Craig is highly involved with youth initiatives. Craig uses his music and popularity with young people as a way to deliver a positive message. Craig’s humanitarian efforts have been greatly inspired by his mentor, Quincy Jones who has also founded a number of philanthropic organizations focused on today’s youth.
Craig A. King, Beth Nielson Chapman, and Bishop Desmond Tutu
Craig King has dedicated his time and talents to non-profit ventures with Quincy Jones, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Damien Horne’s “Heart of Africa” (the soundtrack to Big Kenny’s film, “Bearing Light: A Journey to Sudan). He travels extensively throughout the year speaking at various colleges and universities. Craig also credits his parents for teaching him to “dream big and never give up”. It’s clearly a natural fit for Craig as the response has been overwhelming and the industry has stood up and taken notice. As a result, these various causes and community involvement have landed Craig as the newest alumni of the very prestigious, Leadership Music Program, based out of Nashville, TN.
Being from Nashville has also led Craig to garner a great following in the “Country Music Capital of the World”.
Craig King with Joey+Rory
Mr King along side Monty Powell (Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum) co-produced and performed music for “The Kenny Rogers First Fifty” celebration at THE MGM GRAND in Connecticut (2010). This show included performances with Lionel
Kenny Rogers and Craig King
Richie, Dolly Pardon, The Oak Ridge Boys and Smokey Robinson just to name a few. He also produced the remix to the popular country hit “Cheater, Cheater” by Joey & Rory and has since received numerous requests from other country artists. With each passing day, the number of artists Craig has worked with steadily grows in both number and diversity and with his great love and knowledge for music; Craig continues to thrive on ….
Embarking on yet another successful venture, King created another company, King540. King540 is a joint venture with NBA and WNBA Certified sports agent John Spencer and his company, 540 Sports and Entertainment. This joint venture functions as a management company for entertainment and sports. King540 represents artist, athletes and entertainers. The company also boasts an event marketing and promotions division.
It’s maiden event created an enormous buzz with the success of their recent 2010 Super Bowl concert with Jamie Foxx and Usher Raymond. There is so much more to expect from this pairing!