Karriem Riggins

Karriem Riggins is an American jazz drummer, record producer, DJ and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. He met Chicago rapper Common and fellow Detroit musician J Dilla both in 1996, and served as an extensive contributor for releases by both artists. He produced for Common's 1997 album One Day It'll All Make Sense, did so on much of his further projects, and formed the musical trio August Greene with the rapper alongside fellow jazz instrumentalist Robert Glasper in 2018. Furthermore, he formed the Jahari Massamba Unit with Madlib in 2020, and has also worked with prominent music industry artists including Paul McCartney, Kanye West, Denzel Curry, Earl Sweatshirt, and Norah Jones, among others.

Biography
Riggins was born in Detroit, Michigan, son of keyboardist Emmanuel Riggins. As a child, he often watched his father perform with acts includung Grant Green and Marcus Belgrave. He joined the Kennedy Elementary school band in the sixth grade as a trumpeter, studying with Belgrave, where he played for two years in addition to drums before switching to drums full-time in the eighth grade.

Riggins was a DJ, producing hip-hop and performing in three different school bands at Southfield High School before leaving school in the eleventh grade. He joined Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead band soon after at age 17 and moved to New York in 1994, later joining the Mulgrew Miller trio. He also performed in bands with Steven Scott and Benny Green before joining Roy Hargrove's band in the middle of 1995.

After three years with Hargrove, Riggins joined the trio of famed bassist Ray Brown. After leaving Brown's band, he began producing hip-hop extensively and serving as the bandleader for rapper Common's band, A Black Girl Named Becky. Riggins had met Common in 1996, and began spending time with the rapper during visits with notable hip-hop producers. He also met J Dilla, a fellow Detroit native, that same year. He then formed a close friendship with Dilla until his death; Riggins has cited Dilla as a primary influence in helping him overcome multiple creative ruts throughout his career. Riggins produced a song on Dilla's album Welcome 2 Detroit (2001) and two songs on his album, The Shining (2006). He credits Dilla for purchasing the first production he ever sold, for "The Clapper" on Welcome 2 Detroit.

As a drummer, Riggins has also recorded or performed with Donald Byrd, Hank Jones, Milt Jackson, Oscar Peterson, Norah Jones, Cedar Walton, Roy Hargrove, Esperanza Spalding and Bobby Hutcherson. In 2011, he collaborated with Paul McCartney of the Beatles in concert and on his album Kisses on the Bottom—McCartney's first studio release in five years. Apart from jazz, Riggins has produced for hip hop artists including Slum Village, Erykah Badu, Common, J Dilla, The Roots, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Kaytranada, Earl Sweatshirt, Phat Kat, Consequence and Dwele. He has collaborated with hip hop multi-instrumentalist Madlib on his 2007 album Yesterdays Universe, they formed the musical outfits Supreme Team and The Jahari Massamba Unit.

Riggins released his debut full-length album, the instrumental double-LP Alone Together through Stones Throw Records on October 23, 2012. Prior to its release, Stones Throw released the two halves of the album separately on vinyl as well as digitally exclusively through their website. Alone was released on July 30 and Together followed on October 2. He extensively worked on Common's highly acclaimed 2016 album Black America Again, which featured Stevie Wonder on the titular song and included a performance at the White House as part of NPR's "Tiny Desk Concerts" series. On February 24, 2017, Riggins released his second album on Stones Throw, Headnod Suite.

Along with Common and Robert Glasper, Riggins received the award for Outstanding Original Music & Lyrics at the 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for Common's song "Letter to the Free," which appeared in Ava DuVernay's Netflix documentary "13th".

Personal life
As of 2007, he resides in Los Angeles, California.

Albums

 * Alone Together (2012)
 * Headnod Suite (2017)
 * Pardon My French (2020) (as Jahari Massamba Unit with Madlib)
 * To The Jungle (2024)
 * YHWH Is Love (2024) (as Jahari Massamba Unit with Madlib)

Production credits
with Common
 * 1997: One Day It'll All Make Sense
 * 2000: Like Water For Chocolate
 * 2002: Electric Circus
 * 2003: Come Close (Remix) (Closer)
 * 2005: Be
 * 2007: Finding Forever
 * 2016: Black America Again
 * "Joy and Peace" (featuring Bilal)
 * "Home" (featuring Bilal)
 * "Black America Again" (featuring Stevie Wonder) (co-produced with Robert Glasper)
 * "Love Star" (featuring Marsha Ambrosius and PJ)
 * "On a Whim Interlude"
 * "Red Wine" (featuring Syd and Elena)
 * "Pyramids"
 * "Unfamiliar" (featuring PJ)
 * "A Bigger Picture Called Free" (featuring Syd and Bilal)
 * "The Day The Women Took Over" (featuring BJ The Chicago Kid)
 * "Rain" (featuring John Legend)
 * "Little Chicago Boy" (featuring Tasha Cobbs)
 * "Letter to the Free" (featuring Bilal) (co-produced with Robert Glasper)

with J Dilla
 * 2001: Welcome 2 Detroit
 * 2002: The Diary
 * 2006: The Shining

with others
 * 1994: Stephen Scott – Renaissance
 * 1995: Mulgrew Miller – Getting to Know You
 * 1996: Rodney Whitaker – Children of The Light
 * 1996: Eric Reed – Musicale
 * 1998: Rodney Whitaker – Hidden Kingdom
 * 1999: Junko Onishi – Fragile
 * 1999: Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Milt Jackson – The very tall band, live at the Blue Note
 * 2000: The Ray Brown Trio – Some of My Best Friends Are... The Trumpet players
 * 2001: Daft Punk – Aerodynamic (Remix)
 * 2002: Mulgrew Miller – The Sequel
 * 2002: Slum Village – Dirty District
 * 2002: Slum Village – Trinity (Past, Present and Future)
 * 2002: The Roots – Phrenology
 * 2003: Dwele – Subject
 * 2003: The Ray Brown Trio – Walk On
 * 2003: Mulgrew Miller – Live at Yoshi's, Vol. 1
 * 2003: Mulgrew Miller – Live at Yoshi's, Vol. 2
 * 2003: The Detroit Experiment – The Detroit Experiment
 * 2005: Slum Village – Prequel to a Classic
 * 2006: Gilles Peterson – Back in Brazil
 * 2007: Consequence – Don't Quit Your Day Job!
 * 2008: Keziah Jones – Nigerian Wood
 * 2008: Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
 * 2009: Diana Krall – Quiet Nights – Live in Madrid
 * 2010: Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)
 * 2010: Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – Timeless: Suite For Ma Dukes
 * 2011: M.E.D. – Classic
 * 2012: Madlib – Medicine Show: The Brick
 * 2012: Paul McCartney – Kisses on the Bottom
 * 2014: Theo Croker – Afro Physicist
 * 2015: Orrin Evans – The Evolution of Oneself
 * 2015: Diana Krall – Wallflower
 * 2015: Earl Sweatshirt – I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside: An Album by Earl Sweatshirt
 * 2016: Elzhi – Lead Poison
 * 2016: Esperanza Spalding – Emily's D+Evolution
 * 2016: Norah Jones – Day Breaks
 * 2016: Kanye West – The Life of Pablo
 * 2016: Kaytranada – 99.9%
 * 2017: Nick Grant – Return of the Cool
 * 2018: Kandace Springs – Indigo
 * 2020: Diana Krall – This Dream of You
 * 2022: Denzel Curry – Melt My Eyez See Your Future

Awards and honors

 * Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, Common, Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins for "Letter to the Free" from the documentary film 13th, 2017