Karriem Riggins

About

Drummer, DJ, rapper and producer Karriem Riggins was born in Detroit to a musician father who taught him how to play drums as a young child. Though mostly interested in hip hop during his childhood and adolescent years, Riggins developed a love for jazz music and joined Betty Carter's band Jazz Ahead in 1992 at the age of 17. After moving to New York City, he completed the Ray Brown Trio in 1998 and would go on to work with other prominent jazz bands such as the Mulgrew Miller Trio and the Diana Krall Quartet. Though Riggins has recorded, produced and collaborated with prolific musicians such as Paul McCartney and The Roots, he didn't release any solo material until 2012 when he dropped his debut album Alone Together, a 34-track instrumental hip-hop effort.