Funkghost (born Alvin Augustus Harris on June 26, 1972) is an American hip-hop artist/producer from

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Biography

Funkghost was born in Newport News, Virginia, on June 26, 1972. In 1986, his family relocated to Tampa, Florida. After graduation from

Bloomingdale High School Bloomingdale Senior High School is a public high school located in Valrico, Florida. Bloomingdale was established in 1987, three years after Gaither High School, and has its same architectural design. Bloomingdale's first graduating class was in ...

in 1990, he began performing in and around Tampa's

Ybor City Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mai ...

commercial district with various bands/DJ's helping form the emerging hip hop scene in the Tampa Bay Area.

Career

Funkghost began his career in the early 1990s as a studio apprentice under the tutelage of keyboard/organ player

Edwin Birdsong Edwin L. Birdsong (August 22, 1941 – January 21, 2019) was an American keyboardist and organist, known in the 1970s and 1980s for his experimental funk/disco music. Birdsong did not achieve much chart success, but developed a strong fan base. ...

, who had worked extensively in the 1970s and early 1980s with Jazz Musician

Roy Ayers Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure ...

. In the summer of 1999, Funkghost traveled to New York City and collaborated with Tampa Native

Celph Titled Victor Mercer (born November 16, 1980), better known by his stage name Celph Titled, is an American rapper and record producer who is a member of the hip hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs, as well as the Demigodz along with Connecticut rappe ...

who at the time was working as an in-house producer and A&R for the now-defunct BUDS International and Bronx Science Records. They would go on to release Funkghost's 1st 12' single "Instructions" b/w "Tampa International". In 2000 Funkghost released his debut LP " Ultra Boogie Highlife". The LP was well received by critic
Urban Smarts Entertainment Music
but failed commercially. Only 20,000 copies were circulated. Ultra-Boogie Highlife is now considered a hard to find Cult Classic. The album cover for Ultra-Boogie Highlife features a young and (at the time unknown)

Real World Real World or The Real World may also refer to: * Real life, a phrase to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds * Reality * World * Existence Television * ''The Real World'' (TV series), 1992–2017 * "The ...

alumna Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

Melissa Howard. In early 2009 he formed his own independent imprint "Grand Extravagant Entertainment" and released the single and video "The Way I Rock My Clothes" in February 2009. The song was produced by

Symbolyc One Larry Darnell Griffin Jr. (born August 3, 1976), known professionally as Symbolyc One (or S1), is an American record producer from Waco, Texas. He signed with Kanye West's GOOD Music as an in-house staffer on the label's Very GOOD Beats producti ...

"S1" who would go on to co-produce

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

's 2010 single "Power" a year later. "The Way I Rock My Clothes" was well received by critics and has since garnered mix show airplay on FM stations across the United States. On July 1, 2009, Funkghost released the single and video for "Vintage Futuristic". The song was produced by Australian hip hop producer

M-Phazes Mark Landon (born 1 February 1983), better known by his stage name M-Phazes, is an Australian-born producer based in LA. He has produced records for Logic, Demi Lovato, Madonna, Eminem, Kehlani, Zara Larsson, Remi Wolf, Kiiara, Noah Cyrus, an ...

. "Vintage Futuristic" spawned several remixes and again, was well received by critics. On April 19, 2010, Funkghost released the single and music video for "I'm Your DJ". The song was produced, written, arranged and performed by Funkghost. Although a critical success, "I'm Your DJ" was not a significant commercial success. On September 5, 2010, Funkghost teamed up with music video director Jason Colvin (who directed his "I'm Your DJ" Music Video) and released a short film to his song "As Long As You Rock". The song "As Long As You Rock" again was produced, written, arranged and performed by Funkghost. On October 31, 2014, Funkghost released his second full- length studio album entitled Caviar Taste. 2020–present: Illsboro Records, "Life is how you paint it" LP In March 2020, Funkghost signed 2 distribution deals with Illsboro Records/Symphonic and Hiphopenterprise based in Antwerp, Belgium
Illsboro – Record label based in Tampa
In October 2020, Funkghost announced the upcoming release of his 3rd album entitled "Life is how you paint it". The album is slated to be released early 2021 on Illsboro Records/Symphonic. In September 2020, Belgium-based indie label HipHopEnterprise re-issued Funkghost's classic debut LP " Ultra Boogie Highlife" on limited edition collectors vinyl and CD's.

Personal life

Funkghost has two daughters. Lilani Zen Mendoza-Harris born on October 30, 2013, and Anastazia Isley Mendoza-Harris born July 10, 2018.

Discography

* '' Ultra Boogie Highlife'' LP (2000) * '' Caviar Taste'' LP (2014)

References

In our own back yard
By GINA VIVINETTO and SAMANTHA SPINRAD, Times Staff Writers St. Petersburg Times, published March 31, 2000

St. Petersburg Times Author: MICHAEL PATRICK WELCH Published Date: Dec 22, 1999 * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090415154112/http://www.reaxmusic.com/articles/view/funkghost_confidence_man-683 Funkghost: Confidence ManBy Colin Kincaid REAX Magazine volume 03 issue 11 // Published April 1, 2009 * By Delasoulous Published 4-26-2009
Funkghost: Tampa's Independent Sun!!
Interview o
www.beatdynasty.com
By Jay Williams

By Jay Cridlin Staff writer Tampa Bay Times March 24, 2009
95.7 The Beat FM
DJ Sandman 95.7 FM Playlist Sat 03-28-09 * By Don. Posted March 31, 2009

Posted By Tadah the byk * Posted by Delasoulous 4-24-09 hiphopolitico
Bridging The Gap
Funkghost Interview on Jibba Jabba w/Jill

"Vintage Futuristic" Review

Tampa Bay's 10 Most Stylish By Nicole Hutcheson Tampa Bay Times Staff Writer

By Jason Steele, Robert Benfer, and Chris Alex

External links

Official Website

Funkghost Media Blog

The World According To Funkghost

Myspace

Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Funkghost Record producers from Virginia Record producers from Florida 1972 births Living people Musicians from Tampa, Florida Musicians from Newport News, Virginia