Mark Christopher Kasprzyk, referred to often as Kaz or M. Rivers, is a Canadian musician whose work has ranged from

rap rock Rap rock is a music genre that developed from the early to mid-1980s, when hip hop DJs incorporated rock records into their routines and rappers began incorporating original and sampled rock instrumentation into hip hop music. Rap rock is co ...

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist of the rock band

Redlight King Redlight King is a Canadian-American rock band formed in Hamilton, Ontario in 2009. Redlight King have recorded two full-length albums and performed over 1,000 live shows including the largest festivals in North America and Europe. Their credit ...

, best known for their song "Bullet in My Hand", which was aired regularly on

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

and

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV as 24-hour music video and entertainment pay television network officially launched on 1 August 1987 as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initia ...

, played on

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

and mainstream

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

radio stations in Canada. He is also an auto sports television personality.

History

Kasprzyk grew up in

Binbrook Binbrook is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the B1203 road, and north-east from Market Rasen. Previously a larger market town,Cox, J. Charles (1916) ''Lincolnshire'' pp. 64� ...

, Ontario near

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

. At the age of 8, he began learning

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

and became part of the Canadian National Judo Team and was an alternate for the Canadian team in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Being relegated to alternate status for the Olympics inspired him to pursue a career in music. At 16 Kasprzyk began songwriting, and after discovering hip-hop, took up

breakdancing Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Nuyorican, Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consist ...

. Around this time, Mark produced a demo which made it into the hands of

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

(a subsidiary of

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

)."Rock in self defence; Hamilton-area judo expert Mark Kasprzyk, (Kazzer) is rising fast on the hip-hop scene", ''

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...

'', April 22, 2003

Solo career

Under his stage name Kazzer, Kasprzyk was signed to Epic Records in NYC and released his 2002 debut album ''Go for Broke'' in Canada, (Germany), France and

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

. The energetic lead single, "Pedal to the Medal", was co-written with Brian West,

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-nominated producer for the likes of

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...

. The song was featured on the soundtracks of the 2003 remake of ''The Italian Job'', the 2004 film ''

Catch That Kid ''Catch That Kid'' is a 2004 family action comedy film directed by Bart Freundlich, written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, and starring Kristen Stewart, Corbin Bleu, Max Thieriot, Jennifer Beals, Sam Robards, John Carroll Lynch, and James ...

'' on the television series ''

Malcolm in the Middle ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons consisting of 151 episodes. The ...

,'' and in the Hotwheels Acceleracers movies. It was also featured in the opening "splash" animation and on the soundtrack of the Midway Sports video game ''NHL HITZ PRO''. Additionally, his song "Fueled By Adrenaline" was featured on the Bugbear game '' Flatout Ultimate Carnage'', as well as its PSP Port ''Flatout: Head On''. Kazzer was nominated for a New Artist of the Year at the 2004 Juno Awards.Rockingham, Graham (2004) "Hamilton all but shut out at Junos", ''

The Hamilton Spectator ''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation, ''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. History ''The Ha ...

'', April 5, 2004 He has toured Canada repeatedly including a 2003

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Campus Invasion tour which on some dates he headlined and on others opened for Gob. He has performed at concerts and

festivals A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

in Europe, and opened for

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

in Chicago, and for a

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

game. ''Go for Broke'' sold 25,000 copies worldwide in 2003. Epic Records went through an executive change and Kazzer found himself without representation, and he moved to

Linus Entertainment Linus Entertainment is a music company operating as an independent record label, distributor and music publisher. While founded in Mississauga, Ontario, Linus spent many years in Burlington, Ontario before recently moving operations to Waterdown, ...

, a leading Canadian

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

distributed by

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. Kazzer's second record ''Broke'' was mostly recorded at Morph Productions and mixed at

EMAC Recording Studios EMAC Recording Studios is a music and commercial recording facility in downtown London Ontario Canada, established in 1979 by Robert Nation and Joe Vaughan. It offers services for Radio production and TV and Film. Building EMAC Studios is lo ...

and released on June 28, 2005, featuring the lead single "Ordinary".

Redlight King

Mark formed a new project called

in 2009 with longtime collaborator Julian Tomarin, and signed to

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group which focuses on pop, rock, alternative, hip hop and country genres, also specializing in recordings for a more mature audience not suitable for the flagship Wal ...

. Kasprzyk made news in 2011 for his success in securing permission from

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

to allow him to sample Young's 1972 song, " Old Man". The sample is included in the song "Old Man" (originally titled "Hardworking Hands") on his debut album ''Something for the Pain'', released on June 28, 2011. Old Man peaked at number 17 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

and Number 26 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

. Redlight King's most successful song and second single off Something for the Pain, "Bullet in My Hand", peaked at numbers 3 and 28 on ''Billboards

and

charts, respectively. Redlight King was also a part of the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival 2012. Redlight King released its second studio album ''Irons in the Fire'' on September 10, 2013. On July 9, 2013, they released a single from the album entitled "Born to Rise". The track appears in the end title credits for the 2014 film "Draft Day," starring Kevin Costner. "Born To Rise" has also been used as the pregame music for the NHL's Anaheim Ducks and their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, and was the title track for the Feature Film "Draft Day" starring Kevin Costner.

M. Rivers

In 2017, Mark signed with Parts + Labor Records and released "Champion", a single produced by Jimmy Messer (

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

Kygo Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll (; born 11 September 1991), known professionally as Kygo (), is a Norwegian DJ and music producer. He first received international attention with his December 2013 remix of the track " I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran and his De ...

, Awolnation). The song was featured on the Redlight King 2020 album ''Moonshine''.

Other media

He has appeared in film and television, including a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

as a

redneck ''Redneck'' is a derogatory term mainly applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, ''Dictionary of American ...

in the 2004 MuchMusic comedy

road movie A road movie is a film genre, genre of film in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the the ...

'' Going the Distance''. He was also one of many collaborators on '' Sports Car Revolution'', aired on the US-based specialty television channel

Speed Channel Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as a ...

in 2005 and 2006. He has owned a 1962 Ford Thunderbird, a 1949 Mercury and a 1930 Ford Model A. Mark currently hosts a live streaming show called "MuscleKingz Lounge" on

Facebook live Facebook is a social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile app and are available to users of ...

Discography

As Kazzer

Albums

*''Go for Broke'' (2002) (Epic Records) *''Broke'' (2005) (Linus Entertainment)

Singles

As Redlight King

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Kazzer artist page

*
Tuning Canada
,

article on channel personalities from Canada
Stylordz Hip-hop Network

Kazzer on cdbaby

Music Video for "Ordinary"
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, M Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian rock singers Canadian male singers Canadian television personalities Canadian male judoka Canadian people of Polish descent Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ontario Canadian rap rock musicians Living people Hollywood Records artists Place of birth missing (living people)

History

Solo career

Redlight King

M. Rivers

Other media

Discography

As Kazzer

Albums

Singles

As Redlight King

Albums

Singles

Music videos

See also

References

External links