Marc Kinchen (born August 3, 1972), known by his initials MK, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He hit number-one on the US ''

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 ...

Hot Dance Music/Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart in 1993 and 1994 with the songs " Always" and "Love Changes". Lead vocals on both of those tracks were performed by Alana Simon (songs were credited to MK featuring Alana). The combo also recorded the underground house music classic anthem "Burning". "Always" peaked at number 69 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1995. MK also hit the dance chart with "4 You", using the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

4th Measure Men. In November 2013, his remix of Storm Queen's song " Look Right Through" was released on

Defected Records Defected Records, or simply Defected, is a British independent record label specialising in house music recordings, compilation albums, events, publishing, artist bookings and management. Defected is one of the longest running independent lab ...

and

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and reached number-one on the UK Singles Chart. Aside from his own career as a recording artist, he is also known for the

remixes A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

he produced for other artists, such as

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's single "Misled", which became the first number-one ''Billboard'' Dance/Club Play chart hit of Dion's career. His remixes of

Betty Boo Alison Moira Clarkson (born 6 March 1970), better known as Betty Boo, is a British Singing, singer, songwriter and Rapping, rapper. She first came to mainstream prominence in the late 1980s following a collaboration with the Beatmasters on th ...

's single "Thing Goin' On" brought the song to number five on the same chart. His remixes of "The Message" by

Sofia Shinas Sofia Shinas (born January 17, 1968) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress and director."Dream comes true for Shinas". '' Windsor Star'', May 28, 1994. Shinas entered the entertainment industry as a recording artist and later pursued acting ...

reached number 20 on the Dance/Club Play chart. He also produced the remixes of

Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter and producer whose music crosses genres including pop, R&B, jazz, dance and electronic soul.Paoletta, Michael (February 22, 2003) "Watley Relaxes In The Setting of The ...

's single "Your Love Keeps Working On Me", which reached number two on that chart. Latest remixes and productions include Lana Del Rey, Dev, Enrique Iglesias, Sky Ferreira, Ellie Goulding, Jamie Jones, Lee Foss, and Tricky. Kinchen is responsible for the iconic remix of the Nightcrawlers' record " Push the Feeling On". The remix was successful internationally, becoming a number three UK hit. He also assisted Nightcrawlers frontman John Reid with a number of his further releases, but they did not have the same impact on the charts. In April 2021, Kinchen scored his first number one on ''Billboard's''

Dance/Mix Show Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance musi ...

chart as a featured artist on Anabel Englund's "Underwater," which he also co-produced.

Musical career

Production

In 2001, Kinchen moved to Los Angeles and started working with Denise Martell, who brought Kinchen in to begin working with David Foster. In 2002, Kinchen became an in-house producer for actor and singer

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...

. Kinchen then worked on ''

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'', did production on one of Will Smith's albums, and did the music of the TV show '' All of Us'', which was produced by Smith. Kinchen also produced for Willow and Jaden Smith with his production partner and other half of Stoopid Robots, Omarr Rambert. Kinchen worked on projects with Diane Warren and Pitbull. Kinchen worked with Pitbull as a producer and produced three songs on the latter's '' Armando'' album (2010), two songs on the '' Planet Pit'' album (2011), and co-produced the theme song for ''

Men in Black 3 ''Men in Black 3'' (stylized as ''MIB³'') is a 2012 American science fiction action comedy film based on the comic book series, in turn based on the conspiracy theory. It is the third installment in the ''Men in Black'' film series. Direct ...

'', " Back in Time" by Pitbull. Kinchen also produced music in collaboration with Blinded in March 2014. In the same year, British DJ Route 94 remixed Kinchen's track "Always", which went on to peak at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2022, MK was supported at his Dublin show in

3Arena 3Arena may refer to the following: * 3Arena (Dublin) The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 December 2008 and was re-bran ...

by Belters Only, Subsequently they worked on a Remix of Kinchen's hit song, Teardrops on the dancefloor. At the 2023 ARIA Music Awards he won Best Dance/Electronic Release for the single " Rhyme Dust" (February 2023), which was shared with collaborator Dom Dolla.

Discography

Albums

*''Surrender'' (with Alana Simon) (1993) *''Defected Presents House Masters: MK'' (2011) *''Defected Presents MK in the House'' (2013) *''Defected Presents House Masters: MK (Second Edition)'' (2013)

Singles

Songwriting and production credits

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MK 1972 births Living people American house musicians ARIA Award winners Charisma Records artists Deep house musicians DJs from Detroit American electronic dance music DJs Musicians from Detroit Record producers from Michigan American remixers