KutMasta Kurt

One of the more underrated producers and DJs in the West Coast underground, KutMasta Kurt initially made his name working with <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Kool Keith</a>, during which time he first donned his trademark Mexican wrestling mask. Kurt (b. Kurt Matlin) had been DJing in the Bay Area since the mid-'80s, getting his start as a teenager on a Santa Cruz community radio station. In 1988, he moved on to the Stanford University college station, and also mixed live at parties around the University of California-Santa Cruz campus. As his reputation grew, local MCs began to approach him about producing tracks, and he bought some basic studio equipment and taught himself to use it. After a few remixes and small independent releases, Kurt's friendship with the groundbreaking, underappreciated <a href="spotify:artist:52ik8mwcuZ4ISphAkejj2Z">Ultramagnetic MC's</a> paid off when, in 1994, ex-leader <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Kool Keith</a> tapped Kurt to handle DJ and production duties for his new solo career. Kurt produced a couple of tracks on <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Keith</a>'s landmark <a href="spotify:artist:7dr3cSEOIZ6tBrm4y1wsnr">Dr. Octagon</a> album, but their first full project together was 1997's Sex Style, the first album released under <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Keith</a>'s own name. Kurt also helmed <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Keith</a>'s album as <a href="spotify:artist:0qAxOYhzsoWdSNVKbBhdeU">Dr. Dooom</a>, 1999's First Come, First Served, and 2000's Matthew.

By the time Matthew was released, Kurt had begun to build his own career apart from <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Keith</a>. He provided remixes for the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:03r4iKL2g2442PT9n2UKsx">the Beastie Boys</a>, Planet Asia, <a href="spotify:artist:3W9SDpMLYOSVYn5zIqr90j">Rasco</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1O8yrjjifkCO8txB4CxuOm">DJ Spooky</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1EcRE2Nnqg2spdn2otakhg">Luscious Jackson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:66UBlnqgUCqDlalQXK8Nby">Buffalo Daughter</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:42Np3r8zXnaKcjLQsQSjyG">Blackalicious</a>, among others. He also formed his own label, Threshold, and in 2000 released the full-length album KutMasta Kurt Presents: Masters of Illusion, a collaborative project that featured <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Kool Keith</a> and underground MC <a href="spotify:artist:6AysajaVPM9PDGZ3IPkWAR">Motion Man</a>. His relationship with <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Keith</a> was fraying, however, partly because of a false rumor that <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Keith</a> was missing gigs because he'd been institutionalized. <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Keith</a> eventually fired him, but Kurt's career stayed in good shape thanks to his production on <a href="spotify:artist:56OMwqr8qaLIRH4ZrvvdXq">Dilated Peoples</a>' 2000 breakthrough single, Work the Angles. He soon went on to work with <a href="spotify:artist:0XTSrpKEUhzQ5aiYswppxh">Hieroglyphics</a> members <a href="spotify:artist:5Rzqmz1zAszembFHGZQuAt">Souls of Mischief</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4onNLSRXS0x0dZaisdMo4E">Pep Love</a>, and did a high-profile remix of nu-metal band <a href="spotify:artist:6XyY86QOPPrYVGvF9ch6wz">Linkin Park</a>'s single In the End in 2001. That same year, he also produced <a href="spotify:artist:6AysajaVPM9PDGZ3IPkWAR">Motion Man</a>'s well-received solo debut, Clearing the Field. Kurt was a busy man in 2004, releasing Diesel Truckers with his man <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Keith</a> and his own, career-spanning compilation Redneck Games. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi