Rhymesayers Entertainment

Artist Info

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Budo is Josh Karp, a Seattle-born, Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, recording artist, producer, and touring musician. Raised on a steady diet of Sam Cooke, Miles Davis, Emmylou Harris, and Howlin' Wolf, he manages to combine an incredible array of disparate influences to create a unique tapestry of textures, rhythms, and sounds that add a new dimension to just about everything he touches. A childhood and adolescence spent committed to both the formal study of trumpet and music theory, as well as an informal pursuit of as many other instruments he could get his hands on, the producer found solace in sound, texture, composition, and production from an early age. Making his mark as the producer of Seattle MC Macklemore's 2005 record, The Language of My World, Budo would go on to establish a name for himself amongst Seattle's elite set of burgeoning producers and musicians before striking moving out to Brooklyn in 2007.

Partnering with Rhymesayers' newest artist Grieves in 2008, the two musicians worked together on their first project. What started as an idea for an online-only EP immediately grew in scope and scale, blossoming into the record that would become 88 Keys and Counting. Layering dense synths, horns, and guitars the two brought a wildly refreshing approach to a genre that was wide open for change. Over the next two years, the duo spent their lives on the road, touring tirelessly in support of their new record and grinding out a fan base that now stretches across several continents and hundreds of cities across the world. As an integral and dynamic part of Grieves' live show, Budo adds guitar, trumpet, and synth layers behind Grieves unique synthesis of melodic singing and rapping. The two have recently finished work on Grieves' upcoming full-length Rhymesayers Debut LP, Together/Apart, and are preparing to hit the road in support of the new record beginning next Spring.

In addition to his work with Grieves, Budo has begun developing a dynamic catalog of production and solo-composition credits, including work with the Cunninlynguists, Mr. Lif, Brother Ali, Slug (of Atmosphere), Macklemore, and many more. Budo also has extensive production credits for major television networks including MTV, VH1, and Bravo. He's currently hard at work finishing up an E.P. with singer Evan Roman, entitled The First Hundred Years are the Hardest, and currently slated for a winter 2011 release.

Budo has also worked extensively with Ghanian native and Minneapolis resident M.anifest, and the two are currently nearing completion of the vocalist's upcoming sophmore solo LP, Coming To America. Together, along with Ugandan native Krukid, they make up the group known as A.R.M. Having released their debut E.P. in the spring of 2010, the group has finished, and is preparing to release, their debut full length L.P. Uprising in 2011.

Released in the fall of 2009, One Bird On a Wire is Budo's first full-length solo effort. 11 tracks of beautifully emotive soundscapes, beats, and textures, the LP proves that Budo has both incredible range and command of nuance. With a style that owes just as much to Jon Brion as it does J Dilla, Budo is carving out an impressive niche in today's music industry. From production work for some of the Hip-Hop industry's most widely respected and renowned artists, to movie scoring, to his own solo projects, to his relentless touring schedule with Grieves, Budo is a force to be reckoned with, and certainly an artist to look out for in the coming year.