Kashif

Songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist Kashif was part of the post-disco vanguard that revolutionized R&B with synthesizers and drum machines. In terms of commercial yet progressive pop-oriented R&B, he is the link from Patrick Adams, Leroy Burgess, and Leon Sylvers III to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and therefore part of a lineage that extends to the likes of Teddy Riley and Timbaland. He was a major creative force for the majority of the '80s, a decade in which he advanced his genre and elevated the careers of Evelyn "Champagne" King, Melba Moore, and Whitney Houston. His contemporaneous solo career made a major impact with serious R&B listeners and was acknowledged with several Grammy nominations. ~ Andy Kellman