Music has always been a part of life and culture for the beat-making East Harlem, New York native Kareem Knight. The self-proclaimed audiophile and record collector dabbled in DJ-ing before moving into the music production and eventual songwriting lanes.
Kareem’s life as an MC took shape as a part of the rap group The Euphonic Klik, later called Euphon, under the moniker “Slim”. The group had noteworthy success in the live underground rap circuit, at times being stylistically compared to the legendary rap group A Tribe Called Quest. Euphon’s debut LP Euphonics/Euphonics :Redfined and the group’s follow-up project A Brief History of The Future garnered nominal success with metaphorically-laced lyrics and Jazz and Classical musical influences on the production side.
Kareem continued producing music, but would don his alter-ego Slim once more as a featured artist on Doug Simpson’s song “Big City”. “Big City” would become the title track for comedian Owen Smith’s live stand-up comedy special and would eventually end up as part of the score on Universal Pictures blockbuster Fast Five starring Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson and the late Paul Walker. As a part of Euphon, Slim’s track “Industrial Revolution (OA)” would also find its way into the summer blockbuster Fast Five’s score. Since then, Kareem’s work could be heard on shows like Ray Donovan, Blue Bloods, HBO’s First Look: Straight Outta Compton and various shows and specials spanning television and film. Euphon’s performance would once again be heard as part of the score in a major motion picture with a re-imagining of the rap duo’s track “Fiction” in Universal Pictures Fast and Furious 6.
In 2012, Kareem Knight was awarded the ASCAP Plus award, recognizing his contribution to songwriting and American music.