Don Newkirk

Donald Newkirk is an Artist, musician, composer and record producer. His infamous voice-overs on albums such as De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising and the 3rd Bass' song The Gas Face are ingrained in the collective subconscious of the hip hop community of the world forever! As a musician, Newkirk has appeared on several hip hop records including the remix to "Say No Go" by De La Soul but most notably can be heard delivering the funky baseline, memorable lead horn line and keys on Stetsasonic's "Talking All That Jazz"! In October 1989 Newkirk dropped his solo album "Funk City". It was released on Russel Simmons OBR/Columbia Records (a subsidiary of Def Jam Records). Included on the album were the songs "I desire" and "Sweat You". The album was met with critical acclaim by the media and his peers but didn't translate as album sales. Not long after, Newkirk released the single "Small Thing". It challenged all that heard it to re think their opinions on racial bias and environmental decay. Although it was not included on "Funk City" it was included on the soundtrack to the film "Livin Large". Although his releases are few in number, Newkirk wrote, produced and sang all the songs on everything making the industry take notice. Russell Simmons encouraged Newkirk to put together his second album for OBR/DefJam. His Southmore album entitled "Between Love & Lust" was recorded and ready in 1992, but before it could be released, the DefJam label was sold and the project never came out. In 2021, Newkirk renamed the project "Nostalgia" and released the 1992 recordings, making them available on all streaming platforms.

Newkirk is well known for his collaborations with Hip Hop pioneer Prince Paul. Together they have co produced created

In 2020 Don Newkirk and Prince Paul composed the score for the documentary "Who Killed Malcolm X", available on Netflix. The duo also composed the score to "The Best Thief In the World" starring Mary-Louise Parker which came out in 2004 as well as the score for the independent film Pressure Cooker. Together they also composed the score and theme song for the podcast Mogul: The Life & Death of Chris Lighty for Gimlet Media. The two also contributed to the Grammy winning Chris Rock album "Never Scared" (2005). Another collaboration with Prince Paul is , a collaboration with Parliament and Talking Heads keyboardist Bernie Worrell. An album , released in September 2007, features George Clinton, Shock G, Yellowman, Reggie Watts, Nona Hendryx, David Byrne, and Gabby La La.

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