MISSING YOU
Whatever happened to Kim English? The question crossed my mind mid-jog one pleasant Thursday evening. There had been no Kim English news. No Kim English new music, in what felt like ages. Not even a digitally remastered greatest hits package to download. After all, when you’re hot you’re hot, when you’re not you’re not. Kim once sang. The feeling of her utter abandonment from the music industry felt all too real. More shocking was the utter abandonment from her fans with no goodbye. Of course, she had social media accounts with sporadic casual posts that offered little. I assumed Kim lived a more private life. I guess she’s busy ministering in church. The latter thought comforted me. Little did I know, five days later the vocalist would transition from this life.
“In the nite life. That’s where I wanna be.” Kim declares on the Ten City written classic. Those lyrics became my personal anthem. “Yes I’m a dancer, round and round,” I’d sing thinking to myself. Surely, when Kim sang the first take of “Nite Life,” she had no earthly idea the place she sang of would become her residence. The place where many would discover the voice that is, Kim English.
HIGHER THINGS
Midwestern winds pivot the gravitational pull that leads north to Chicago. In the midst of a hotbed of musical talent, there stood a teen in the halls at the famed Kenwood Academy. Under the tutelage of “the woman who launched a thousand careers,” world-renowned Reverend Doctor Lena McLin, Kim’s jazzy sonant soared. Perhaps early twenties Kim held greater ambitions to pursue gospel, but destiny spoke otherwise. Knowing the right people at the right time and the right place is destiny at work. Through the introduction of a music producer who passed her along to songwriters who knew a DJ duo who knew an A&R talent at a recording label in New York City, Kim’s introduction into the underground house music scene was signed, sealed, and delivered. Her 1994 debut US 12” vinyl release read: Nervous Records’ formula for success, a Ten City Production + Masters at Work and Armand Van Helden Re-mixes = KIM ENGLISH “Nite Life”=HIT!!!!!!!!
Subsequent Kim English released singles transcended music genres as much as the hearts of the diverse people she touched. From Chicago house to NYC garage. From Maurice Joshua to Mood II Swing. From soulful to circuit. From radio to clubs. From the club to the church. Kim became one of the premier voices that defined the golden-era of house music.
Kim’s 1998 full-length debut Higher Things launched the standout “Been So Long ,” her Anita Baker cover and tribute, that best showcases her vocal finesse. Her angelic alto soars, skitters, and skats over Frankie Feliciano’s score. As Ten City’s lead vocalist Byron Stingly explained, Kim’s voice reminded him so much of Anita Baker.2 At the time, compared to some of her contemporaries her vocal range may not have reached heavenly heights, but her operatic yodel drove you to church in a Rolls Royce.
Enter the 21st century. Kim English was “Re-Energized .” Her classic hits newly repackaged and newly remixed with a tribal edge. Junior Vasquez and Razor-N-Guido club mixes anyone? Again the standout is track number one, “Been So Long ” (Wamdue Remix) mixed by Atlanta’s Chris Brann. His elevating production of bird chirps soaring over crashing waves amid soft keys falling beneath uplifting strings as Kim declares “I’m missing you baby,” brings a natural high. Overnight, Kim went from the “Nite Life” to the gay life and became house diva extraordinaire in the circuit culture. All the while her message stayed true to self.
MY DESTINY
It was that message I needed to hear come summer 2006. Often filled with angst, frustration, and restlessness. I spent countless hours soul searching for peace of mind. I questioned my existence in relation to my destiny. Why had I not accomplished my life’s goals? Why were my dreams crushed? So, how did I numb the pain?
One scorching day in mid-July, I went to listen to new music at my best friend forever, Tower Records US (RIP). I stumbled upon Kim English’s “My Destiny” in a listening station of the latest compact disc releases of the week. On the cover, Kim beamed radiant, her eyes closed softly, and hair gently flowing leftward into the heavens like an angel. I was sold. The impulse purchase became instantly one of my most prized music possessions. At home, Kim sang to me-even if it was from my two American DJ CD players more so than dancing to her music on wooden dance floors. Kim’s music ministered to my heart-be daily drives around town to road trips to Chicago to attend Frankie Knuckle’s MOVE Festival. “My Destiny” had no end. I memorized her lyrics. I sang along with Kim. “Traditional ways they filled my days in the evening I would wing it,” lyrical content not as depth, as in scope-her lyrics fashioned more for a conversation in a cafe than a fiery sermon. Kim wrote a substantial number of her prodigious inspirational oeuvre with GRAMMY winner Maurice “Big Mo” Joshua and occasionally former Ally-Us member, Kyle “Small” Smith. A who’s who of house titans from Teddy Douglas of the Basement Boys to Darryl James of DFA jumped to work with the Queen of Remixes. All knew how to flip, refrain, and expand her golden vocalic on 12” mixes. Edits, extended mixes, and dubstrumentals sat backseat to the driving force of her music-the message. For Kim had a word. She encouraged her fans to level up. She taught us how to “Treat Me Right ,” how to “Learn 2 Luv” and how with God “Nothing’s Impossible.” She became our original house diva who accentuated her prose with authentic verse. Which made it all the more difficult when Kim disappeared off the radar.
My fondest memory occurred May 2007, at Wetbar, a former club in midtown Atlanta. When I walked through the club’s foyer and crossed the threshold onto the dance floor. The late great Frankie Knuckles was in the midst of playing Kim English’s “C’est La Vie.” As with Frankie, I gravitate towards positive music. The Scott Wozniak Remix of warm chords, heavenly strings and one uplifting key solo over thumping garage was to be cherished. As if the legendary Godfather of house spoke, “Welcome” and directly at me, “You are meant to be here.“
Be gay or straight. Black or white. Jew or Gentile. Saint or sinner. She or he. Novice or alumni. Kim’s music was a welcome card to all. “Nite Life’s” lyrics were no pointless blunder. Kim lived what she sang in that song. “I’m gonna find that place someway somehow.” When she found that place. She boldly welcomed others into that space with arms open wide. Kim understood most that “It Makes A Difference.”
Yes the “Unspeakable Joy” singer deserves more honors than she received in her lifetime. Yes her song and lyric delivered lives. Ministered to lives. Saved lives. Yes she deserves space on the House Music Walls of Fame. Most divas snatch wigs when their egos are inflated. Not Kim. “Focus on those Higher Things ,” she astutely encouraged. For she knew her voice was a “Supernatural” gift and that her heavenly treasures awaited more than earthly statutes.
Kim sang it best. “While we are striving to reach the higher place and level. We must remember. Be thankful all the way.” To Kim English: for your voice, for your music, for your ministry and for your life, I’m “Simply Grateful.”
words aj dance
Reich, Howard. “A Celebration of Lena McLin’s Music.” Chicagotribune.com, 5 Sept. 2018, www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-xpm-2011-03-24-ct-ott-0325-mkoj-20110324-story.html.1
Weingarten, Christopher R. “Kim English, Who Blended Gospel With Dance Music, Dies at 48.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Apr. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/05/obituaries/kim-english-dead.HTML.2
Share this:
Tags: Been So Long, C'est La Vie, circuit house music, dance music, Gospel House, Higher Things, house music, It Makes A Difference, Junior Vasquez, kim english, Kyle Smith, Learn 2 Luv, MAURICE JOSHUA, My Destiny, Natural High, Nervous Records, Nite Life, Nothing's Impossible, Razor N Guido, Re-Energized, Simply Grateful, Supernatural, Treat Me Right, Unspeakable Joy