KEITH SMACKDOWN

Songwriter and producer Keith Smackdown (a.k.a. Daniel McKenzie) fuses a colourful blend of jazz-funk and soulful hip-hop, surging through listener’s bodies with his limitless grooves and mesmerising sounds. The charisma of Keith Smackdown’s music is a densely layered instrumental outfit that splurges on hypnotic melodies, vitalising rhythmic surges, and a driving motive to feel alive.

Aside from being a seasoned performer in Melbourne’s music scene with his co-founded planetary acid-jazz collective AstroVillain, Keith Smackdown has found his solo sound through years of producing in his bedroom studio. This product includes loft hip-hop beats, electro-funk and jazztronica dance tracks, as well as collaborations with vocalists such as Elaura (“Run Your World” released 2024) and Isadora (“When You’re Round” released 2022). In 2021, Keith Smackdown released “Agent Jawbones” through the label Sidekick Music, which now has over 74,000 steams on Spotify, and in 2022 he released “Starvin’ 4 Ur Lovin” through Mellowax Records (Sony Music Entertainment, Denmark) as part of a various artists compilation called Second Sight. This year has already seen the release of his latest beat-tape “The Heat Check Beat Collection” featuring 12 groovy instrumental tracks, and his singles "Follow My Echo" and "Out There".

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