BHouzMuzikGroup artist
Memphis Kiyote (Memki)
Artist | Songwriter | Composer | Producer | Creative Visionary Memphis Kiyote is a Los Angeles-born, Southern California-based artist, songwriter, composer, and producer whose connection to music began long before he entered a recording studio. Growing up in a home filled with Motown, soul, and AM/FM radio, Memphis and his siblings formed a family singing group, learning harmonies and rehearsing dance routines in front of an eight-foot stereo console. Family gatherings often turned into impromptu performances, with the siblings singing and dancing for relatives and friends, transforming their living room into their first stage. Those early experiences shaped his appreciation for melody, rhythm, and expression. He learned clarinet, piano, and soprano saxophone, developing an intuitive approach to music guided as much by instinct and emotion as by technique. For Memphis, every song begins with an unspoken feeling he’s trying to put into sound. He doesn’t write simply to be understood; he writes to be felt, allowing music to express what words cannot and trusting listeners to find their own meaning within it. That philosophy took on deeper meaning in the early 1990s when he composed “Somalia,” a musical response to the tragedy unfolding in the country. During a studio session, a friend hearing the composition for the first time broke down in tears. When Memphis asked if he was okay, his friend explained that the music reminded him of a brother he had lost. The experience stayed with Memphis, reinforcing his belief that a single note, key, or chord can reach places within us that words cannot. Everyone, he believes, has a sound that moves them, even if they cannot explain why. In the 1990s, Memphis founded KGMG — Kente Global Media Group, laying the creative foundation for what would eventually become BHouzMuzikGroup (BHMG). For him, “Houz” means home — a place where music, individuality, and artistic freedom coexist, bringing his own catalog together with the creative voices of other artists. Now rooted in Southern California’s Inland Empire, Memphis creates at the intersection of neo-soul, contemporary R&B, jazz, and cinematic musical expression. His signature sound often lives in the midnight hours: intimate, unhurried compositions shaped by warm Rhodes piano, expressive soprano saxophone, upright and electric bass, orchestral strings, guitars, horns, and hand percussion, with influences from house and contemporary soul. His arrangements favor emotional development over predictable climaxes. Refrains, call-and-response passages, instrumental solos, expressive bridges, and extended outros allow each composition to breathe, unfold, and tell its own story. Memphis embraces a Human + AI Hybrid approach to production, combining traditional musicianship with emerging creative technology. His compositions often begin with original melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and arrangements developed through his own musical instincts and digital production techniques. Selected works are then further explored and refined using AI-assisted creative tools. For Memphis, technology is simply another way to explore the music he hears and feels inside, bringing his ideas to life without losing the emotion, imagination, and personal connection that inspired them in the first place. His 15-track project, It’s Time, Call It, brings these influences together, reflecting a lifetime of musical exploration, personal expression, and an openness to new creative possibilities while remaining connected to the traditions that first inspired him. For Memphis Kiyote, music has never been only about the notes being played or the words being sung. It’s about what happens inside someone when they hear them.
