Mr. Hill

Todd Gumke, better known by his stage name Mr. Hill, is an American hip hop record producer and DJ from Seattle, Washington.^[1] Mr. Hill has produced for the likes of Kool Keith,^[2] Mr. Lif,^[3] Boom Bap Project^[4] and Grayskul,^[5] among others. He is a member of the Pacific Northwest hip hop collective Oldominion.^[6]

Musical career[edit]

Mr. Hill's first production credit was in 1999, for the song "Investigation Zero" for another Pacific Northwest hip hop artist named Footprints. The song appeared on the 1999 cassette tape Operation Raw.^[7] While he was mainly DJing at the time, he eventually focused more on producing. Through making connections in the local circuit, he met Onry Ozzborn, who would be a frequent collaborator of Mr. Hill's, with Onry eventually inviting Mr. Hill to join Oldominion.^[8]

Following encounters and discussions Grayskul had with Slug and other Rhymesayers Entertainment members, Grayskul's album Deadlivers was released on the label in 2005.^[9] Mr. Hill produced over half the album, taking on the Moniker "Phanton", while Onry Ozzborn took "Reason" and JFK to "Recluse".^[10]

In 2006, he released his first solo album, Snaps. The album features IAME, Boom Bap Project and Onry Ozzborn, among others.^[11] The same year he joined Oldominion rapper Barfly and released the album Nite Owls.^[12]

The next year, Mr. Hill released his first instrumental album The Darkest Hour via Hal Cush Music.^[13]

In 2011, he released the album SMiRK, an instrumental album mixing electronic, jazz and hip hop elements.^[14]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums

• Snaps (2006)
• The Darkest Hour (2007)
• SMiRK (2011)

Collaborative albums

• Nite Owls (2006) (with Barfly)

EPs

• Night Time Dreamers (2013)

Productions

• Onry Ozzborn - "Listen & Learn", "The Ozz", "Legend Had It", "Poltergeist", "717" and "The Zone" from The Grey Area (2003)
• Sirens Echo - "Hands Together" from Psalms Of The Sirens (2004)
• Grayskul - "You People", "Adversarial Theatre Of Justice", "Action Figure Of Speech", "Once Upon A Time", "Do They Exist", "Vixen", "After Hours", "The Skul", "Prom Quiz", "Deadlivers" and "Secret Wars" from Deadlivers (2005)
• Boom Bap Project - "Sounds Of The Street" and "War Of Roses" from Reprogram (2005)
• Boom Bap Project - "The Struggle" from The Shakedown (2005)
• Coley Cole - "Goldplated Straitjackets" from Goldplated Straitjackets (2005)
• Onry Ozzborn - "Part 3", "Part 4" and "Educated Guess" from In Between (2005)
• Syndel - "Ring Side" from Enchantress (2006)
• Grayskul - "The Last Lullaby" from Bloody Radio (2007)
• Mr. Lif - "Presidential Report" (2008)
• Onry Ozzborn - "No Hoax" and "76" from No Hoax (2011)
• Destro - "That's That", "Yah, Yah, Yah" and "Oldominion Coming Thru" from ill.ustrated (2011)
• Onry Ozzborn - "Electric Dreams" from Hold On for Dear Life (2011)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Mr. Hill on Bandcamp
• Mr. Hill on Discogs (List of releases)