Kwamé Holland - pronounced kwah-MAY - born in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York, USA) is an American emcee who enjoyed brief popularity in the late-1980s and early-1990s. He is currently a music producer sometimes credited as K-1 Million or K1 Mil.

As a child, Holland was inspired by Stevie Wonder, Lionel Hampton, and Abdullah Ibrahim, who were family friends.

He was sixteen when he released his debut album Kwamé the Boy Genius Featuring A New Beginning in 1989, which was produced by Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor. A New Beginning was his backing band and Kwamé was one of the rare emcees at the time to use a live band. The album spawned the singles "The Man We All Know and Love" and "The Rhythm." The accompanying music videos featured a polka-dot motif in the costumes and production design. This was to become Kwamé's trademark and started a hip hop fashion trend as fans began wearing polka-dotted clothing. In 1990, his second album A Day in the Life: A Pokadelick Adventure was released. It was a concept album about a day in the life of a high school student. The album spawned the hit singles "Oneovdabigboiz" and "Ownlee Eue." Holland is a cousin of Vin Diesel, who danced in some of his early music videos

In 1992, he released his third album Nastee. The title track was a minor hit but the album quickly fell from the charts. His fourth album, 1994's Incognito failed to chart and Kwamé was dropped from his record label.

In 2002, Kwamé reemerged as a music producer. He continues to work steadily as a producer with his current artists Beyond Belief and Profit and has since returned to using his real name. New R&B/Hip Hop singer Jamie Jones started a form of introduction to Kwame's production by whispering 'Shh, Kwame did it', which Fantaisia used for "not the way that I do" and Jesse McCartney took for his song Makeup which appears on his album Departure.

Kwame has scored scenes for the films Step up Step up 2 the streets Dancing in September and Stomp the Yard

To date He has Produced and contributed to records selling over 30 million copies.

(2) In contrast to many '90s rappers, Kwamé fashioned a good-natured, humorous, somewhat intellectual persona for himself and is one of the few rappers to utilize a live band (A New Beginning) both live and in the studio. Born Kwamé Holland, he grew up in New York City's jazz scene, receiving his first set of drums from Lionel Hampton and hanging out with Stevie Wonder as a child. Kwamé's 1989 debut, Kwamé the Boy Genius: Featuring a New Beginning, was produced by Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor (Salt-N-Pepa) and showcased his mix of old-school and Daisy Age styles. The follow-up, A Day in the Life: A Pokadelick Adventure, was a concept album about exactly what the title said: an ordinary day in Kwamé's life as a high schooler. 1991's Nastee wasn't as successful as his two previous releases, and he moved from Atlantic to Wrap/Ichiban. He released a new album, Incognito, in 1994 with partners DJ Tat Money and A-Sharp. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi


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