BIOGRAPHY - KIRBY HAMILTON

On 2 February 2007, Prince played at the Super Bowl XLI press conference. He and the band played a set of Chuck Berry's hit: Johnny B. Goode," "Anotherloverholenyohead" from Parade and "Get On the Boat" from 3121. Prince performed at the Super Bowl XLI halftime show in Miami, Florida on 4 February 2007. The performance consisted of three Purple Rain tracks ("Let's Go Crazy," "Baby I'm a Star" and the title track), along with cover versions of "We Will Rock You," "All Along the Watchtower," the Foo Fighters song "Best of You" and "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Coincidentally, Miami had rain on the day of the Super Bowl, which was lit purple during the performance of "Purple Rain." He played on a large stage shaped as his famous symbol. The event was carried to 140 million television viewers, the largest audience of his life. Prince announced that he would play 21 concerts in London over the summer of 2007. The "Earth Tour" included 21 nights at the 20,000 capacity O2 Arena. Tickets for the O2 Arena were priced at £31.21 (including a free copy of Prince's latest album), in order to make the concerts "affordable for everybody." The residency at The O2 Arena was increased to 15 nights after all 140,000 tickets for the original seven sold out in just 20 minutes and then further extended to 21 nights. On May 10 2007, Prince performed a 'secret' gig at London's Koko in front of a small crowd (between) fanscelebrities. Tickets went on sale that morning on a first-come-first-served basis (again at £31.21). A prelude to the forthcoming summer gigs in London, Prince played a relaxed set of classic hits ("Kiss," changing the lyric from "You don't have to watch Dynasty" to Desperate Housewives; "Girls & Boys"; and "Nothing Compares 2 U") alongside more recent tracks, plus a well-received cover version of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy."

Born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Kirby L. Hamilton, Jr. (aka “Phunkplayah”) has been active in the music industry for over three decades as Artist, Studio Musician, Producer, Arranger, Entertainment Director, Special Events Coordinator, Promoter, Nightclub Manager, Director of Marketing, and Educator. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Music, from Winston-Salem State University, and during the same year of graduation, recorded with platinum R&B/Funk recording artists “Brick,” known for such hits as “Dazz”, “Ain’t Gone Hurt Nobody”, and “Dusic”. After a brief stay in Atlanta, he returned to North Carolina where he recorded his first single “You’re In Good Hands” and “I’m Trying”, followed by the LP “RIP Life”. After receiving regional airplay in the southeast, and being recognized by Billboard Magazine as “Pick Hit of The Week” with the single “A Different Place” (from the RIP Life LP), he relocated to Palm Palm Springs, California where he continued his musical career as drummer (and later bass player) for the local favorites “Tonal Eclipse”. During this time he was recording Muzak and local television theme songs, while teaching in the public school system. The group disbanded after their sold out debut performance at the famous HollywoodPalace in HollywoodCalifornia.

Staying active in the industry by way of recording, producing, and writing, Phunk then started his career in gaming (casinos), and with a strong entertainment background, he held positions as Nightclub Manager, Director of Marketing, Entertainment/Special Events Coordinator and finally Asst. General Manager. During this time he hooked up with Dr. Dre’ who was producing platinum hits back to back. Phunk performed on Snoop Doggy Dog’s debut CD “Doggystyle” which went double platinum and sky rocketed his career. Phunk also was in Snoop’s first two videos “What’s My Name” and “Gin and Juice”. Dr. Dre is responsible for introducing Phunk to the talkbox, made famous by artist such as Roger Troutman, Peter Frampton, Sly Stone and others. Now he is hooked on the Roger/Zapp sound that he had always loved. Before long, the industry started calling him “The New Millennium Roger”. Phunk continued producing up and coming Black and Latino Hip-Hop artists throughout southern California that were in search of that “Ol Skool” Roger/Zapp sound. While still “dunked in funk”, Phunk played drums with The John-Stanley King Band (one of Palm Springs local favorites in classic rock) and performed on their debut CD.

Relocating back to North Carolina, with years of experience behind him, along with today’s technology, he has put together an exciting one man show concentrating on “GFM” (Grown Folks Music) where he performs funk hits from the 70s, 80’s, and 90’s along with his own along with his own originals. His show includes a “Tribute To Roger Troutman” which is a crowd favorite. He has also put together a Gospel show that has the energy and flavor of “Ol Skool Funk (Parliament, Roger, Bootsy, Gap Band, Rick James, The Time, Prince, and many other funkateers), but with a message of spiritual awareness, praise, and worship. Kirby Hamilton
has shared the stage with such groups as The Emotions, Bootsy’s Rubber Band, Frankie Beverly and Maze, The Dramatics, Marvin Gaye, Roger & Zapp, Ice Cube, Westside Connection and One Way. "Isolated" shows another side of Phunkplayah but make no mistake about it, the Phunk is still there. Kirby's debut album "Isolated" is a Contemporary Jazz/Funk CD in which he produced and performs on the entire CD. Songs from this CD show the artistry, talent and depth of Kirby Hamilton. From it's funky and jazzy! sounds on "Brass Tactics", "On Edge" with it's rock and funk mix!,"Swang Wittit", or the smooth and easy sound on"Nice and Easy", there's something here for everyone."Phunkplayah" has gone from that straight up Funk sound of the late 70s the 80s and 90s smoothed it out slightly and added some nice instrumental melodies and improvisations. From that he adds his Jazz influence of Easy Listening. Swing Contemporary Jazz with a Funk edge  and a southern "brotha's" version of Latin Jazz. Now add to that a little rock flavor  then take a "U-turn" and add to the list  an orchestrated composition ("Sea Minor Symphony") that relaxes the body and soul.

Visit artist website at www.IGB-Entertainment.com