Music
Plus One
The 11 best MK tracks
Choose the perfect MK playlist with his 11 best tracks ahead of upcoming shows at Creamfields and Depot Mayfield
Dance music’s first superstar, MK, has been at the forefront of the global house scene for the past three decades. With three billion worldwide streams across his remixes and originals, the Detroit DJ and producer – aka Mark Kinchen – has been a mainstay at clubs and festivals for what feels like forever.
The 53-year-old has come a long way from immersing himself in his home city’s electronic music scene as a teenager during the late 80s. After being taken under the wing of local techno wizard Kevin Saunderson, who signed Kinchen’s track ‘First Bass’ to his KMS label, his career as MK was launched. A move to Los Angeles in the early 2000s resulted in him becoming an in-house producer for Will Smith (fun fact: he worked on Shark Tale and produced for Willow and Jaden Smith too).
As the years progressed, Kinchen was involved in projects for artists as diverse as Diane Warren and Pitbull, became a key figure in the deep house scene, remixed some of the biggest names in music and had countless hits of his own along the way.
11. ‘Rhyme Dust‘ (with Dom Dolla)
(single, 2023)
Having bumped into one another at shows and festivals and worked together on remixes, MK and Australian producer Dom Dolla first traded ideas for ‘Rhyme Dust’ via email. They finally got into MK’s LA studio together – on the day that borders were closing due to the Covid lockdown – and for the next two years worked remotely on the track, playing it out live and making changes along the way. Pulling from Q Tip’s ‘Breathe & Stop’, an early demo of the dancefloor-designed heater went viral on TikTok and ended up being released quicker than the pair intended.
10. ‘Stop This Flame‘ (with Celeste)
(single, 2021)
The story goes that MK wanted to add his signature “magic dust” to ‘Stop This Flame’, the breakout hit from British-Jamaican singer-songwriter Celeste’s debut album ‘Not Your Muse’. Transforming the soulful original – which gained popularity for its use in Premier League football broadcasts – into a thumping rave anthem was a great decision. It’s a piano-house heater for the ages.
9. ‘Sex With Me‘ (MK Remix)
(Sex With Me (Dance Remixes) EP, 2017)
Cleverly released on Valentine’s Day, MK’s club-ready remix of ‘Sex With Me’ – a runaway hit from Rihanna’s eighth album, ‘Anti’ – reimagines the Barbadian popstar’s slow, sultry track without sacrificing its raunchiness. Built on a bouncing house beat, the track veers between Rihanna’s full verses and dissected, modulated samples of her lines. While he also delivered tech-house edits of ‘Desperado’ and ‘Consideration’ from the same record, this high-energy banger bridges the gap between pop and underground dance music best.
8. ‘Piece Of Me‘ (with Becky Hill)
(Get To Know, 2016)
Teaming up with one of the biggest voices in British pop resulted in yet another huge festival anthem for MK. Built on his trademark piano-house keys and kickdrums, Becky Hill’s vocals are made to be shouted with mates in celebration of the end of a rubbish relationship. While ‘Piece Of Me’ became an early hit for Hill and featured on her debut compilation Get To Know, it also helped launch her into the spotlight as a sought-after vocalist in the dance music scene. The song’s popularity led to another huge team up, the 2018 track ‘Back & Forth’ which they made alongside producer Jonas Blue.
7. ‘Better‘ (Feat. Teddy Swims)
(single, 2022)
An emotionally-charged post-pandemic release that encapsulated the global feeling of 2022, ‘Better’ teased a brighter future. The collaboration between MK, producer BURNS and world famous artist Teddy Swims made for a poignantly cathartic return to normality. Bringing together piano house keys, synth claps, soulful vocals and a gospel-style chorus, the uplifting anthem presented a light at the end of a very long tunnel.
6. ‘Dior‘ (Feat. Chrystal)
(single, 2025)
TikTok may lead the way in building hype around a track, but the mystery of not being able to Track ID a song on Shazam unleashes an IRL dopamine rush that social media trends can’t quite replicate. Ahead of the release of ‘Dior’, MK played the song during several of his 2025 sets, including at Coachella and festivals in Australia and America. Fans eagerly anticipated the official release of the track, which blends MK’s grooving basslines with effortlessly smooth vocals by UK artist Chrystal. Alongside sharing its creative process on his Instagram page, the buzz led to a dance-pop crossover that – after 30 years as a producer – gave MK his first No.1 single with original material.
5. ‘My Head Is A Jungle’ (MK remix)
(single, 2014)
Australian singer-songwriter Emma Louise’s solo single ‘Jungle’ didn’t gain much international recognition, but MK’s remix of it reached No.5 in the UK singles chart. Stripping away the blissed-out elements of the original production and turning it into a vocal-led piano-house club anthem, it recently went viral again – almost a decade after its release – as part of a TikTok dance trend in January 2022.
4. ‘Push The Feeling On‘ (MK Dub Revisited)
(Let’s Push It, 1995)
The remix that changed his life and career, MK had never actually heard the original by Scottish house music project Nightcrawlers. Thankfully, he followed his gut instinct and ear for a hit. The dub became an international chart hit, peaking at No.3 on the UK Singles Chart and within the top ten of the charts of several other European countries. In fact, its success resulted in the band deleting the original version from their catalogue and reclassifying the remix as the first single from their debut album, ‘Lets Push It’.
3. ‘Burning‘ (Vibe Mix)
(single, 1991)
Despite it being rejected by labels in his home city, the then-unknown producer was undeterred by the initial reaction to ‘Burning’. Instead, he decided to create his own imprint – Area 10 Records (named after his workspace parking lot) – and self-release the track. Their loss was his gain as the song, which boasts the unmistakable voice of classic soul singer Alana Simon, became a massive underground hit, gaining popularity through word-of-mouth and club play. Almost 35-years-old, it’s now considered a house classic.
2. ‘17‘
(single, 2017)
Top tip: always keep track of your emails, especially if you’re a DJ or producer, because you never know what gold might be waiting for you. This was certainly the case with ‘17’, MK’s summer dance anthem that dominated festivals in 2017. Having found a batch of demos, a vocal from a writer named Carla Monroe immediately stood out. “I really liked the lyrics and her voice perfectly fit what I was picturing production wise,” he said in an interview with boohoo. After he and producer duo CamelPhat finished work on it, the song was released a month later and became MK’s first original release to crack the UK Top 10 Singles chart.
1. ‘Look Right Through’ (MK Dub III)
(single, 2013)
In the summer of 2012, Simon Dunmore of iconic UK dance music label Defected approached MK with an opportunity to remix a 2010 track by Storm Queen, an alias of New York producer Morgan Geist. At first, MK wasn’t convinced but he soon released two remixes through Defected and kept a third for himself just to play when DJing. Though he never intended to give it to anybody, the reaction became bigger and bigger each time he dropped it. Soon, the unreleased dub had grown into an underground smash thanks to YouTube popularity, eventually topping the UK charts. The remix is also credited with helping to reignite interest in deep house music and has become a classic in the genre.
