Karriem Riggins is a jazz drummer, hip hop producer, DJ, and sometime rapper. He is a former member of the Ray Brown Trio and Mulgrew Miller trio and currently appears in the Diana Krall quartet.
Riggins was born in Detroit, Michigan. His father, Emmanuel Riggins, is also a musician, and Karriem would often play drums with him as a child. Riggins began producing hip hop in middle school and continued through high school. He studied music at Southfield High School as well, and joined Betty Carter's band Jazz Ahead soon after, at 17. When he was 19 (in 1994), Riggins moved to New York City, and joined the Ray Brown Trio in 1998. Riggins has also recorded and performed with Donald Byrd, Hank Jones, Mulgrew Miller, Milt Jackson, Oscar Peterson, Cedar Walton, Roy Hargrove, and Bobby Hutcherson.