Soulshock began his career as a hip-hop club DJ, spinning records in his bedroom. His big break came in 1989 when he took third place in the DMC Mixing Championships in
London. The contest victory led to a DJ position on the European Tour for
Queen Latifah,
Jungle Brothers and
Chill Rob G. That gig, in turn, gave Soulshock the opportunity to remix songs for
Mc Lyte, Queen Latifah among others. With his remixes playing on
KIIS-FM, Soulshock came out to
New York City to study under
DJ Red Alert. But as Soulshock recalls, "I went back to Denmark, because it was so tough being in New York and I was making no money at all."
EMI/Medley had offered Soulshock and his former partner, Cutfather, a label deal in
Denmark. In 1990, he opened Soulpower Productions and Records. Moving toward more of an
R&B vibe, Soulshock needed a great keyboard player, and found one in Karlin. A fan of jazz greats such as Bob James and Stanley Clarke, Karlin was an integral part of Denmark's jazz scene before joining with Soulshock producing
Patti LaBelle's "All Right Now". A musician in the traditional sense of the word, Karlin says, "I think our different backgrounds are what make our tracks interesting." While the future overseas looked bright, Soulshock & Karlin felt that the brand of R&B/hip-hop they specialized in was being overshadowed in Europe by dance and house music. The duo made the move to Los Angeles and, after months of struggling, finally had a break through with
CeCe Peniston. Their single "I'm in the Mood" came out and attracted some attention. Following this, Soulshock & Karlin scored their first big hit with Monica's number-one R&B single "Before You Walk Out of My Life", which they wrote and produced. Hits with artists such as
Toni Braxton, Brandy, Brownstone,
Silk, and 2Pac followed. In 1999, Soulshock & Karlin enjoyed another number-one single with Whitney Houston's "
Heartbreak Hotel", which received two Grammy nominations: Best R&B Song, and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Vocalist. Soulshock & Karlin produced the tracks "Rise and Fall" by Craig David and Sting;
Blu Cantrell's "Don't Wanna Say Goodbye", Monica's "Breaks My Heart", "I Wrote This Song", and "What Hurts the Most", and the first single from American
Pop Idol contestant
Justin Guarini, "Sorry". Soulshock & Karlin produced and wrote their first number-one hit "
Leave (Get Out)" performed by
JoJo, and the number-one R&B song "
Truth Is" performed by
American Idol winner
Fantasia (which also received a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album) and tracks for rapper
Nelly. Soulshock and Karlin went on to collaborate with
Keyshia Cole,
Kelly Rowland, and
Samantha Jade and to produce songs for the debut solo albums of
Cheryl Cole and 2008
The X Factor winner
Alexandra Burke,
3 Words and
Overcome respectively. ==Singles discography==