Kerwin Young is a concert and media composer, recording producer, recording artist, arranger/orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, naturalist, horticulturist, and global ambassador in the field of sonic arts and sciences. Since 1989, Kerwin's creative contributions in the field of music have been at the forefront of world popular culture. Kerwin Young has made an indelible mark on the world’s music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Rock/Soul, Reggae, Afrobeat, other popular music, multimedia, Eastern and Western musical systems.
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At age 13, Kerwin put aside the alto saxophone to explore his interests as a disc-jockey. Soon after graduating from high school, Kerwin worked alongside DJ Tommie Allen as a New York nightclub and radio disc jockey, at Long Island's Spectrum Cafe in East Meadow, and on the 107.5 FM station, WBLS. His professional life as a DJ spanned from 1988-1991, which overlapped his early days as a budding recording producer.
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A member of Public Enemy's infamous production team, "The Bomb Squad", Kerwin co-produced several of the group's albums and solo projects. Kerwin was accepted into the PE fold in 1987. Since then, he has produced and collaborated with other iconic Hip-Hop artists as Ice Cube, Eric B & Rakim, Mobb Deep, the 2 Live Crew, MF Doom, and Busta Rhymes; on some of their most successful albums. Kerwin has collaborated with illuminated musical icons as George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Roy Haynes, Bobby Brown, Tevin Campbell, and Janet Jackson; producing songs for posthumous albums by Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix.
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​​Since 1989, Young has composed and produced original songs and scores for feature films, television series, documentaries, commercials, weekly news, and web series. Among Young's credits are: Do the Right Thing, Green Card, Sister Act 2, Street Fighter, He Got Game, New York Undercover, Euphoria, The Midnight Club, and Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Young broke onto the scene as a media composer in 1994, composing 7 episodes during the first season of New York Undercover.
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Beginning in 1994, Young's passion for media scoring led him to study music composition. He has composed a distinct series of epic orchestral works showcasing his compositional concepts and personal interests. His concert works have been commissioned and performed by American Voices, Opera Memphis, the Chautauqua Opera Company, the Albany (NY) Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, DC Youth Orchestra, Inscape Chamber Orchestra, Music From China, ROCO, Del Sol String Quartet, Tesla Quartet, and the Hausmann Quartet. Since 2000, symphonies have had a significant role in Kerwin’s creative output. His latest symphony, Symphony No. 9 “Opening the Chamber” is the last chapter of an epic, 3-hour pentalogy that took twenty-three years to complete. In 2024, Kerwin composed The Five Elements, the world’s first ever Hip-Hop concerto commissioned by the Association of American Voices and the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. Other recent works include Battle on the Great Green (a Mauritanian Epic) and Symphony No. 8 “End of Reign”, both epic orchestral works. His classical repertoire includes concerti, orchestral fantasies, arias, ballet suites, choral works, chamber, wind band, and jazz big-band works.​
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Kerwin Young is also known as the artist Kasufhetep, created in 1995 while experimenting with multi-tracking over-processed guitars. Chuck D, of Public Enemy fame, provided the name, Kasuf and the Mazz Muvement. Young's alter-ego recordings are inspired by Parliament Funkadelic, Sun Ra, Sly and the Family Stone, the New Birth, Jimi Hendrix, and the Ohio Players. On display are Young's musicianship as a one-man band, accompanied by his unique sound as a recording producer. This came on the heels of having used live musicians on studio recordings with Public Enemy, Rakim, and Mobb Deep. The experience of Kasufhetep features Kerwin on tenor saxophone, trumpet, electric bass, electric guitar, keyboards, synths, drums, percussion, and vocals. Kasuf and the Mazz Muvement was first released on Chuck D's label, Slam Jamz Recordings. Notable albums are Blackopolis, Miles Away, My Soul Has Been Exposed, Spaceship Chronicles, Pan-African Dub, and Kasufhetep One.
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The U.S. Department of State and Meridian International has a unique program called Next Level. It is a Hip-Hop program modeled after the U.S. Jazz Ambassador program initiated by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in 1956. In 2017, as part of Next Level, Kerwin served as Hip-Hop Ambassador to Egypt. From 2017-2025, Young currently serves as the Performing Rights Associate for Next Level, sharing entrepreneurial skills and information regarding intellectual property with artists abroad. His expertise and years of experience are shared year-round, with artists in Africa, the Americas, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
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Kerwin Young earned a B.M. and M.M. in music composition at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, where he studied with Chen Yi, Zhou Long, and Jazz Messenger legend, Bobby Watson. ​​​​