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From Kashif’s Facebook Page: It is with great sadness we the Family are confirming the passing of music legend Kashif in Los Angeles, CA. Here are just a few of his many hits:  ‘I Just Got to Have You,’ ‘Stone Love, ‘Love Changes’, Whitney Houston’s debut single ‘You Give Good Love,’ Evelyn “Champagne” King’s ‘I’m In Love,’ ‘Love Come Down’, ‘Betcha She Don’t Love You,’ and George Benson’s ‘Inside Love.’

Kashif Saleem, previously Michael Jones (born December 26, 1959), is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, record producer, artist, composer, author, director and educator from New York City. Kashif first taught himself to play a $3 song flute at age seven and later the piano in the basement of his church. At age 15, Kashif joined B. T. Express and performed on stages around the world. He studied Islam and changed his name from Michael Jones to Kashif, which means discoverer and inventor. He crafted his own distinctive sound and later signed with Arista Records enjoying success as a solo artist.

In 1983, Kashif signed with Arista Records as a solo artist and continued with hits like “I Just Got To Have You, Lover Turn Me On”, “Stone Love”, “Help Yourself to My Love”, and the Grammy-nominated instrumental “The Mood”. In 1984, his second album, Send Me Your Love resulted in two Grammy nominations, “Edgartown Groove”, featuring Al Jarreau, and the instrumental “Call Me Tonight” along with the hits “Baby Don’t Break Your Baby’s Heart” and “Are You the Woman”. Introduced to Arista by Milton Allen, its artist development director in 1983, his self-titled debut Kashif (1983) spawned the hits “I Just Gotta Have You (Lover Turn Me On)”, “Stone Love”, “Help Yourself to My Love”, and “Say Something Love”. With this release, Kashif was well received as an innovator in music, as R&B artists were only beginning to experiment with synthesizers and other electronic instruments.