J. R. Rotem

Jonathan "J.R." Rotem is an American record producer. He was born in South Africa to Jewish parents in 1975. He wanted to be a musician and started playing the piano at a very young age. Jonathan's parents quickly saw that he was talented and supported him in his dream of becoming a musician. He played classical music until junior high school when he became fascinated by Hip hop music.

He has produced tracks for artists and groups such as The Game, Destiny's Child, Britney Spears, Snoop Dogg, Ashley Tisdale and Rihanna among others. He has also sold a beat to Dr. Dre. He currently resides in Los Angeles where he creates most of his music.

In 2006, Rotem started his own record label, Beluga Heights, along with manager Zach Katz. Sean Kingston, a young Miami-based rapper, is their first signing. Rotem and Katz also started a publishing company under the Beluga Heights umbrella, signing "SOS" co-writer Evan "Kidd" Bogart. In December of 2006, Rotem was romantically linked with pop icon Britney Spears. He is rumored to be featured on Extra TV's, Americas Most Eligible Bachelors.

Early life

As a youngster, J.R.'s parents insisted that his musical interest be honed in a strict, disciplined way. This meant hours of private piano sessions daily where he developed a passion for classical music. On the contemporary front, he found artists like The Beatles, Sting and Abba inspiring, but at a very young age, when he first heard Run DMC's "Raising Hell" album, he became mesmerized by hip hop. While he loved what he heard musically, he never thought hip hop would become a way of life for him.

After graduating from Campolindo High School in Moraga, California, J.R. entered the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where he majored in piano performance with aspirations of scoring films professionally. However, it was only the release of two seminal CD's - Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" and Snoop Dogg's "Doggystyle" - that unleashed J.R.'s inspiration to undertake music production.

As an accomplished and well-versed jazz pianist, J.R. recognized the jazz influences of the samples used in these two hip hop masterpieces, but did not instantly recognize the samples themselves because he was never exposed to the music of Funkadelic, Parliament, James Brown and other 70's Rock/Soul pioneers whose music was now weaving the evolving soundtrack of hip hop.

However, he did recognize how the music made people feel and react. In fact, J.R. analogizes the cross over of hip hop to the mainstream in the same way jazz must have felt to the earlier generation of mainstream youths: "I started using the hot hip hop beats of the day in my jazz sets and bought some studio equipment to make beats with." With his passion for hip hop and a new home studio, J.R. combined the discipline honed from years of formal study into making beats.

J.R.'s first big break came when a CD of his beats landed in the hands of veteran Bay Area producers who planned on using J.R.'s talents for an upcoming En Vogue album. Eventually though, this CD ended up with producer Dwayne Wiggins of Tony, Toni, Tone' fame who thought the beats better suited Beyonce and Destiny's Child. When the song "Fancy" made it on to the "Survivor" CD and a second song "My Song" ended up on a special issue Destiny's Child CD entitled "Love Destiny." J.R.'s second break came when Dr. Dre heard one of the songs J.R. had produced and demanded the song.

In the year that followed, J.R. produced deep album cuts on over 100 records for A-listers like 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, The Game, Fabolous, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Mobb Deep, Lil' Kim, Dr. Dre, Mya, Young Buck, Obie Trice, Foxy Brown, Busta Rhymes, Trick Daddy, Trey Songz, Talib Kweli,Lil' Flip,Ashley Tisdale,Jesse McCartney to name a few.

Soon, Rotem will be producing an album for The Real World: Las Vegas star Trishelle Cannatella, and expected to be released between November 2008 and February 2009. Producing starts next year, when Trishelle finishes this year: her reality shows, movies and posing for Playboy.

Discography

50 Cent - The Massacre

• 17. "Position of Power"
• 20. "So Amazing" (featuring Olivia)

Ashley Tisdale - Headstrong

• 03. "He Said She Said"

Britney Spears - TBA

• 00. "Everybody"
• 00. "Break the Ice" (featuring Fabolous & Young Jeezy)
• 00. "Who Can She Trust"

The Cheetah Girls

• 00. "Fuego"
• 00. "Do No Wrong"
• 00. "Fall Apart"

Chamillionaire - Ultimate Victory

• 02. "Hip Hop Police" (featuring Slick Rick)
• 05. "Industry Groupie" (featuring KC)

Clyde Carson - Theater Music

• 00. "Doin' That" (featuring Sean Kingston)

D12 - D12 World

• 20. "Good Die Young" (Keyboards by JR)

D12 - Shark Tale Soundtrack

• 05. "Lies & Rumors" (Keyboards by JR)

Destiny's Child - Survivor

• 05. "Fancy"
• "My Song"

Dr. Dre - Detox

• 00. "It Ain't a Thing"

Ebony Eyez - 7 Day Cycle

• 02. "Heart of A Soldier"

Fabolous - Real Talk

• 09. "Can You Hear Me"
• 18. "Po Po" (featuring Nate Dogg & Paul Cain)

Fabolous - From Nothing to Something

• 00. "Livin' The Life"

Jin - The Rest Is History

• 10. "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
• 14. "C'mon"

Jojo- "The High Road'

• 04. The High Road

Kevin Federline - Playing With Fire

• 03. "America's Most Hated"
• 05. "Lose Control"
• 06. "Dance With a Pimp"

Lalaine- "TBD"

• 01. "Gemini"

LeToya Luckett - LeToya

• 08. "All Eyes on Me" (featuring Paul Wall)

Lexlife- "TBD"

• 01. "It Takes Paper"

Lil Flip - Undaground Legend

• 04. "I Shoulda Listened" (featuring Seville)

Lil Kim - The Naked Truth

• 06. "Whoa"
• 21. "Last Day"

Lil Scrappy - Bred 2 Die Born 2 Live

• 09. "Livin' in the Projects"

Lil' Skeeter - Midwest Mastermind

• 19. "Night Ryda" (featuring Ray Cash & Fabolous)

Mobb Deep - Blood Money

• 13. "In Love With the Moula"

Mýa - Liberation

• 00. "Walka Not a Talka" (featuring Snoop Dogg)
• 00. "All in the Name of Love"
• 00. "How We Carry"

Obie Trice - Second Round's on Me

• 13. "Ghetto" (featuring Trey Songz)
• 15. "Mama" (featuring Trey Songz)
• 16. "24s"
• 18. Obie Story"

Olivia - Second Chance

• 00. "My Daddy"
• 00. "Best Friend (Remix)" (featuring 50 Cent)

Paris Hilton - Paris

• 04. "I Want You"

Plies (rapper) - The Real Testament

• 05. "1 Mo Time"
• 06. "I Am the Club"
• 09. "Friday"

Rick Ross - Port of Miami

• 02. "Push It"

Rihanna - A Girl Like Me

• 01. "S.O.S. (Rescue Me)"

Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad

• 02. "Push Up on Me"

Sean Kingston - Sean Kingston

• 01. "Intro"
• 02. "Kingston"
• 03. "Take You There"
• 04. "Beautiful Girls"
• 05. "Me Love"
• 06. "Dry Your Eyes"
• 07. "Got No Shorty"
• 08. "I Can Feel It"
• 09. "There's Nothing"
• 10. "Drummer Boy"
• 11. "Your Sister"
• 12. "That Ain't Right"
• 13. "Change"
• 14. "Colors" (Ft Vybz Kartel & Kardinal Official)

Snoop Dogg - R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece

• 02. "Bang Out"

Stat Quo - Statlanta

• 00. "Just Called"

Slim Thug - Boss of All Bosses'

• 00. "Untitled"

Talib Kweli - The Beautiful Struggle

• 09. "Work It Out"

Trey Songz - I Gotta Make It

• 12. "Just Wanna Cut"

The Game - Doctor's Advocate

• 11. "Doctor's Advocate"(Feat Busta Rhymes)
• 13. "California Vacation"(Feat Snoop Dogg And Xzibit)

Tony Yayo - Thoughts Of A Predicate Felon

• 08. "We Don't Give A Fuck"

Young Buck - Get Rich or Die Tryin' (soundtrack)

• 08. "Don't Need No Help" (Co-produced song with Hi-Tek)

Young Buck - Straight Outta Cashville

• 04. “Look At Me Now” (Keyboards by JR)

Young Buck - Unreleased

• 00. "I'm The Best" (Khaled Diss)

Xzibit - Weapons of Mass Destruction

• 10. "Ride or Die" (co produced by J.R.)
• 11. "Crazy Ho" (additional keyboards by J.R)

Rohff - La Fierté Des Nôtres

• 01. "La Fierte Des Notres"
• 05. "Ca Fait Plaisir"
• 08. "Pétrole"
• 13. "Charisme"
• Cd2 - 03. "Bling Bling"
• Cd2 - 04. "Apparences Trompeuses"

External links

• Official website
• Template:MySpace
• The DJBooth: Jonathan 'JR' Rotem Interview (Mar '07)
• SOHH June 2007 Feature