Jump to content

RedOne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by G87 (talk | contribs) at 02:21, 17 February 2011 (→‎Notable productions). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the Moroccan-Swedish producer/songwriter. For the digital cinematography camera Red One, see Red Digital Cinema Camera Company. For the Canadian rapper Red 1, see Rascalz.
RedOne

Nadir Khayat, known by the stage name RedOne was born in Tétouan, Morocco[1] and is a Grammy Award-nominated Moroccan producer/songwriter.[2] He has been described as the key to Lady Gaga's musical sound.[3] In 2010, RedOne established his own record label named 2101 Records as a joint venture with Universal Music Group International. Mohombi was the first artist to be signed to the label.

Biography

Early career

At the age of 19, RedOne left Morocco for Sweden in order to pursue a music career.[4] He chose the country because in his words, "There was so much good music coming from there," with three major inspirations being the bands ABBA, Europe and Roxette.[4] Originally he pursued his musical ambitions by singing and playing the guitar in various local rock bands but 1995 saw a change in direction when he opted to move into production and songwriting for other artists.[4] Instrumental in helping him make this change was Rami Yacoub, another fellow ex-rock musician.[5] The successful Swedish songwriter/producer taught RedOne about "programming and how the software works," and the pair also wrote songs together.[4] According to Yacoub, RedOne worked with him in the studio for a year before Yacoub was asked to join Cheiron Studios.[5] Yacoub credits RedOne with helping bring about this turning point in his own career by having introduced Yacoub to Max Martin.[5] RedOne began his career producing in the European pop music scene.

First successes

After years of struggling, 2005 saw RedOne finally begin to achieve significant recognition for his work, firstly with the Darin song "Step Up," which reached #1 in Sweden and later won him and frequent collaborator Bilal Hajji both a Swedish Grammy and Scandinavian Song of the Year award, and then with the Canadian hits "I Wish" and "Little Mama," recorded by Juno Award nominee Carl Henry. Some of his partners and students which currently are music producers as well are the Duo Manny and Gil "The Latin" The-Latin, Official Website who have a similar style to RedOne's but with their own uniqueness.

In 2006 RedOne entered the global marketplace with "Bamboo," which was named "Official Melody" for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Selected from over one thousand submissions, "Bamboo" was featured for the branding and promotion of the event during television broadcasts and advertising campaigns, branded cross-promotions, and as a part of the World Cup Official Music Program.[2] In addition, The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) made him the main producer and songwriter for the 2006 World Cup Official Music Program.[2] RedOne also produced a "mash-up" remix of Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" featuring Wyclef Jean and RedOne's "Bamboo." The remix was performed by Shakira and Wyclef Jean at the World Cup's Final in Berlin to an estimated worldwide television audience of more than 1.2 billion.

Although "Bamboo" helped establish the young producer as a notable producer in the global marketplace ,[2] RedOne himself has said that it didn't have the impact he thought it would,

"It was a good thing for me as a personal achievement but in terms of business or attracting labels to get more work, it didn't have a big impact, especially not in the US. It opened a few doors that closed quickly after."[4]

Breakthrough

After the success of Bamboo, RedOne moved to New York with the aim of breaking his career in the USA, believing it to be "now or never".[4] Initially the move proved unsuccessful, as Khayat claims he struggled to secure even a single production and lost all of his money in the process.[4] However, on the brink of giving up and returning to Sweden, his efforts caught the attention of then Epic Records president Charlie Walk. A subsequent meeting led to the producer being given a Jennifer Lopez remix to try out on followed by a couple of demos for Menudo, and it was the quality of these that resulted in Khayat being given a production role on Kat DeLuna's upcoming debut album 9 Lives.[6] When Walk heard the first songs RedOne produced for DeLuna—one of which was subsequent hit single "Whine Up" featuring Elephant Man—he was impressed enough to ask the producer to produce the whole album.[4]

In 2007, RedOne began writing and producing for New Kids on the Block, MIKA, Akon, Brandy, Enrique Iglesias, Lionel Richie, The Cheetah Girls, Tami Chynn, Flipsyde and RBD, among others.[7]

Awards

In 2010, Khayat received 4 Grammy nominations at the 52nd Grammy Awards including Album of the Year as a producer for Lady Gaga's The Fame, Record of the Year and Best Dance Recording as producer, and Song of the Year as a songwriter for Gaga's hit single "Poker Face", later resulting the win for Best Dance Recording.

In 2011, Khayat was nominated for a Grammy Award for Producer of the Year (non-classical), but lost to record-producer Danger Mouse. He was also nominated for Album of the Year, a second time in a row, for his contributions to Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster as a producer.

2101 Records

2101 Records is a music production company and record label founded by RedOne in 2010 as a joint venture with Universal Music Group. The Swedish-Congolese artist Mohombi (formerly of Avalon) was the first to be signed to the label in a deal with 2101/Universal. Mohombi is planning release of his debut solo studio album Movemeant on the label in early 2011.

Discography

Main article: RedOne production discography

Notable productions

References

  1. ^ "Star Producer RedOne Eyes Michael Jackson Release". abcnews. Retrieved 2010-01-23. [dead link]
  2. ^ a b c d "RedOne's BMI Artist Roster". BMI. Retrieved 2008-10-15. Cite error: The named reference "BMI" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ Jurgensen, John (January 28, 2010). "The Man Behind Lady Gaga". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Interview With RedOne", HitQuarters, 23 March 2009
  5. ^ a b c "Interview with Rami Yacoub". HitQuarters. 10 August 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  6. ^ "Interview with Brandon Creed". HitQuarters. 20 Jan 2009. Retrieved 15 Dec 2010.
  7. ^ "RedOne". TheNext2Shine. Retrieved 2008-10-19.

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=RedOne&oldid=414358815"