Jeff Bhasker
| Jeff Bhasker | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | GOOD Music |
Jeff Bhasker (also known as Billy Kraven and U.G.L.Y.) is an American record producer, songwriter, keyboardist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist. He collaborated with rapper and producer Kanye West on the albums 808s & Heartbreak, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and Watch the Throne. He has won Grammy Awards for the songs "Run This Town" by Jay-Z, "All of the Lights" by Kanye West, "We Are Young" by Fun, and "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson.[1][2] Bhasker received the 2016 Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical for co-producing Mark Ronson's album Uptown Special and producing Nate Ruess's album Grand Romantic among other records.
Career
Bhasker was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and raised in Socorro, New Mexico.[3][4] His mother played the piano and his Indian-born father was a medical doctor and the town's mayor for 24 years. Bhasker was introduced to jazz by his mother and his piano teacher.[5] He played in the jazz band at Socorro High School, where he graduated in 1993, and then studied jazz piano and arranging at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.[6][7] He gigged around Boston as a keyboardist and played in a wedding band. After playing with the '70s era R&B band Tavares, Bhasker moved to New York on September 11, 2001. He toured with the jam band Lettuce and began focusing more on songwriting. One of his first productions was with neo soul singer Goapele, on her album Even Closer (2002). Bhasker produced a song on rapper The Game's first album, The Documentary (2005).[8]
Bhasker relocated to Los Angeles, in 2005. He began writing with Bruno Mars, and songwriter and executive Steve Lindsey served as their mentor. He played cover songs in a band with Mars around Los Angeles.[4] Bhasker then began an association with rapper/producer Kanye West.[9] Initially serving as a substitute keyboardist for West's Glow in the Dark Tour, he went on to become West's music director, and co-producer and co-writer on a number of songs.[10] Bhasker collaborated on West's albums 808s & Heartbreak, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and the Jay-Z/Kanye West collaboration album, Watch the Throne, including the songs "Welcome to Heartbreak". "Lift Off", and "Runaway". Bhasker received the Grammy Award for Best Rap Song for West's "All of the Lights", and the Jay-Z/Rihanna/Kanye West song "Run This Town".[11]
Bhasker's collaborations span multiple genres, including writing and production credits on Alicia Keys's 2009 album, The Element of Freedom, including the charting singles "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart" and "Wait Til You See My Smile", and the album tracks, "Love Is Blind", and "Like the Sea". In 2009, Bhasker produced the songs "Free", "Zombie", and "Heaven" for Natalia Kills, and co-wrote and produced, "Nothing Lasts Forever", from her debut album, Perfectionist, under the alias 'Billy Kraven'. He worked on Beyoncé's "I Care", "Rather Die Young" and "Party" from her 2011 album 4 as a writer, musician and producer.
Bhasker worked again with Alicia Keys on her 2012 album, Girl on Fire, on the singles "Girl on Fire", and "Tears Always Win". He has also worked on the hit singles "Just Give Me a Reason" by Pink, Lana Del Rey's "Summertime Sadness", and Emeli Sandé's "My Kind of Love". Bhasker served as lead producer and co-writer for the band Fun's 2012 album, Some Nights, for which he received the 2013 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for the song "We Are Young". He was additionally nominated for Album of the Year, Record of the Year for "We Are Young", and Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.[12]
Bhasker co-wrote and co-produced Mark Ronson's single "Uptown Funk", which earned him a 2016 Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Additionally, he received the 2016 Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical for his achievements in producing that year, including work with Nate Ruess, Elle King, and Mikky Ekko.[13]
Discography
| Year | Artist | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Goapele | Closer Even Closer (2004 Columbia reissue) | Co-producer ("Things Don't Exist", "Salvation") Producer ("Butterflykisses") |
| 2005 | The Game | The Documentary | Co-producer ("The Documentary") |
| 2005 | Goapele | Change It All | Co-producer, co-writer ("First Love", "Battle Of The Heart") |
| 2008 | Kanye West | 808s & Heartbreak | Co-producer, co-writer ("Say You Will", "Welcome to Heartbreak", "Amazing" feat. Young Jeezy, "Love Lockdown", "Paranoid" feat. Mr Hudson, "RoboCop") |
| 2008 | Brandy | Human | Co-writer ("Long Distance") |
| 2009 | Jay Z | The Blueprint 3 | Co-producer, co-writer ("Run This Town" feat. Rihanna and Kanye West, "Already Home" feat. Kid Cudi) |
| 2009 | Kid Cudi | Man on the Moon: The End of Day | Co-producer, co-writer ("My World" feat. Billy Craven) |
| 2009 | Leona Lewis | Echo | Producer, co-writer ("Fly Here Now") |
| 2009 | Adam Lambert | For Your Entertainment | Producer, co-writer ("Fever") |
| 2009 | Alicia Keys | The Element of Freedom | Co-producer, co-writer ("Love Is Blind", "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart", "Wait Til You See My Smile", "Like the Sea") |
| 2009 | Robin Thicke | Sex Therapy: The Session | Co-producer, co-writer ("Meiplé" feat Jay-Z, "Elevatas" feat Kid Cudi, "Rollacoasta" feat. Estelle) |
| 2009 | Mary J. Blige | Stronger with Each Tear | Co-producer, co-writer ("City on Fire") |
| 2010 | Drake | Thank Me Later | Co-producer, co-writer ("Find Your Love", "Show Me A Good Time") |
| 2010 | Jasbir Jassi | Jassi – Back with a Bang | Co-producer ("Bang", "Kalaria", "Mela", "Baliye") |
| 2010 | Bruno Mars | Doo-Wops & Hooligans | Co-producer, Co-writer ("Talking to the Moon") |
| 2010 | Kid Cudi | Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager | Co-producer ("Mr. Rager") |
| 2010 | Kanye West | My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | Co-producer, co-writer ("Dark Fantasy", "Power", "All of the Lights", "Monster" feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, and Bon Iver, "Runaway" feat. Pusha T, "Lost in the World" feat. Bon Iver, "Who Will Survive in America") |
| 2011 | Natalia Kills | Perfectionist | Producer, co-writer ("Free", "Zombie", "Heaven", "Nothing Lasts Forever" feat. Billy Kraven, "If I Was God") |
| 2011 | Snoop Dogg | Doggumentary | Co-producer ("Eyez Closed" feat. Kanye West and John Legend) |
| 2011 | Beyoncé | 4 | Co-producer, co-writer ("I Care", "Rather Die Young", "Party" feat. André 3000) |
| 2011 | Jay Z and Kanye West | Watch the Throne | Co-producer, co-writer ("Lift Off" feat. Beyoncé, "The Joy" feat. Curtis Mayfield) |
| 2012 | Lana Del Rey | Born to Die | Co-producer ("Diet Mountain Dew", "National Anthem", "Carmen"), guitar on National Anthem |
| 2012 | fun. | Some Nights | Producer, co-writer ("Some Nights", "We Are Young", "Carry On", "It Gets Better", "Why Am I the One", "All Alone", "All Alright", "One Foot", "Stars") |
| 2012 | P!nk | The Truth About Love | Producer, co-writer ("Just Give Me a Reason" feat. Nate Ruess) |
| 2012 | Taylor Swift | Red | Producer ("Holy Ground", "The Lucky One") |
| 2012 | The Rolling Stones | GRRR! | Co-producer ("Doom and Gloom") |
| 2012 | Alicia Keys | Girl on Fire | Co-producer, co-writer ("Girl on Fire", "Tears Always Win") |
| 2012 | Bruno Mars | Unorthodox Jukebox | Co-producer, co-writer ("Young Girls", "Locked Out of Heaven", "Gorilla", "Moonshine") |
| 2013 | Dido | Girl Who Got Away | Co-writer ("Let Us Move On" feat. Kendrick Lamar) |
| 2013 | OneRepublic | Native | Co-producer, co-writer ("Can't Stop") |
| 2013 | Natalia Kills | Trouble | Co-producer, co-writer ("Television", "Problem", "Stop Me", "Boys Don't Cry", "Daddy's Girl", "Saturday Night", "Devils Don't Fly", "Outta Time", "Controversy", "Rabbit Hole", "Watching You", "Marlboro Lights", "Trouble") |
| 2013 | Eminem | The Marshall Mathers LP 2 | Co-producer, co-writer ("Headlights" feat. Nate Ruess) |
| 2014 | Ed Sheeran | x | Co-producer ("Photograph") |
| 2014 | La Roux | Trouble in Paradise | Composer ("Tropical Chancer") |
| 2014 | Mark Ronson | Uptown Special | Composer ("Uptown's First Finale", "Uptown Funk", "I Can't Lose", "Crack in the Pearl", "In Case of Fire", Leaving Los Feliz", "Heavy and Rolling", "Crack in the Pearl, Pt. II"); Co-producer ("Feel Right", "Daffodils") |
| 2015 | Cam | Untamed | Composer ("Burning House", "Runaway Train"), Co-producer |
| 2016 | Keith Urban | Ripcord | Producer ("Gone Today (Here Tomorrow)") |
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
| Year | Nominee/work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Run This Town" | Best Rap Song | Won |
| 2012 | "All of the Lights" | Song of the Year | Nominated |
| Best Rap Song | Won | ||
| 2013 | "We Are Young" | Record of the Year | Nominated |
| Song of the Year | Won | ||
| Some Nights | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| Producer of the Year, Non-Classical | Nominated | ||
| 2014 | "Locked Out of Heaven" | Record of the Year | Nominated |
| "Just Give Me a Reason" | Song of the Year | Nominated | |
| Red | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| 2015 | x | Album of the Year | Nominated |
| 2016 | "Uptown Funk" (as Producer) | Record of the Year | Won |
| Himself | Producer of the Year, Non-Classical | Won | |
References
- ↑ Horowitz, Steven J. (2013-01-09). "Fun. Producer Jeff Bhasker Caps Big Year With Grammy Nods". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
- ↑ "Grammy Awards 2016: See the Full Winners List". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
- ↑ Bhasker, Jeff (January 23, 2010). "Twitter / JeffBhasker: 6) I was born in Kansas city ka". Twitter.
- 1 2 Fekadu, Mesfin (January 31, 2013). "Producer Behind Fun. Takes Center Stage at Grammys". Yahoo News. Associated Press. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
- ↑ Small, Mark. "Producer on Fire". Berklee College of Music. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ↑ Barteau, Suzanne (February 15, 2012). "Socorro star shoots higher". El Defensor-Chieftain. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
- ↑ Tingen, Paul (October 2012). "Jeff Bhasker on mixing 'We Are Young'". Sound on Sound. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
- ↑ LeDonne, Rob (July 10, 2013). "Jeff Bhasker: Music's Go-To Guy". American Songwriter. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
- ↑ "Alumni Grammy Award Winners". Berklee College of Music. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
- ↑ Mirkin, Steven (2008-04-21). "Kanye West Glow in the Dark Tour". Variety. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
- ↑ Anderson, Kyle (2010-12-10). "Kanye West's 'Runaway' Is MTV News' #2 Song Of 2010". MTV. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ↑ Vasquez, Andres (2012-12-06). "Grammy Nominees Revealed; Frank Ocean, Drake & 2 Chainz Among Those Nominated | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
- ↑ "Grammy Awards 2016: See the Full Winners List". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-04-08.