Jeff Bhasker | |
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Born | Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. | March 4, 1974
Origin | Socorro, New Mexico, U.S. |
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Years active | 2005–present |
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Jeffrey Nath Bhasker [2] (born March 4, 1974) is an American record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles. He won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year in 2016 and was nominated for the award in 2013.
Bhasker came to prominence as the primary producer of Kanye West's album 808s & Heartbreak (2008), and further worked with West on his subsequent albums including My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), Watch the Throne (2011), his tours, and later, Donda (2021). For other artists, Bhasker has also produced the albums Some Nights (2012) by Fun., Uptown Special (2015) by Mark Ronson, and Harry Styles' self-titled debut album (2017), among others.
Bhasker has received Grammy Awards for his work on the songs "Run This Town" for Jay-Z, "All of the Lights" for Kanye West, "We Are Young" for Fun., and "Uptown Funk" for Mark Ronson. [3] [4]
Bhasker was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and was raised in Socorro, New Mexico. [5] [6] His American-born mother is a pianist and his Telugu Indian-born father, Ravi Bhasker, is a medical doctor who has served as Socorro's mayor for over 24 years. Bhasker was introduced to jazz by his mother and his piano teacher. [7] 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. [8] [9]
Bhasker began his career gigging around Boston as a keyboardist and played in a wedding band. After playing with the 1970s-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. [10] One of his first productions was with neo soul singer Goapele, on her album Closer (2001). Bhasker produced a song on rapper The Game's first album, The Documentary (2005). [11]
Bhasker relocated to Los Angeles in 2005. He got a job doing demos for songwriter Diane Warren. [12] 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. [6]
Around 2007, Bhasker began his association with rapper/producer Kanye West. [13] Initially serving as a substitute keyboardist on the recommendation of his friend and West's tour DJ A-Trak, West was impressed with his musical ability and hired him for West's Glow in the Dark Tour as his musical director. [14] He was set to be the musical director for the cancelled Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga, before going on to be the music director of Lady Gaga's The Monster Ball Tour. [15] 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". [16] Bhasker and West reunited on "Come to Life" on 2021's Donda .
Following this period, Bhasker would go on to produce Fun's Some Nights (2012), Uptown Special (2015) with Mark Ronson, and Harry Styles' self-titled debut album (2017). Bhasker's collaborations span multiple genres, including his work with Alicia Keys, Mark Ronson, Kid Cudi, Cam, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Young Thug, and more.
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. [17]
His RIAA multi-platinum selling records include Kanye West's "Love Lockdown", "Runaway", "Monster" and "Power", Jay-Z's "Run this Town", Drake's "Find Your Love", Fun's "We Are Young", "Some Nights" and "Carry On", Pink's "Just Give Me a Reason", Bruno Mars' "Talking to the Moon" and "Locked out of Heaven", Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk", Rihanna's "Kiss it Better"and Harry Styles' "Sign of the Times".
As a vocalist, Bhasker has used the alias Billy Kraven (last name credited as Craven in the interview and in the record). He explained his reasons in an interview with GQ :
It kind of started out as me creating a character to be a songwriter. I wanted to keep it separate at first, but now I kind of like the idea that people know it’s me. It kind of defines the parameters. The Billy Craven stuff is a little bit darker, it deals with social themes like the war and death. It’s Blue-Eyed Soul meets Marilyn Manson. U.G.L.Y. is more a lighter side—a lot of humor and crassness—it’s commentary on a lot of these swaggy songs. It pokes a little fun at the state of contemporary pop and urban music.
[1] When speaking on the Billy Kraven's pseudonym in 2013, he said "I just thought it was a cooler sounding name, and I was making these kind of dark pop songs that suited it. It's kinda like Billy Joel meets Wes Craven." [18]
Year | Nominated work | Primary artist | Category | Results | Notes |
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2009 | "Swagga Like Us" | Jay-Z | Best Rap Song | Nominated | [19] |
2010 | "Run This Town" | Won | |||
2012 | "All of the Lights" | Kanye West | Won | ||
Song of the Year | Nominated | ||||
2013 | "We Are Young" | Fun | Won | ||
Record of the Year | Nominated | ||||
Some Nights | Album of the Year | Nominated | |||
Himself | Producer of the Year, Non-Classical | Nominated | |||
2014 | "Locked Out of Heaven" | Bruno Mars | Record of the Year | Nominated | |
"Just Give Me a Reason" | Pink | Song of the Year | Nominated | ||
Red | Taylor Swift | Album of the Year | Nominated | ||
2015 | x | Ed Sheeran | Nominated | ||
2016 | "Uptown Funk" | Mark Ronson | Record of the Year | Won | |
Himself | Producer of the Year, Non-Classical | Won | |||
2017 | "Kiss It Better" | Rihanna | Best R&B Song | Nominated | |
2022 | Donda | Kanye West | Album of the Year | Nominated |
Mark Daniel Ronson is a British-American musician, DJ, record producer, songwriter, and remixer. He has won eight Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album Back to Black (2006), as well as two for Record of the Year with her 2006 single "Rehab" and his own 2014 single "Uptown Funk". He has also won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Golden Globe and a Grammy Award for co-writing "Shallow" for the film A Star Is Born (2018). Ronson served as lead and executive producer for the soundtrack to the 2023 fantasy comedy film Barbie, on which he also composed and co-wrote several of its songs with his production partner Andrew Wyatt. The soundtrack won three Grammy Awards—"What Was I Made For?" won Song of the Year and Best Song Written for Visual Media, while the parent album won Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media—from 11 nominations, as well as an Academy Award for Best Original Song from two nominations.
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"See You in My Nightmares" is a song by American rapper Kanye West, featuring fellow rapper Lil Wayne, from the former's fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008). The song was written by West, No I.D., Jeff Bhasker and Lil Wayne. with production from the former two. It was scheduled to be released as the album's third single on March 10, 2009, ultimately being canceled in favor of "Amazing". A club number with an electronic beat, it relies on strings and synths. Lyrically, West and Lil Wayne discuss relationship troubles.
"Amazing" is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008). The song features a guest appearance from Young Jeezy, and includes background vocals from Mr Hudson and Tony Williams. It was produced by West, while co-produced by Jeff Bhasker. The producers wrote the song alongside Malik Yusef, Consequence, Jeff Bhasker, and Young Jeezy. The song was serviced to US rhythmic contemporary and urban contemporary radio stations as the third single from the album on March 10, 2009, by Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam. A hip hop song with heavy pop influences, it features piano. Lyrically, West sings an attempt to capture part of his former bravado.
"Welcome to Heartbreak" is a song by American rapper and record producer Kanye West from his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008). The song features a guest appearance from Kid Cudi on his debut collaboration with West, as well as background vocals by Jeff Bhasker. It was produced by West, with co-production from Bhasker and Plain Pat; the three of them served as the songwriters alongside Kid Cudi. The inspiration behind the song was a conversation West had with Dave Sirulnick, who showed him some pictures of his children. A hip pop number, it has electronic instrumentation that is reliant on piano. In the lyrics of the song, West mentions trying to fill the lack of substance in his life with extravagant materialistic items.
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"Coldest Winter" is a song by American record producer and vocalist Kanye West from his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008). The song was produced by West, with co-production from No I.D. and Jeff Bhasker. The producers served as songwriters alongside Roland Orzabal, who received a writing credit as a result of music that he wrote being interpolated. In October 2008, the song was previewed via Power 106. An electropop number, it interpolates Tears for Fears' "Memories Fade". In the lyrics, Kanye mourns the death of his mother, Donda West.
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