Company type | Corporation |
---|---|
Industry | Music |
Founded | 1995 [1] |
Founders | Christopher "Tricky" Stewart Mark "E" Stewart |
Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Christopher "Tricky" Stewart Owner/Founder Mark E. Stewart Owner/Founder Judi Stewart Artist Management Terius "The-Dream" Nash Writer/Producer Kuk Harrell Writer/Producer |
Services | Music Production Music Composition Artist Management |
Number of employees | 9 (2008) [2] |
Website | RedZoneEntertainment.com |
RedZone Entertainment is an Atlanta-based, music-production entity. Redzone's discography includes collaborations with many artists, producers, and composers of note, and is responsible for over 25 million records sold. [1] RedZone Entertainment has produced acts such as P!nk, Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Ciara, Sting, Rihanna, and Justin Bieber. [3]
Founded in 1995 by music producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and artist manager Mark E. Stewart, RedZone Entertainment serves as both the parent company and production arm of the Stewart brothers' music business. This includes two publishing companies, an Atlanta recording studio, and an artist management company. [4]
The Stewart brothers grew up in a family heavily involved in the business of making music. Their mother and her two sisters were background singers for such artists as Aretha Franklin and Curtis Mayfield, and the trio were also jingle singers featured on many national ad campaigns. Their father and his brother operated a jingle company in Chicago whose clients included Ford Motor Company, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Bud Light, and many others. [5]
In 1989, Big brother Laney Stewart opened his own jingle company, Minute Men Music. This was the company that gave Mark, Tricky and Judi (Tricky's sister-in-law) their start as professionals in the music business, Tricky in the area of recording and music production, Mark and Judi in the area of business. In 1989 when Laney Stewart signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Famous Music, and the family left jingles and began writing and producing records full-time for major artists.
In 1990, at the age of 16, Tricky got his first major label placement when he produced a song entitled "Hold Me Tight" for MCA recording artist, Troy Hinton. In the next two years Tricky went on to produce records for Aaron Hall, Damion Hall, Immature and others.
In the fall of 1992 Mark and Tricky moved the RedZone base of operations from Chicago to Los Angeles.
In 1994, the Stewarts met record producer and songwriter L.A. Reid of LaFace records. Reid offered them a deal to move their production company to Atlanta, and the brothers accepted.
In 1995, with the support of Reid, his brother Mark Stewart, and his sister-in-law Judi Stewart, Tricky established RedZone Entertainment and Triangle Sound studios in West Buckhead, Atlanta, GA.
1998 was a pivotal year for RedZone Entertainment. Christopher "Tricky" Stewart wrote and produced JT Money's single "Who Dat", which featured rapper Solé. "Who Dat" reached #1 on the Billboard Rap chart and #5 on Billboards "Hot 100" in 1999. In 2000 Stewart and his writers penned Mýa's "Case of the Ex". The single debuted at #12 on the Hot Singles Sales and peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains Mýa's highest-charting solo single on the Hot 100 to date. [6]
Solé went on to sign with RedZone, who produced her album "Skin Deep" released in September 1999. "Skin Deep" peaked at #127 on the Billboard 200, and #27 on the top hip-hop albums chart. [7] The single off the album "4,5,6" was Ascap's "Female Rap Song of the Year." [8] 1998 was also the year RedZone discovered producers Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs and Eric "Nealante" Phillips who produced TLC's "No Scrubs" and Destiny's Child's "Bills, Bills, Bills". During this time, Redzone signed Music Producer Chuckey Charles, R&B singer Sam Salter, and R&B singer/songwriter Blu Cantrell.
In 2000, Tricky Stewart and producer/writer Tab started working with Blu Cantrell on a demo recording and helped her break into the business singing back up for such artists as Diddy, Gerald Levert, Aaron Hall, and Faith Evans. [9] Once the demo was complete L.A. Reid was invited to hear Cantrell, and he signed her immiediately to Arista Records. [9] Reid was quoted as saying:
"Her voice seemed to satisfy that yearning in my soul, not only for a great singer, but for a sound that I felt was missing in today's music."
Cantrell's debut album, So Blu , was released on July 31, 2001, debuting at number eight on the Billboard 200. [9] In 2001, Cantrell received nominations for Best New Artist from both the Grammy Awards and the American Music Awards as well as a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance for the song "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)". The song was written and produced by Dallas Austin, and spent weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. [10] In 2002, Cantrell was nominated for a Grammy Award and an American Music Award. She collaborated with RedZone on her follow-up album Bittersweet . [9]
In 2003, RedZone expanded from just a producer driven company to a creative community, fostering and collaborating with many writers and producers. The list over the years includes, but is not limited too, The-Dream, P. Magnet, Traci Hale, Tab, B. Cox, Kuk Harrell, Jazze Pha, Dallas Austin, Battery Five, Jermaine Dupri, Dean, J "Q" of The Clutch, Dru Castro, Todd Herfindel, J.B. of "the Movement", Zeke and Ciara. RedZone has served as the springboard for many influential writers, artists, producers, and music industry professionals.
In 2003 RedZone produced Britney Spears' "Me Against the Music" which featured Madonna. The song went on to become the first single off her record "In The Zone" and won the Billboard Music Award for Best-Selling Dance Single of the Year. This led to the enlistment of RedZone founder Tricky Stewart and one of his production partners P. Magnet to work on several more songs for the album. They wrote the lyrics for the Moby produced "Early Morning", recorded vocals for the R. Kelly-produced "Outrageous" and wrote and produced "The Hook Up", which had a reggae feel. [11]
Tricky described the Britney Spears project as "the tip of the iceberg" of RedZone's new style. [11]
"It's just a natural growth of what's going on in music," Tricky explained. "It's half rapping, half singing. It's young, it's beat driven, it's everything the kids are going to be looking for. It's a hip-hop dance genre. We don't have a name for it yet, but we're going to name it. We are not going to join the radio right now, we're going to fix it. We're going to change the way radio sounds." [11]
In 2004 vocal producer, songwriter and engineer Kuk Harrell joined and became a key player on the RedZone team. He would go on to co-write RedZone's production Rihanna's "Umbrella", as well as produce the vocal.
Released in March 2007, the RedZone production "Umbrella", performed by Barbadian singer Rihanna on the Def Jam Recordings album Good Girl Gone Bad , yielded the company's furthest commercial success. The song, co-written by Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Kuk Harrell, and Tricky Stewart, was produced by Stewart, with vocal production provided by Harrell. It featured an introductory verse by rapper Jay-Z, and peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks. The video for the song earned five nominations for MTV's 2007 Video Music Awards, and won for Smash Single Of The Year. "Umbrella" also won a Grammy Award from three nominations, and was met with generally positive reception from music critics.
Entertainment Weekly magazine placed "Umbrella" at the top of their list of the Ten Best Singles of 2007, [12] and Rolling Stone magazine declared it number three of the 100 Best Songs of the year; [13] it was also named Song of the Year in Blender magazine's Readers' Poll 2007. [14] In 2008, "Umbrella" won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
The RedZone staff suddenly found themselves in demand. Stewart, Nash, and Harrell closed out the year working with artists including Janet Jackson ("Greatest X" off Discipline), Jesse McCartney ("Leavin'" off the record Departure ), Celine Dion ("Skies of L.A." off her album Taking Chances ), and Usher ("Moving Mountains" and "This Ain't Sex" of his album Here I Stand ).
2007 saw another successful release for RedZone with the single "Bed (song)". The song was released June 19, 2007, it written by Terius Nash ("The-Dream) and sung/performed by J. Holiday on his debut album "Back of My Lac'". [15] "Bed" debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the issue week of July 4, 2007 at number 89 and peaked at number 5. [15] It was number 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for five weeks in a row. On Tuesday July 31, 2007 the song/single debuted on BET's 106 & Park countdown at number 9. On Wednesday, August 15, 2007,--its 11th day on the countdown-- "Bed" hit number one! The song was #70 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. [16] The video for "Bed" was ranked the #11 video of 2007 on BET's notorized.
Tricky Stewart co-wrote and produced the follow-up single "Suffocate", released on October 2, 2007. [17] The song peaked at #2 on Billboards "Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs", #5 on U.S. Billboards Rhythmic Top 40, and #55 on the U.S. Billboard Pop 100. J. Holiday was subsequently nominated for BET's "Best Male R&B Singer 2008".
The RedZone team contributed to two songs off Chris Brown's album "Exclusive" which was released on Oct 30, 2007. Terius "The-Dream" Nash wrote on "You" and "Gimme Watcha Got" featuring Lil' Wayne.
After the success of "Umbrella", and J. Holiday's "Bed", RedZone writer/producer "The-Dream" went on to artistic success with his own certified gold record "Love Hate". The album, executive produced by Tricky Stewart, was released on December 11, 2007 on the Def Jam label. "Love Hate" spawned three singles, "Shawty Is a 10", "Falsetto", and "I Luv Your Girl". The singles peaked on the Billboard hot R&B/Hip Hop song charts at #6, [18] #3, [19] and #3 [20] respectively. "The-Dream" is currently featured on Plies single "Please Excuse My Hands", which also features Jamie Foxx, as well as L.L. Cool J's "Baby", and Gym Class Heroes "Cookie Jar".
The RedZone team was nominated in 2007 for a Grammy for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" on Mary J. Blige's "Just Fine". "Just Fine", released October 16, 2007, was the leading single off Mary J.'s most recent album "Growing Pains", and was written by Tricky Stewart and Terius "The-Dream" Nash. It was produced by Tricky Stewart, and Kuk Harrell produced the vocals. Stewart also co-wrote and produced many of the tracks on the album "Growing Pains", Terius "The-Dream" Nash wrote on 6 of the album's tracks, and the vocals on all of the tracks but one were produced by Kuk Harrell.
The album, released on Dec 17, 2007, debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart [21] and number one on the R&B chart. In its second week the album climbed to number one on the Billboard 200 with 204,000 copies sold. [21] In the UK, the album entered the charts at Number 6, making it her highest charting album there since "No More Drama" in 2001 with first week sales of 21,755.
Released February 4, 2008, "Touch My Body" is a song co-written by American singer Mariah Carey, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Crystal "Cri$tyle" Johnson and Terius "The-Dream" Nash for Carey's eleventh studio album, E=MC². Produced by Carey, Stewart and Nash, it was released as the lead single off the album. The song is Carey's eighteenth number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 [22] and nominated for a 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.
A review in Billboard Magazine stated that "this sensual jam is 100% Mariah, packed with satisfying harmonic layers and hooky background 'oh's,' supersonic verses and a chorus as catchy as a winter sniffle", [23] and Blender stated that it was a "pop genius making genius pop". [24] Bill Lamb from About.com also gave "Touch My Body" a positive review, giving it 4 out of 5 stars, stating that the single "is simple, sexy elegance from one of the most enduring of pop stars". [25] Newsday also named it as the "Song of the Week", commenting that it was "the best opening single she's had since "Heartbreaker". [26] Digital Spy was also positive, saying "its cooing, sensual charms soon take hold, suggesting the wind's still very much behind the Carey comeback bandwagon". [27]
On March 10, 2008, Tricky Stewart, Terius "The-Dream" Nash, and Kuk Harrell co-created the single entitled "Leavin'" for Jesse McCartney's album "Departure" which was subsequently released on May 20, 2008. "Leavin'" peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, [28] #2 on the Billboard Pop 100 chart, [28] #1 on Billboard Hot Dance Club Play, [28] and #1 on Billboard Mainstream Top 40 singles chart. [28]
Leavin' stayed in the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 20 weeks. [29]
Tricky Stewart, Terius "The-Dream" Nash, and Kuk Harrell wrote and produced the hit single "One Time" for Canadian singer Justin Bieber's debut album, My World . The single was released on July 7, 2009. It peaked at #12 in Canada, and #17 in the U.S. and also did well internationally. They also produced "Baby for his My World (Part II) which charted at #3 in Canada and #5 in the U.S.
In early 2009, Tricky Stewart and Terius "The-Dream" Nash wrote and produced numerous songs on Ciara's third studio album, "Fantasy Ride", which was released on May 5, 2009. They both co-wrote and produced five songs titled "High Price", "Like a Surgeon", "Ciara to the Stage", "Lover's Thing", and "Keep Dancin' On Me" on the album.
In 2010, Tricky Stewart and The-Dream went in the studio at work on Ciara's fourth studio album titled "'Basic Instinct'", which is set for a release on December 14, 2010. The two executive-produced the entire album. The lead single from the album titled "Ride, was produced by the duo, the single was released on April 26, 2010. The single went on to become her twelfth top ten hit on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Tricky, The-Dream and Ciara are currently putting the finishing touches on the highly anticipated album. [30]
In December 2017; Laney Stewart produced 90's girl group Xscape (LaTocha Scott, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle-Harris, & Tamika Scott) as a trio minus Kandi Burress (Xscap3) to release the song "Dream Killa" with a follow-up by Pierre Medor titled "Here For It", with the EP executive produced by Tricky Stewart.
Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. Stewart, a five-time Grammy Award recipient, began producing music in 1992 and has contributed to unit sales of over 50 million for his work on commercially successful releases for hip hop, R&B and pop artists. Often in tandem with production partner and R&B singer The-Dream, he has been credited on the singles "Case of the Ex" (2000) by Mya, "Me Against the Music" (2003) by Britney Spears, "Umbrella" (2007) by Rihanna, "Just Fine" (2007) by Mary J. Blige, "Single Ladies " (2008) by Beyoncé, "Touch My Body" (2008) and "Obsessed" (2009) by Mariah Carey, "One Time" (2009) and "Baby" (2010) by Justin Bieber, "Ride" (2010) by Ciara, and "Water" (2023) by Tyla, among others.
Terius Adamu Ya Gesteelde-Diamant, better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He writes songs for artists in R&B and hip hop, often in tandem with production partner Tricky Stewart. Beginning with I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), he has been credited on each of American singer Beyoncé's subsequent albums.
Love/Hate is the debut album by American musician The-Dream. It was released on December 11, 2007, by Def Jam Recordings and Radio Killa Records during his emergence as a prominent songwriter-producer in R&B and pop music.
"Falsetto" is the second single from The-Dream's debut studio album, Love/Hate. The song is produced by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and was released on September 28, 2007.
"Just Fine" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige. It was written by Blige, Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Jazze Pha and Tricky Stewart for her eighth studio album, Growing Pains (2007), while production was helmed by Pha and Stewart. It was released as the album's lead single on October 16, 2007. The song peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, while also topping the US Hot Dance Club Play chart.
"Leavin'" is a song by American singer-songwriter Jesse McCartney, released as the lead single from McCartney's third studio album Departure (2008). Written and produced by Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, with additional writing by James Bunton and Corron Ty Cole, "Leavin'" was sent to U.S. mainstream radios on March 10, 2008.
Fantasy Ride is the third studio album by American singer Ciara, first released on May 3, 2009, by Jive Records, LaFace Records and Sony Music Entertainment. The album was recorded between 2007 and 2009. Ciara was executive producer on the album along with co-executive Mark Pitts and, Ciara worked with several record producers, including Blac Elvis, Benny Blanco, Blade, Jasper Cameron, The Clutch, Darkchild, Danja, Dr. Luke, Jason Nevins, Jim Beanz, Los da Maestro, Ne-Yo, Osinachi Nwaneri, Polow da Don, The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Justin Timberlake, T-Pain. The album featured several guest vocalists, including Justin Timberlake, Ludacris, Chris Brown, Young Jeezy, The-Dream, Missy Elliott.
Thaddis Laphonia "Kuk" Harrell is an American songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer. He was a member of a songwriting–production team composed of himself, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The-Dream" Nash. In 2011, Kuk Harrell and partner Tricky Stewart joined the ranks of Fox's American Idol along with music mogul Jimmy Iovine, producing many of the songs performed on television by the contestants and released via iTunes. 2011 marked the highly anticipated return of Jennifer Lopez and her album LOVE? in which Kuk served as Album Vocal Producer. Earning his fourth Grammy for the vocal production of Rihanna's No. 1 Billboard Single "Only Girl ", Harrell is also the vocal producer and co-writer of Rihanna's Grammy-winning single "Umbrella". A composer and engineer on Beyoncé's chart topping "Single Ladies " from the album I Am... Sasha Fierce, he is also vocal producer and engineer of the Diane Warren-penned "I Was Here" from Beyoncé's 2011 album 4. He also produced the majority of the vocals on Mary J. Blige's Platinum album Growing Pains, which won the 2008 Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. The first single from Growing Pains, "Just Fine", earned a Grammy nomination for best R&B vocal performance in 2007.
"Moving Mountains" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Usher. It was released on May 23, 2008, as the third single from his fifth studio album, Here I Stand. It was written by Usher with Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Kuk Harrell and The-Dream, and was produced by Stewart and The-Dream. "Moving Mountains" is a slow tempo ballad, with lyrics describing a love struggle.
"Baby" is the third single from rapper LL Cool J's thirteenth album, Exit 13. It features R&B singer The-Dream, who co-wrote and produced the song alongside record producer Tricky Stewart.
"Rockin' That Shit" is the first single from The-Dream's second studio album, Love vs. Money. The song features production by Tricky Stewart.
How to Be a Lady: Volume 1 is the debut album of American Electro-R&B group Electrik Red, released May 26, 2009 on Radio Killa and Def Jam Recordings. Production and songwriting for the album was handled primarily by The-Dream and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. How to Be a Lady is a pop and R&B album that incorporates elements of funk, electropop, dance, crunk&B, soul and hip hop, and contains lyrics concerning sexual and gender-related themes.
"Like a Surgeon" is a song recorded by American recording artist Ciara. Written by The-Dream and produced by Tricky Stewart, the song is included on her third studio album, Fantasy Ride. It was planned to be released as the third single from the album in North America, but its release was cancelled. It still manage to chart on the lower half of US R&B charts.
"Hard" is a song by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna from her fourth studio album, Rated R (2009). The song features a guest verse from American rapper Young Jeezy, credited only as "Jeezy" on the album. The artists co-wrote the song with its producers, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart. "Hard" was sent to radio by Def Jam Recordings on November 10, 2009, as the second United States single from Rated R. It is a hip hop song and features military horns, hissing synthesizers, sharp beats and piano chords.
"Ride" is a song by American recording artist Ciara. The song features American rapper Ludacris. It was co-written by Ciara, Ludacris, Tricky Stewart, and The-Dream, and produced by the latter two. The song served as the lead single from her fourth studio album, Basic Instinct. The song was first released for digital download on April 23, 2010. "Ride" is a down-tempo R&B song, featuring a heavy bass line and seductive tone.
Basic Instinct is the fourth studio album by American singer Ciara. It was released on December 10, 2010, by LaFace Records and Jive Records. Executive-produced by A&R agent Mark Pitts, Ciara, Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, Basic Instinct returns Ciara to her urban roots with mid-tempo R&B cuts and bass-heavy pop and dance songs. Aside from production by Stewart and The-Dream, Ciara collaborated with production by Soundz, Infinity and T-Minus. Frequent collaborator and friend Ludacris makes a guest vocal appearance, as does labelmate and fellow Atlanta-native, Usher. After her previous album, Fantasy Ride, suffered numerous leaks and pushbacks, information about Basic Instinct was kept confidential until the first single was released and album was complete.
Chuckey Charles is an American award nominated film composer, songwriter and record producer. He moves from pop to rap to R&B, and has produced, written and worked with Grammy Award winning songwriters, artist, and producers from Sean Garrett, Usher Raymond and Dallas Austin to writer/producer Jerry Ragavoy. He has also produced Kindred the Family Soul, Vega, Loon and Montell Jordan among others. He first became interested in music at a young age, where he started playing the guitar at the age of six and gradually moving on to the piano at the age of nine. Throughout his elementary and high school years he attended Rockford, Illinois, C.A.P.A. school for the creative and performing arts. He continued his musical interest where he became the composer of many musical compositions scored along with his orchestra instructor. After graduating from high school and attending a brief stint in college majoring in music theory, Chuckey Charles started to focus on larger aspirations of the music business and industry.
"Speechless" is a song by American singer-songwriter Ciara. The song was written by Ciara, The-Dream, and Tricky Stewart, with the latter two producing the song as well. Taken from her fourth studio album Basic Instinct, the song serves as the second single from the album. It was released in the United States as a digital download on September 7, 2010.
Laney Stewart is an American songwriter, music producer, musician, music publisher, music executive, manager and youth mentor. He has written, produced and published hits for some of the biggest names in R&B, hip hop and pop music over the past three decades.
"Betcha Gon' Know (The Prologue)" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey, from her twelfth studio album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009). It was co-written and co-produced by Carey, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, James "Big Jim" Wright and The-Dream. The song was recorded at several recording locations, including The Boom Boom Room in Burbank, California, the Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada and at Honeywest Studios in New York City. The lyrics revolve around the idea of outing a cheating boyfriend publicly on television, and Carey makes a reference to Oprah Winfrey and her chat show.