Kuk Harrell

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Kuk Harrell


Also_Known_As = "Kuk"
Born = birth date|1964|12|30
Genre = Pop, R&B, Worship Music, Rap/Hip-Hop,
Occupation = Songwriter, Vocal Producer, Arranger and Engineer
Years_active = 1992–present
Associated_acts = Rihanna, Jay-Z, Ciara, Chris Brown, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Diane Warren, Janet Jackson, and many others

Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell is an Atlanta-based songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer. He is managed by RedZone Entertainment, and is a member of a songwriting/production team comprised of himself, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The Dream" Nash. Harrell is the vocal producer and co-writer of Rihanna's Grammy winning single "Umbrella". He also produced the majority of the vocals on Mary J. Blige's Platinum album "Growing Pains", including the first single "Just Fine", which earned a grammy nomination for best R&B vocal performance in 2007. Kuk Harrell is also signed to a worldwide publishing deal with Sony/ATV U.K. [Lars Brandle, Billboard.biz, June 1, 2007] , and is considered one of the most sought after vocal producers in the industry. [Myiah Hughes, theindustrycosign.com, June 1, 2007]

Biography

Harrell's music career began in his native Chicago, where he performed as a drummer and a vocalist before becoming a session musician. [Katherine Fulton, www.allmusic.com] He soon became a commercial writer and producer, working for Joy Art Music, contributing to major ad campaigns for McDonald's, Kraft, Coca-Cola and many others. After relocating to Los Angeles with his writing and production partner, Laney Stewart in 1992, Harrell then added worship leader to his repertoire, and became a touring vocalist and choir director for Promise Keepers as well. During this time, he sang on tracks written and produced by Diane Warren and David Foster. [Katherine Fulton, www.allmusic.com]

2004 brought Harrell to Atlanta, where he joined his cousin Tricky Stewart at RedZone Entertainment as a writer, producer, and engineer.

In 2007, Harrell’s composition and production talents on Rihanna’s record breaking hit "Umbrella" won him a Grammy for "Best Rap/Song Collaboration [New York Times "Arts" 2/12/08] , a Grammy nomination for "Record of the Year" [Jeff Leads New York Times "Arts" 12/7/07] , and a Grammy nomination for "Song of the Year." [Jeff Leeds New York Times "Arts" 12/7/07] The song "Umbrella" also won MTV’s “Smash Video of the Year Award” [www.mtv.com] , and ASCAP’s “Pop Music Award” [ascap.com] which recently honored “Umbrella” as one of the most performed pop songs of the year 2007. Umbrella was the most successful song of 2007, getting 8,160,000 points on the United World Chart. [United World Chart Countdown 2007] Time magazine named "Umbrella" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #3. [Time magazine's Top 10 Songs of 2007 at time.com] Writer for Time magazine, Josh Tyrandiel, cited Rihanna's vocal performance and special talent for vocal innuendo as the reason he declared it "The Sexiest Song of 2007." [Tyrangiel, Josh; "The Best Top 10 Lists of the Year"; "The 10 Best Songs"; Time magazine; December 24, 2007; Page 39.] Umbrella was set at #2 at the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart, behind Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable". [Billboard 2007 Year In Music]

Harrell's vocal production on Mary J. Blige’s hit album “Growing Pains” earned him a Grammy nomination for best female R&B vocal performance 2007 on the first single entitled "Just Fine" [www.grammy.com] . The upcoming release of Usher’s new project features his songwriting and production talents, as do the songs of artists such as Celine Dion, Ciara, “The Dream”, Chris Brown, Jesse McCartney, and many of today’s new artists.

Recently, Jesse McCartney's "Leavin'" produced by Harrell and Stewart, debuted at number 5 on iTunes.

Discography/Credits

Nominations/Awards

References

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External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/kuksworld/ myspace.com - Official myspace page]
* [http://www.redzoneentertainment.com/ RedZoneEntertainment.com - Business Site]
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