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Grammy Award Winning Songwriter, Vocal Producer, Arranger, Engineer. For Kuk Harrell, one of today’s most sought after vocal producers on one of the hottest writing and production teams in the industry, success starts with being open to the creative process and letting it all flow. While this is half of the equation, the other half is Kuk’s indescribable ability to interpret music. With his composition and production talents on Rihanna’s record breaking hit “Umbrella”, Harrell swept the music industry’s most prestigious awards in 2007. He won a Grammy, three Grammy nominations, MTV’s “Smash Video of the Year Award”, ASCAP’s “Pop Music Award” and ASCAP’s “Rhythm and Soul Award”. At any given time, Kuk Harrell’s imprint is on many of the songs that are dominating today’s Billboard charts. Though Kuk works with some of the biggest artists in the business, he insists on keeping things simple. Whether he’s in the studio producing vocals on a track with the legendary Sting, an emotional ballad with Celine Dion, a pop/ R&B classic with Usher, or guiding a newly signed artist, Kuk’s goal is “…to take the artist to a level vocally that they’ve never been to before.” In 2004, Kuk joined his cousin super-producer Tricky Stewart at the Atlanta-based RedZone Entertainment. His years working with various genres of music and personalities allowed him to contribute the gift of diplomacy to the team’s creative process. “Over time, I learned a lot about yielding, being open and patient. My experience prepared me to be able to gel within a team. Many teams are short-lived because the members are out to prove something individually. At RedZone, we’re out to prove something together.” According to Kuk, the ingredients of successful songwriting and production are: God-given talent, patience, professionalism and efficiency. “This business moves fast, you need to get in the studio and create quickly and precisely. This can be very challenging. Working with any artist can feel like marrying a stranger. You have to commit and produce something beautiful, without the advantage of getting to know each other first. You have to create a comfortable atmosphere and build a rapport with the artist, so you feel instantly familiar and connected. I do my homework before every project. I’m at the studio at least two hours early, that way I’m prepared. It’s important to stay a few steps ahead of the artist in order to utilize everyone’s time productively and efficiently” he explains. Today, Kuk Harrell is simply one of the most in-demand vocal producers and songwriters in the business. With a worldwide publishing deal with Sony/ATV U.K. and under the management of M.E.S. Management, Harrell and his teammates ‘C. “Tricky” Stewart’ and ‘Terius “The-Dream” Nash’ form an unstoppable hit songwriting and production team. Right now, they are busy creating the smash hit records that define this musical generation. In 2008, His vocal production on Mary J. Blige’s hit album “Growing Pains” is received glowing critical acclaim, already earning a Grammy nomination for best female R&B vocal performance 2007 on the first single entitled “Just Fine”. The album won a Grammy for Best contemporary R&B record, 2008. The 2008 release of Usher’s “Here I Stand” features his songwriting and production talents, most notably the chart topping single “Movin’ Mountains”. One of the epic releases of 2008, Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”, was co-written by Harrell. The current songs of heavyweight artists such as Celine Dion, Ciara, “The-Dream”, Chris Brown, Lionel Richie and Jesse McCartney benefit from his musical gift, as do the projects of many of today’s hottest up and comers. Kuk Harrell continues to reign at the top of his field. When asked about the future, Kuk answers without hesitation. “Along with continuing to write and produce chart topping songs, my vision is to introduce great new talent to the world and take them to the highest levels of success, to discover and develop artists that have something powerful to say to us with their music, that are full of life and hope.” In addition to winning Grammys and providing today’s top artists with superstar production, Harrell has recently started signing artists he’s developed to his production company, Suga Wuga Music, Inc. In a joint venture, Suga Wuga Music and RedZone Entertainment are currently preparing to release a powerful young female pop group discovered and nurtured by Harrell. |
| Clients / Artists / Kuk Harrell |
