Young Guru

Young Guru

Young Guru at a panel discussion on hip hop and comics at the 2014 New York Comic Con
Background information
Born (1974-02-27) February 27, 1974
U.S.
Origin Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
Occupation(s) Audio engineer, record producer, DJ, record executive
Years active 1996-present
Labels Def Jam, Roc-A-Fella
Associated acts Jay-Z, Just Blaze
Website Young Guru's website

Gimel Androus Keaton (born February 27, 1974) better known by his stage name Young Guru, is an American audio engineer, record producer and DJ. Young Guru was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2011 for his work on "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. He has worked with many leading recording artists, and an April 2015 Wall Street Journal profile called him "the most famous and successful engineer in the history of hip-hop".[1]

Career

Young Guru acquired his moniker as a teen when he taught African history classes at a community center. He also used his name when he began working as a DJ while still a teenager.[2] In the early 1990s Young Guru bought his own amplifiers, lights and microphones which sparked his interest in music technology. He began DJ’ing in Washington DC in 1996, where he met singer/rapper Nonchalant, who had a top 20 single at the time, and became her tour DJ. Young Guru, who had taken piano lessons as a child, used the money he received from the tour to fund a six-month music recording course at Omega Recording Studios in Rockville, Maryland, which had a great impact on him. After Omega, Young Guru engineered Nonchalant’s second album, which was never released, but the producer, Chucky Thompson (Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans) recognized the young engineer’s potential and invited him to come and work with him in Washington DC. In 1999, Young Guru went independent and moved to New York, where he worked with Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie on his Madd Rapper project and with Memphis Bleek. The latter was signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, which led to Young Guru meeting Jay-Z.

Over the years Young Guru has been a major part of several artists' careers in addition to Jay-Z, including Beyoncé, Rihanna, Ludacris, Ghostface Killah, Freeway, Cam'ron, Redman & Method Man, Mariah Carey, Pete Rock, Fabolous, Talib Kweli, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and T.I.

He was the tour DJ for the 'Watch The Throne' world tour featuring Jay-Z and Kanye West.

In April 2015, Young Guru was named the Director Of Operations at 9th Wonder's record label It's a Wonderful World Music Group.[3]

Discography

Albums/scratches/production/mix

(CD, Comp, Promo) Hustlin’ (Remix) Def Jam Recordings (2006)

(Album) Surviving the Game Columbia (1999)

(CD) Doin’ Wrong DreamWorks (2000)

(CD, Album) Boy (I Need You), You MonarC, Island Records (2002)

(4xLP, Album) U Don’t Know (Remix) Roc-A-Fella Records (2002)

(12”) Roc-A-Fella Records (2002)

(CD, Single, Promo) Island Def Jam Music Group (2003)

(12”, Promo) Roc-A-Fella Records (2003)

(2003)

(2002)

(CD) Ladies’ Jam Fastlife (2005)

(CD) Roc-A-Fella Records (2003)

(12”) Roc-A-Fella Records (2004)

(12”, Promo) TVT Records (2004)

(12”, Promo) Jive (2004)

(12”, Promo) Virgin Records America, Inc. (2004)

(12”) Seven Heads (2004)

(12”) Sanctuary Records (2004)

(12”, Promo) Sanctuary Records (2004)

(12”, Promo) TVT Recordings (2004)

(12”, Promo) J Records (2005)

(12”) Geffen Records (2005)

(Album) Atlantic (2005)

(Album) Def Jam Recordings (2006)

(Album) Tooken Back Def Jam Recordings (2004)

(CD, Comp, Promo) The Champ Def Jam Recordings (2004)

Chicago-Rillas (12”, Max) J Records (2006)

(12”) Def Jam Recordings (2006)

(Album) Roc-A-Fella Records (2006)

(Album) Blacksmith Music (2007)

(12”) Geffen Records (2007)

(2xLP, Album, Ltd) Blacksmith (2008)

(Album) Nature Sounds (2008)

(Album) Def Jam Recordings (2009)

(Album) The Champ Def Jam Recordings (2004)

(Album) I’m Talkin’ To You Atlantic (2006)

(Album) Ignorant Sh*t Roc-A-Fella Records (2007)

(CD, Album) 9mm Interscope Records (2007)

(Album) Help Is Coming Atlantic (2007)

(Album) Nasty Girl Island Def Jam Music Group (2008)

More Than A Game (CD, Album) History Interscope Records (2009)

(CD, Album) RocNation (2009)

References

  1. ↑ Neal Pollack, "Young Guru Is the Most Influential Man in Hip-Hop You’ve Never Heard Of: Hip-hop’s most trusted sound engineer—he’s worked with Jay-Z for the past 16 years—is lending his talents to Silicon Valley and the next generation of sound innovators." The Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2015.
  2. ↑ http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec09/articles/it_1209.htm
  3. ↑ Harris, Christopher. "Young Guru Joins 9th Wonder's Jamla Records". hiphopdx.com. Complex Music. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
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