Ash Winston Riser (August 29, 1989 – June 12, 2021), also known by his former stage name Ashtrobot, was an American

recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

and

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. Born and raised in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, he embarked on his music career when he was 15 years old, forming a rock band called Pistol Pistol (stylized P!stol P!stol). Due to differences between members, the band broke up in 2009 and Riser subsequently began to put his focus on music production, fusing

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

and hip hop music, among other genres. Riser later began working with longtime friend,

Derek Ali Derek Ali (born November 1, 1989), better known by his moniker MixedByAli, is an American mixing engineer. His career began in Los Angeles in the late 2000s recording and mixing for Top Dawg Entertainment artists Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, SZA an ...

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label founded in 2004, by CEO Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Terrence "Punch" Henderson is president of the label. There are currently eleven artists signed to the label: the label's f ...

, who introduced him to West Coast rapper

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

, with whom he began heavily collaborating. Riser would go on to sign a record deal with Israeli music producer

Borgore Yosef Asaf Borger ( he, יוסף אסף בורגר; born 20 October 1987), known professionally as Borgore, is an Israeli EDM producer, DJ, singer-songwriter and rapper. He is the founder of the label Buygore Records. Biography Yosef Asaf ...

's record label, Buygore and also had a production deal with Chest Rockwell Entertainment. During his life, Riser had played multiple sold-out shows with fellow label-mates and musicians such as ETC! ETC!, Kennedy Jones,

Ookay Abraham Laguna, known by his stage name Ookay, is an American electronic music producer, DJ and singer. Career Laguna is based in Los Angeles and his father is a bassist who performed a bass solo during Ookay's Father's Day set at EDC 2015. ...

, Protohype and

Dirtyphonics Dirtyphonics is a French electronic music band from Paris, consisting of members Charly Barranger and Julien "PitchIn" Corrales. Their music style is based on dubstep, drum and bass, drumstep. In 2008, Dirtyphonics signed on Shimon's label A ...

. In 2016, Riser received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for his contributions on Kendrick Lamar's ''

To Pimp a Butterfly ''To Pimp a Butterfly'' is the third studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 15, 2015, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album was recorded in studios throughout the U ...

.''

Life and career

Ash Winston Riser was born on August 29, 1989, in

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ''round'') is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Sa ...

. It was here he first encountered music and founded his

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band, Pistol Pistol (stylized P!stol P!stol), at the young age of 15. The band, which he formed with high-school classmates, initially started out as a

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. ...

, covering songs by

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

and

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio Mor ...

, among other bands. His first serious music project !stol P!stol was a great success with appearances on ''The Drop'' on Sí TV and music featured on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

. During their time together, P!stol P!stol released an album titled ''The Cause''. However, due to differences between members, the band broke up in 2009. Since the break-up of his band, he decided to spend countless hours in the studio perfecting his style and sound, producing

bass music Bass music is a term used to describe several genres of electronic dance music and hip hop music arising from the 1980s on, focusing on a prominent bass drum and/or bassline sound. As one source notes, there are "many different types of bass musi ...

. While focusing on music production after P!stol P!stol's disbandment, Riser got a phone call from his longtime high-school friend, Derek Ali, better known as MixedByAli, the in-house

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

of West Coast indie record label,

(TDE). Ali asked Riser to come by the studio and record vocals with an artist he was producing for named

, a Compton-based rapper. Lamar and Riser had an instant musical synergy, with Lamar finding Riser's voice to be very original and complementary to his own. Lamar appreciated that Riser used his voice as a musical instrument to add more soul to tracks. In 2009, Riser was featured on Lamar's debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP), ''

'', on a

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

titled "Determined". Lamar and Riser collaborated again in 2010, for Lamar's '' Overly Dedicated'' project, appearing on the song "Barbed Wire". In 2011, Riser was featured on Lamar's '' Section.80'' project, lending his vocals on the tracks, "Keisha's Song" and "Ronald Reagan Era". In July 2011, Riser released an EP under his label, D.R.E.A.M. Brigade Recordings. The EP, titled ''21st Century Electric Church Music'', is a collection of songs compiled by different artists and includes Riser's song, "Ghetto Blastuh". Riser then began collaborating with Lamar's Black Hippy cohort and TDE label-mate, Ab-Soul. Riser was featured on "Beautiful Death", from Ab-Soul's 2012 project, '' Control System''. In 2013, Riser signed a recording contract with Israeli music producer

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Buygore, as well as his management company, Buygore Management. Around that time, Riser also signed a production deal with Chest Rockwell Entertainment, founded by Greg Ogan and Spencer Neezy. On April 22, 2015, Riser released an EP titled ''Modern Medicine'', which he mixed,

mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

, produced and recorded by himself. In June 2015, when asked if he was still with Buygore, Riser responded with: "not since 2014". On June 22, 2016, Riser released his third EP that year, titled ''R.I.S.E.'', which includes productions from

808 Mafia 808 Mafia is an American record production and songwriting team, founded by record producers Southside, TM88, and Lex Luger. Southside is currently at the helm of the group. The group also includes producers Young Miami , Fuse 100, Tarentino, ...

Metro Boomin Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), professionally known as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer, record executive, beatmaker, and DJ. He is known for his dark production style and its influence on modern hip hop and trap. ...

Sonny Digital Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke (born March 5, 1991), better known by his stage name Sonny Digital, is an American record producer, rapper, and DJ.

TM88 Bryan Lamar Simmons (born April 4, 1987), professionally known as TM88 (also known as TrackMan 88), is an American record producer and DJ from Atlanta, Georgia. He is a member of the Atlanta-based record production and songwriting team 808 Mafi ...

and

Zaytoven Xavier Lamar Dotson (born January 12, 1980), professionally known as Zaytoven, is an American trap music record producer, disc jockey, and keyboardist from Atlanta, Georgia. He has released collaborative projects with artists including Gucci Ma ...

Death

Riser was one month away from releasing his second studio album, ''H.O.P.E.'', when he unexpectedly died in the early hours of June 12, 2021. His death was a shock across the Los Angeles music scene, and several of his fellow musicians paid tribute to him.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

;As lead artist ;As featured artist

Guest appearances

Remixes

;2010 *"Glaciers (Ashtrobot remix)" by Her Majesty & the Wolves ;2011 *"When I Look At You (Ashtrobot remix)" by Emalkay *"

She Will "She Will" is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne featuring Canadian rapper Drake, released as the fourth single from the former's ninth studio album, ''Tha Carter IV''. It was released as a digital download and was added to rhythmic radio stati ...

(Ashtrobot remix)" by

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

*"Beg for Mercy (Ashtrobot remix)" by

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Since 2009, he has sold over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide. Lambert is known for his dynamic vocal performances that fuse his theatrical tra ...

*"Purple Swag (Ashtrobot remix)" by

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

;2014 *"Oakland (Ash Riser remix)" by Vell *" No Type (Ash Riser remix)" by

Rae Sremmurd Rae Sremmurd ( ; "Drummers Ear" spelled backwards) is an American hip hop duo originating from Tupelo, Mississippi, formed by two brothers, Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee. In 2013, they signed a record deal with Mike Will Made It's EarDrummers imp ...

;2015 *"Run Ricky Run (Ashtrobot remix)" by Manolo Rose

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

{, class="wikitable" !Year !Nominated work !Award !Result , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, ''

'' (as background vocalist) ,

Best Rap Album The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories ...

References

External links

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