Ernest Brown (born November 10, 1989), professionally known as Charlie Heat, is an American record producer, songwriter and record executive. In 2015, he signed to Very Good Beats, a subsidiary of

GOOD Music GOOD Music (also known simply as GOOD, stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label signed an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with t ...

, which is run by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

. Since making his debut into the mainstream music realm, Brown has worked with a wide array of artists such as

Denzel Curry Denzel Rae Don Curry (born February 16, 1995) is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Carol City, Florida, Curry started rapping while in the sixth grade and began working on his first mixtape in 2011. Influenced by underground Flor ...

Lil Uzi Vert Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. They are characterized by their face tattoo, facial tattoos, facial piercings, eccentric hairstyles and androgynous ...

Tommy Genesis Genesis Yasmine Mohanraj, known by her stage name Tommy Genesis, is a Canadian rapper. In 2016, ''Dazed'' magazine described her as "the internet's most rebellious underground rap queen". Her music incorporates experimental style and often sexu ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...

Young Buck David Darnell Brown (born March 15, 1981), best known by his stage name Young Buck, is an American rapper. He heads his own record label, Cashville, and was a member of the former hip hop group G-Unit. Early life Brown was born in Nashville, Te ...

Lecrae Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979), mononymously known as Lecrae, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the president, co-owner and co-founder of the ind ...

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...

and Travis Scott among others. Charlie Heat is the only producer featured on the track list for the Kanye West album ''

The Life of Pablo ''The Life of Pablo'' is the seventh studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 14, 2016, through GOOD Music and distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions took place from 2013 to 2016, in It ...

''.

Early life

Brown was born in

Woodbury, New Jersey Woodbury is the county seat of Gloucester County, New Jersey, Gloucester County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the South Jersey region of the state.

on November 10, 1989. His mother and father worked as an immigration lawyer and a musician respectively. Early on in life, Brown was highly interested in basketball and music.

Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson (; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) at both the shooting guard and point guard positions. Iver ...

was a muse for the young boy According to Brown, his father highly influenced his musical interest, and while they attended a viewing of ''

Drumline Marching percussion instruments are instruments specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum(s) to a special harness (also called a carrier or rack) worn by the drummer, although not all marching bands us ...

'', Brown decided to solely focus on music. He attended

Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Found ...

on a musical scholarship as a part of the drumline at

HBCUs Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

. It was here that he received the alias "The Human Torch", which would later transform into Charlie Heat.

Influences

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

Selena Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mex ...

and

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

have been cited as influences, and inspired him through their musical works. There is a noticeable Latin sound in the works of Charlie Heat, as evident in the song "

Undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

", and this influence is partly due to his interest in music from Mexican-American vocalist Selena, and Cuban vocalist,

Celia Cruz Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during t ...

, a notable Cuban singer. Charlie had piano instruction by his father at an early age, and this was a positive influence that has helped shape the talented producer into a great force in the recording industry.

Critical reception

''HotNewHipHop'' wrote of Heat's "impressive production discography", praising “Facts (Charlie Heat Version)” from ''The Life of Pablo''. Danny Schwartz wrote about Heat's remix of

Gucci Man Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the Hip hop music, hip hop subgenre of Trap music (hip hop), trap music alongside fellow Atlanta- ...

e's song "Trap House" saying of it, "His remix of the song is the standout of his new 5-track EP of remixes, ''Till August''." Bryan Hahn wrote that "Charlie Heat is a name you’ll be seeing a lot more of in 2017." Hahn also wrote: "He’s been consistently delivering quality remixes." In a later article, Hahn wrote that, "Charlie Heat had a great 2016. And he’s not kicking back to rest on his laurels." Christopher Harris, writing in ''

HipHopDx ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

'', calls him "...an upstart beat-maker who has already worked on tracks for Madonna, Pusha T, Kanye and

Vic Mensa Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense) ...

." James Elliott, writing for ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'', said that "Charlie Heat might not be on your radar yet, but he will be when this year is over."

Awards and nominations

Heat received three

Grammy 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 pre ...

nominations for his work on ''The Life of Pablo''.

Discography

Solo discography

Production discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heat, Charlie 1989 births Living people American hip hop record producers 21st-century American composers People from Woodbury, New Jersey