James John "JHart" Abrahart Jr. (born 12 June 1988) is a British singer, songwriter, record producer and arranger, based in Los Angeles. Signed by
Mike Caren
Michael Caren is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher, A&R representative, and music executive. He is the current CEO (and founder) of Artist Partner Group and Creative Officer at Warner Music Group. He is also the founder o ...
to Artist Publishing Group in 2013, he has been nominated for several Grammy Awards and worked with popular artists including
Usher,
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
,
Camila Cabello
Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (; ; born March 3, 1997) is a Cuban-born American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. While in ...
,
Kygo
Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll (born 11 September 1991), known professionally as Kygo (), is a Norwegian DJ and music producer. He garnered international attention with his December 2013 remix of the track " I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran and his December 20 ...
,
Chris Brown,
Little Mix,
Martin Garrix
Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix and also as Ytram and GRX, is a Dutch disc jockey and music producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—201 ...
,
OneRepublic,
Jennifer Lopez,
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...
,
Jon Bellion
Jonathan David Bellion (born December 26, 1990) is an American singer, rapper, and songwriter. He was born and raised in Lake Grove, New York on Long Island. He is best known for his song "All Time Low," along with his writing and producing cred ...
,
Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer. She began songwriting as a child and signed with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing her debut studio album the following year, '' The First Time''. H ...
and
Kevin Gates
Kevin Jerome Gilyard (born February 5, 1986), better known by his stage name Kevin Gates, is an American rapper, singer, and entrepreneur. He is currently signed to Bread Winners' Association with a partnership with Atlantic Records. His debut ...
. His output has amassed over 25 million in sales.
Early life
Born in Essex, UK, he spent most of his childhood in
Brentwood with his parents, brother and two sisters. His first introduction to music came when his parents bought him a drum kit, after he suffered a serious skiing accident during a school trip to the Alps. He attended Brentwood Preparatory School until the age of 12, when his parents decided to move to
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Georgia to establish the family business overseas.
Abrahart's passion for writing music intensified after joining his school gospel choir in Atlanta, with whom he sang regularly. At home he began to create and mix beats, inspired by the music of Usher, Kirk Franklin and J Moss. In 2008, Abrahart was offered a 12-month internship with producer
Polow da Don
Jamal Fincher Jones (born October 15, 1977, or 1978), professionally known as Polow da Don, is an American record producer and rapper.
Jones has produced a variety of singles for a multitude of artists including "Anaconda" by Nicki Minaj (2014 ...
where he was first introduced to the professional music scene, and just a year later he achieved his first professional breakthrough,
Priscilla Renea's "Pretty Girl" on her 2009 album ''
Jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to sele ...
''.
Music career
Major breakthrough
Abrahart's major breakthrough came in 2011, through a chance e-mail to manager
Mike Caren
Michael Caren is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher, A&R representative, and music executive. He is the current CEO (and founder) of Artist Partner Group and Creative Officer at Warner Music Group. He is also the founder o ...
, who was impressed with the tracks, and consequently flew Abrahart to Los Angeles to work with Cody Simpson. That same year, he worked on projects for Flo Rida, Wynter Gordon and Karmin, before re-locating to Los Angeles the following year at the age of 22.
During the summer of 2012, Abrahart received widespread attention for his track "Take You", which featured on
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
's third studio album ''
Believe''. The album reached No. 1 in 16 countries, and sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Bieber performed the song the following year at the 2013
''Billboard'' Music Awards.
Notable work
That same year, Abrahart penned
Trey Songz
Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, '' Trey Day' ...
' UK single "Never Again" from his studio album
''Chapter V'', and co-wrote
Jason Derulo's "Undefeated", which was performed by Derulo on the
season 11 finale of ''American Idol''. A year later he collaborated again with Derulo, this time on "Tattoo", the title track for his
third studio album. In 2014, Abrahart achieved greater commercial success, with releases from
Timeflies
Timeflies is an American pop-rap duo formed in October 2010 consisting of Cal Shapiro (b. October 3, 1988) and Rob Resnick (b. May 26, 1989). They are known for their popular original music and popular YouTube covers. They first performed togeth ...
,
Inna
Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu (born 16 October 1986), known professionally as Inna (stylized in all caps), is a Romanian singer. Born in Mangalia and raised in Neptun, she studied political science at Ovidius University before meeting the Ro ...
and
Pitbull
Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...
,
Fifth Harmony
Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, was an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and previously Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group sig ...
, and most notably Songz' single "Change Your Mind", from his sixth studio album
''Trigga'', which reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200.
In January 2015, Abrahart collaborated with Derulo and
Hardwell
Robbert van de Corput (; born January 7, 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by ''DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 ...
on the track "Follow Me Home", which was released on the DJ's debut studio album ''
United We Are
''United We Are'' is the debut studio album by Dutch DJ and record producer Hardwell. It was released on 23 January 2015 by Cloud 9 Music, Revealed Recordings, Sony Music and Ultra Music.
Singles
" Young Again" was released as the lead single ...
''. The album reached No.1 in the Netherlands and No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
On 17 March 2015,
Martin Garrix
Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix and also as Ytram and GRX, is a Dutch disc jockey and music producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—201 ...
released his new single "
Don't Look Down" featuring
Usher, which was co-written by Abrahart. The track is the first official single from Garrix's upcoming debut album, set to be released later this year. The single reached No. 9 in the UK Charts. The same day,
Atlantic Records released the soundtrack album for the film ''
Furious 7
''Furious 7'' (also known as ''Fast & Furious 7'') is a 2015 American action film directed by James Wan and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast & Furious 6'' (2013) and '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006), and ser ...
'', which features Abrahart's collaboration with
and Chloe Angelides, "How Bad Do You Want It (Oh Yeah)". The track was released as a promotional single on 23 February 2015.
In November 2015,
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
released his ''Billboard'' No. 1 album ''
Purpose.'' Abrahart co-wrote two songs on the album, including "
Mark My Words" and the single "
Company" (#53 ''Billboard'' Hot 100). That same month,
Fleur East
Fleur East (born 29 October 1987) is an English singer-songwriter, rapper and radio presenter on Hits Radio. She competed on the second series of the televised singing competition ''The X Factor'' in 2005 as a member of the girl group Addicti ...
released her debut single "
Sax", which was co-written by Abrahart. The single has since been certified Platinum.
In 2016, Abrahart co-wrote Keith Urban's hit single "
Wasted Time" from his album ''
Ripcord.'' The single reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay Chart and the album debuted at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums Chart.
JHart also co-wrote
Kevin Gates
Kevin Jerome Gilyard (born February 5, 1986), better known by his stage name Kevin Gates, is an American rapper, singer, and entrepreneur. He is currently signed to Bread Winners' Association with a partnership with Atlantic Records. His debut ...
' "Know Better", which is featured on the ''
Suicide Squad
The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...
''
Soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
.
Featured artist
In the summer of 2012, Abrahart made his debut as a recording artist under his alias "JHart", his vocals featuring on
Paul Oakenfold
Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mas ...
's dance hit "Surrender". In 2014, he penned and featured on
Dirty South's "One Breath" from the album ''With You'', and the following year, his collaboration with
Vicetone
Vicetone is a Dutch electronic music DJ and production duo formed by Ruben den Boer ((), born 22 January 1992) and Victor Pool (born 9 July 1992) from Groningen. The duo began as a DJ act, and in 2013, they were voted into the ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 ...
, "Follow Me", was announced as the anthem for the 2015
Ultra Music Festival
Ultra Music Festival (UMF) is an annual outdoor electronic music festival that takes place during March in Miami, Florida, United States. The festival was founded in 1999 by Russell Faibisch and Alex Omes.
It was first held on Miami Beach, ...
. The track was premièred online by ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' the day before its official release.
On 18 May 2015,
Tritonal
Tritonal is a mixture of 80% TNT and 20% aluminium powder, used in several types of ordnance such as air-dropped bombs. The aluminium improves the total heat output and hence impulse of the TNT — the length of time during which the blas ...
released "Untouchable", their new collaboration with fellow dance group
Cash Cash
Cash Cash is an American electronic music group from Roseland, New Jersey. The group consists of three DJs / musicians: brothers Jean Paul Makhlouf, Alex Makhlouf and Samuel Frisch. They produce, record, mix and master all their music together a ...
. The single features the vocals of Abrahart.
Abrahart continued his dance success by collaborating with Australian DJ
Tommy Trash
Thomas Olsen, better known by his stage name Tommy Trash, (born 15 November 1979) is an Australian DJ, record producer, and remixer. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California and signed to Ministry of Sound Australia.
Biography Early ...
on his single "Wake the Giant". The track was co-written and features vocals from Abrahart, and was released on Dutch dance label
Armada Music
Armada Music is a Dutch independent record label that specialises in releasing electronic dance music. The name Armada derives from the first two letters of the founders' first names: Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron and David Lewis.
Signed ...
on 13 July 2015.
Abrahart has cemented his position in the American music scene as one of the most influential young writers of his generation; in 2013, he was awarded the coveted
Vilcek Prize
The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions to the United States, and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences. The foundation's flagship programs include the Vilcek Foundation Prizes, which recognize and support immigra ...
for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music,
awarded to young foreign-born artists who have demonstrated exceptional achievements.
Songwriting credits
indicates a background vocal contribution.
indicates an un-credited lead vocal contribution.
indicates a credited vocal/featured artist contribution.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abrahart, James
1988 births
Living people
English record producers
English pop singers
English songwriters
People from Brentwood, Essex
English emigrants to the United States
Musicians from Atlanta