Kenisha LaCarol Pratt (February 13, 1980 – December 19, 2019) was an American songwriter and vocal producer, known for her songwriting credits on songs by artists such as Brandy,

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won ...

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

, Yahzarah, Burhan G and

Hadise Hadise Açıkgöz (born 22 October 1985). hadisemusic.com is a Belgian-Turkish singer-songwriter, dancer, and television personality. Born and raised in Belgium, her family is of Lezgin- Kumyk origin who settled in Sivas, Turkey. In 2003, she ...

, and her brother K-Young.

Career

Pratt, the daughter of an accomplished voice and piano teacher, was the older sister of Kenneth "K-Young" Pratt, songwriter and lead singer of R&B group 3rd Storee, and Keana Pratt. The siblings were raised in Inglewood, California. The recipient of a full music scholarship from guitarist

Tommy Tedesco Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wrec ...

, Pratt received her degree from the

Musicians Institute Musicians Institute (MI) is a private for-profit music school in Los Angeles, California. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at Los Angeles City College – Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. In the late 1990s, she ventured into professional songwriting under the tutelage of music producer

Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won multiple Grammy Awards. Among hi ...

with whom she worked on

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 ...

's album ''

Invincible Invincible may refer to: Film and television * ''Invincible'' (2001 drama film), a drama by Werner Herzog about Jewish cabaret during the rise of Nazism * ''Invincible'' (2001 TV film), a fantasy / martial arts TV movie starring Billy Zane ...

'' (2001) and

's '' 3D'' (2002). The following year, she co-wrote several songs on Jerkins' regular collaborator Brandy's third studio album ''

Full Moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This means ...

'', including lead single " What About Us?" for which Pratt was awarded a BMI Citation of Achievement Award the following year. Pratt would become a frequent collaborator on Brandy's subsequent projects '' Afrodisiac'' (2004) and ''

Human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

'' (2008) apart from working with her on tracks which they co-wrote for other artists such as

. In addition, Pratt co-wrote the majority of her brother's solo debut album ''Learn How to Love'', released in 2005, and was consulted by producers such as

Mike City Mike City (born Michael Flowers) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for producing the singles " I Wish" for Carl Thomas, " Heard It All Before" for Sunshine Anderson, "Full Moon" for Brandy and "One Woman ...

Soulshock & Karlin Soulshock & Karlin is a duo of Danish record producers and songwriters, Carsten Schack and Kenneth Karlin. They have produced many successful songs, including Monica's " Before You Walk out of My Life", Whitney Houston's "Heartbreak Hotel", JoJo ...

, Bink!,

Cool & Dre Cool & Dre are a record production and songwriting duo from North Miami, Florida, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Antonio Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon. The duo are best known for their work with Terror Squad founder Fat Joe, first ...

Bryan Michael Cox Bryan-Michael Paul Cox (born December 1, 1977) is an American record producer and songwriter who is notable for his work with artists such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton. Among his most notable productions are "Be Wit ...

, and

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

Death

In January 2020, K-Young took to Instagram to announce that his sister had died on December 19, 2019, at the age of 39.

Songwriting credits

* Brandy – "Anybody", "Apart", " What About Us?", "Nothing", "When You Touch Me", "Wow" (''

''; 2002) *

– "Over Me" ('' 3D''; 2002) *

– "Always", "Selfish" ('' More Than a Woman''; 2002) * Yahzarah – "One Day" (''Blackstar''; 2003) * Toni Braxton – "Whatchu Need" ('' Ultimate Toni Braxton''; 2003) * Brandy – " Afrodisiac", Sadiddy" ('' Afrodisiac''; 2004) *

– " Bad Boy" (''

Sweat Perspiration, also known as sweating, is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distrib ...

''; 2005) * K-Young – ''Learn How to Love '' (2005) * Mimi Terrell – "Give It to Me" (''It's Mimi''; 2005) *

Booty Luv Booty Luv are a British dance group formed in June 2006 by their record label, Hed Kandi. The group comprises two R&B vocalists, Cherise Roberts and Nadia Shepherd, both of whom were in the original line-up of the hip hop and R&B group Big ...

– "A Little Bit" ('' Boogie 2nite''; 2007) * Burhan G – "Can't Let U Go", "This Is Our World" (''Breakout''; 2007) *

Li Yuchun Li Yuchun (; born March 10, 1984), also known by her stage name Chris Lee, is a Chinese singer, songwriter, DJ and actress. She launched her singing career by winning first place in the Chinese singing contest '' Super Girl'', in 2005. The followi ...

– "My Kingdom" (''

Mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

''; 2007) *

Sibel Sibel is a Turkish female given name. People named ''Sibel'' include: * Sibel Adalı, Turkish-American computer scientist *Sibel Arslan (born 1980), Swiss-Turkish politician and lawyer * Sibel Alaş (born 1973), Turkish pop singer *Sibel Can (born ...

– "I'm Sorry" (''

The Diving Belle The Diving Belle is the debut album from Turkish/Macedonian-born singer Sibel. The album was released 12 March 2008 and reached number nine on the Swedish album charts. The album includes the single "That Is Where I'll Go", written by Christian A ...

''; 2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Kenisha African-American songwriters African-American women writers 1980 births 2019 deaths African-American women musicians 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women