RedOne

Nadir Khayat ( ar, نادر الخياط; born 9 April 1972), better known by his stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan singer, songwriter, record producer and record executive.

As a record producer and songwriter, he has worked with many high-profile recording artists, most notably Ava Max, Lady Gaga, Akon, Michael Jackson, RBD, Now United, U2, Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Scherzinger, Gru, Cross Gene, MIKA, Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Wyclef Jean, Mariah Carey, Paulina Rubio, Mylène Farmer, Mohombi, Inna, Khaled, Alexandra Burke, Austin Mahone, Davido, Trinidad Cardona, One Direction, Marc Anthony, the Band Perry, Prince Royce, Rod Stewart, Usher and Saad Lamjarred, among many others. His production discography boasts many ''Billboard'' and international hits. RedOne has established his own record label named RedOne Records.

RedOne has been nominated for ten Grammy Awards, winning three. He was also awarded the Grammis Award for Producer of the Year, which is the Swedish equivalent to the Grammy Awards. In 2009, he was the number one producer on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, ranking number three as songwriter and BMI Songwriter of the Year. Commonly, he produces songs in the pop, rock, R&B, house, hip hop, and dance music genres.

Biography

Early life

RedOne was born as Nadir Khayat in Tétouan, Morocco. In an interview, he said he was the ninth and youngest child in his family. In 1991, he immigrated to Sweden when he was 19, to pursue a career as a musician. In an interview with HitQuarters website, he said his moving to Sweden was because, "there was so much good music coming from there" mentioning ABBA, Europe, and Roxette as among the most influential to him.

1991–2006: Career in Sweden

Originally, he pursued his musical ambitions in Sweden by singing and playing guitar in various local rock bands for about four years from 1991 to 1995. He also acquired Swedish citizenship by naturalization.

In 1995, he changed directions by opting to produce and write songs for other artists. Instrumental in helping him make this transition was Rami Yacoub, another fellow ex-rock musician. Yacoub, a Palestinian-Swedish songwriter/producer already enjoyed considerable success and was a well-established producer. Inviting RedOne to work with him in the studio, he taught RedOne about "programming and how the software works" and the pair co-wrote a number of songs together. During this period of cooperation, RedOne worked with the successful Swedish girl band Popsie writing their songs "Funky" and "Joyful Life" co-written and co-produced by Yacoub and RedOne (and where RedOne was credited on Popsie's 1998 self-titled album as songwriter and producer Nadir K). He chose the alias 'RedOne', a pseudonym of the name of a friend of his, Redouan. Redouan introduced Rami to Max Martin, Yacoub was asked some time later to join Cheiron Studios and the two parted company with Yacoub working extensively with huge names like Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Westlife and Céline Dion, amongst others.

RedOne then moved on to produce various Swedish and European pop acts. In 2001–2002, he co-produced A*Teens, originally an ABBA teen tribute band that already had a huge hit with ''The ABBA Generation''. RedOne co-produced two of their follow-up albums, '' Teen Spirit'' in 2001 and '' Pop 'Til You Drop'' in 2002 with some original songs like "...to the Music", "Slam" co-written with Flame, Hortlund, and J. Boogie and "Singled Out" co-written with AJ Junior, Dhani, Sara, Savan Kotecha, and ShawnDark in a bid to launch them as "more than just a cover band".

After years of struggling, RedOne finally began to achieve recognition for his work in 2005. He wrote two songs for Daniel Lindström's self-titled chart-topping album, " Break Free" and "My Love Won't Let You Down". RedOne then had his first number one on Sverigetopplistan with Darin Zanyar's " Step Up". The song, co-written by RedOne, Darin, and RedOne's frequent collaborator Bilal Hajji, won them a Swedish Grammy and "Scandinavian Song of the Year". He went on to co-produce Darin's two albums '' The Anthem'' and self-titled album ''Darin'' alongside well-known producers like Ghost, Jörgen Elofsson, Arnthor Birgisson and George Samuelson.

RedOne had crossover success with the Canadian singer and Juno Award Carl Henry with hits "I Wish" and "Little Mama". In the ensuing period, he went on to produce a number of Swedish and European pop acts. These included the Dutch pop band Ch!pz (2005), two songs Cariño Mio and Wanna Play by the Mexican teen group RBD for the album Rebels (2006), American Christina Milian in a remix of her track "L.O.V.E." as "L.O.V.E. (RedOne remix)" from her album '' Best Of'', the Dutch singer EliZe in "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and Swedish ''Idol'' contestant and popular singer Ola Svensson in "Cops Come Knocking" and "Go Go Sweden", the latter in support of the Swedish national football team, all in 2006. In 2005, he also worked with pop singer Britney Spears and songwriter Michelle Bell on a track titled "Money Love and Happiness" for her scrapped studio album "Original Doll", but the track remained unreleased until 2012, when Bell leaked the track in full online.

2006–2009: International breakthrough and move to the United States

In 2006, RedOne produced the single "Bamboo" that was named an "Official Melody" for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. "Bamboo" was featured for the branding and promotion of the event during television broadcasts and advertising campaigns, branded cross-promotions, and as a part of the World Cup Official Music Program, gaining him much audio exposure. In addition, The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) made him the main producer and songwriter for the 2006 World Cup Official Music Program.

RedOne also produced a "mash-up" remix of Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" featuring Wyclef Jean and RedOne's "Bamboo". The remix was performed by Shakira and Wyclef Jean at the World Cup's Final in Berlin to an estimated worldwide television audience of more than 1.2 billion.

Although "Bamboo" helped establish him as a notable producer in the global marketplace, RedOne himself claimed that the song didn't have the impact he thought it would, saying: "It was a good thing for me as a personal achievement but in terms of business or attracting labels to get more work, it didn't have a big impact, especially not in the US. It opened a few doors that closed quickly after." It was then that he decided to move to the United States with the aim of breaking his career there.

In 2007, RedOne decided to move to Jersey City, New Jersey

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases