Kuya is a multi-platinum award-winning

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

hip hop, R&B and pop

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

duo from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, consisting of Samuel T. Gerongco and Robert T. Gerongco (both sometimes credited without the "T.").

Early life

Samuel T. Gerongco (Sammy) and Robert T. Gerongco (Bobby) were born in

, Ontario. They are the sons of Felipe and Godofreda Gerongco, and brothers of America Patman. Sammy's first big break as an actor/singer and dancer was in the original Canadian production of the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed rom ...

at the

Princess of Wales Theatre The Princess of Wales Theatre is a 2,000-seat live theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on King Street West, in Toronto's downtown Entertainment District. The theatre's name has a triple meaning: it honours Diana, Princess of Wales, ...

in Toronto, which then lead to a five-year run on

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was there that Sammy met Johann Camat (originally from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

) after both being cast in the production. Shortly after that, the group Kuya was formed as soon as Sammy's younger brother Bobby joined after completing his program in

music production 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 ...

. After beginning to develop their unique style and recording with producers in

Los Angeles 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' ...

and Toronto, Kuya quickly caught the attention of internationally recognized producers (

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

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 ...

), and record label executives within the North American Music Industry It was in New York that the brothers put their work as a group on hold to begin developing their craft as

songwriters A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Career

In 2004, Kuya produced on two U.S. Top 10 albums including the No.1 Grammy nominated album ''

Suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...

'' for hip hop artist

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

, as well as

Mase Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his mononym Mase (formerly Murda Mase and stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper and minister. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Sean ...

's '' Welcome Back'' album. Both would do extremely well, with Nelly reaching 3 million in sales worldwide (3× platinum) and Mase hitting gold (500,000 units).

Jon Platt Jon Platt is an American music-publishing executive and a former DJ. He is Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Publishing after having spent 17 years at EMI Music Publishing. Early life Although he was born in Philadelphia, Platt considers Denver ...

from

EMI Music Publishing EMI Music Publishing Ltd. is a British multinational music publishing company headquartered in London, owned by parent company Sony Corporation of America. In May 2018, Sony Music Publishing agreed to increase its stake in EMI to 90%, pending ...

signed Kuya on in 2005. Kuya Production's official releases include songs by

Jesse McCartney Jesse McCartney (born April 9, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He achieved fame in the late 1990s on the daytime drama ''All My Children'' as JR Chandler. He later joined boy band Dream Street, and eventually branched out into a solo mus ...

Kandi Burruss Kandi Lenice Burruss Tucker (born May 17, 1976), known professionally by her mononym Kandi, is an American producer, television personality, singer, songwriter and actress. She first gained notice in 1992 as a member of the female vocal group Xs ...

Big Time Rush ''Big Time Rush'' is an American musical sitcom television series created by Scott Fellows that originally aired on Nickelodeon from November 28, 2009, to July 25, 2013 and is currently available in Paramount+. It focuses on the Hollywood misa ...

Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks-Thomas (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the sixth season of ''American Idol'' at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. Her self-titled debu ...

Girlicious Girlicious was an American girl group originally formed by Robin Antin, creator of the Pussycat Dolls, from The CW reality TV show ''Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious''. The group was originally signed to Geffen Records and composed of members ...

, and

Slim (singer) Marvin Scandrick (born September 25, 1974), better known as Slim, is an American contemporary R&B singer best known as the lead singer/frontman for the group 112. His 2008 debut album '' Love's Crazy'' peaked at #32 on the Billboard 200. It inclu ...

. The year 2009 was devoted to the development and recording of their new R&B artist,

JRDN Ralph Jordon Croucher (born November 14, 1978), better known by his stage name JRDN, is a Canadian R&B recording artist. Early life Ralph Jordon Croucher was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and moved to Toronto, Ontario at nine months old, whe ...

. The next year was known as a breakout year for JRDN, including a top ten single, a number one hit on the Much Music charts, along with two

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nominations. JRDN's second single "Like Magic", produced by Kuya, achieved a

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...

award for the most played song on Urban Radio across the nation. In 2011, Kuya was a part of ''

Cover Me Canada ''Cover Me Canada'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which airs on CBC Television. The show is a competition to find the most talented singer, rock band, group, or ensemble in Canada. The show is hosted by Canadian-born pop singe ...

'', a Canadian reality television show which aired on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

. Kuya came on as producers to work with the ''Cover Me Canada'' contestants.

2012-Present

In January 2012,

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

-native Terence (Tee) Lam joined Kuya as a producer and

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

. Kuya's 2013 work included the release of

's second studio album, as well as single releases for pop artist Karina Es. In 2015, Kuya wrote and produced for Canadian R&B singer

Alessia Cara Alessia Caracciolo (born July 11, 1996), known professionally as Alessia Cara (), is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Born in Mississauga, Ontario, to Italian Canadian parents, she began posting covers of songs on YouTube at age 13. After uploadi ...

's debut album, ''

Know-It-All ''Know-It-All'' is the debut studio album by Canadian singer and songwriter Alessia Cara. It was released on November 13, 2015 through Def Jam Recordings. The album followed the release of her debut extended play (EP) ''Four Pink Walls'' (2015), w ...

'', including her hit single "

Here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a TV ...

", which went #1 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

Rhythmic Rhythmic may refer to: * Related to rhythm * Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic gymnastics, a form of gymnastics * Rhythmic (chart) The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and ...

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

and peaked at #5 on the Billboard

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. Other songs they wrote for her debut album "Seventeen", "Overdose", "Stars" and "Outlaws". Cara's first time recording in a studio was with Kuya Productions and

Sebastian Kole Coleridge Gardner Tillman (born January 17, 1989), who goes by the stage name Sebastian Kole, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer from Birmingham, Alabama. He is currently signed to EP Entertainment and Motown Records. Prior ...

. In 2016, Kuya produced on the song " F.U." on the #1 selling album '' Glory Days'' for girl group

Little Mix Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British ver ...

. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart; it later became their first album to yield more than two top ten singles when the fourth single, "Power", reached number six on the UK Singles Chart. In January 2018 the album was certified triple platinum in the UK for shipments of 900,000 units. AS their career moved forward, Kuya has worked with an international artists including

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

Delta Goodrem Delta Lea Goodrem AM (born November 9, 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Goodrem signed to Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut album, '' Innocent Eyes'' (2003), topped the ARIA Albums Chart for 29 non-consecutive week ...

, Marco McKinnis, Katie Kim and

CNCO CNCO is a Latin American boy band based in Miami, Florida. The group consists of Richard Camacho, Erick Brian Colón, Christopher Vélez and Zabdiel De Jesús; former member Joel Pimentel departed the band in May 2021. They won a five-year reco ...

. In 2019, singles Kuya produced for

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

and

Kaskade Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1971), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. ''DJ Times'' voted Kaskade "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. ''DJ Mag'' named Kaskade fifty-first on its 200 ...

hit the US top 40, while the EP ''Que Quienes Somos'', produced for

, debuted at #1 on the

Latin Pop Albums Latin Pop Albums is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine. It features Latin music Latin music ( Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from ...

charts. ''Que Quienes Somos'' included the Kuya penned song "De Mi".

Duncan Laurence Duncan de Moor (; born 11 April 1994), known professionally as Duncan Laurence, is a Dutch singer and songwriter. He represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with his song "Arcade" and went on to win the competition, giv ...

, who performed the

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the 2018 contest with the song " Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broad ...

-winning song earlier in the year, released his single "Love Don't Hate It", co-written by Kuya.

2020-Present

2020 Kuya produces, with

Lido Lido may refer to: Geography Africa * Lido, a district in the city of Fez, Morocco Asia * Lido, an area in Chaoyang District, Beijing * Lido, a cinema theater in Siam Square shopping area in Bangkok * Lido City, a resort in West Java owned by MN ...

, "U Should" for Chika. Kuya produces and writes "Ghosted" for Benicio Bryant. Kuya writes "Happy" for

Taeyeon Kim Tae-yeon (; born March 9, 1989), known mononymously as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one ...

Discography

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuya Productions Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian record producers