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The Cataracs were an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
hip hop record production project and duo formed in
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
, United States, consisting of David Benjamin Singer-Vine (born March 9, 1988) and
Niles Hollowell-Dhar Niles Hollowell-Dhar (born October 6, 1988), known professionally as Kshmr (pronounced "Kashmir" and stylized in all caps), is an American songwriter, DJ, music producer, and musician. He was ranked 23rd on ''DJ Mag''s 2015 Top 100 DJs poll and ...
(born October 6, 1988). The duo started out as an independent group, during their years at Berkeley High School. The two were first signed to the label Indie-Pop. Singer-Vine left the group in August 2012 with Hollowell-Dhar continuing on with the name The Cataracs by himself. Hollowell-Dhar also released materials starting in 2014, under the name of
KSHMR Niles Hollowell-Dhar (born October 6, 1988), known professionally as Kshmr (pronounced "Kashmir" and stylized in all caps), is an American songwriter, DJ, music producer, and musician. He was ranked 23rd on ''DJ Mag''s 2015 Top 100 DJs poll and ...
.


Biography


Early days

The duo met in their second year attending Berkeley High School. Singer-Vine was featured in a rap CD that was being passed around campus. When Hollowell-Dhar eventually heard the CD, he subsequently created a response. However, the "diss" response brought the two together and they soon became friends. In 2003, the two joined to create what is now The Cataracs (named after the phrase "Who smoke 'til your eyes get cataracts" from
Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...
's song "What's My Name Pt. 2"). In the summer of 2006, they released their first album, Technohop Vol. 1. In August 2006, the group joined with The Pack to make the single "Blueberry Afghani". The song soon became a hit and was chosen as a "Download of the Week" by 106 KMEL and many music sites such as ''
The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...
'', UK's ''
Hip Hop Connection ''Hip Hop Connection'' (''HHC'') was the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. It was described by rapper Chuck D as "the best magazine in the world". History Under the editorship of Chris Hunt, the magazine p ...
'' and ''
XLR8R ''XLR8R'' (pronounced "accelerator") is a website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. It was originally also a print magazine. History and profile ''XLR8R'' was founded as a newsprint zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in Sea ...
'' praised it. Singer-Vine attended
Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergra ...
in
Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. Hollowell-Dhar is also a member of
Pi Kappa Phi Pi Kappa Phi (), commonly known as Pi Kapp(s), is an American Greek Letter secret and social fraternity. It was founded by Andrew Alexander Kroeg Jr., Lawrence Harry Mixson, and Simon Fogarty Jr. on December 10, 1904 at the College of Charleston i ...
fraternity at San Francisco State University. But in order to pursue their dreams and career in music, they both decided that they would have to leave school. The duo then packed their bags and moved to Los Angeles, CA, where they began working on their music full-time, creating songs like "Club Love" and "Baby Baby", the latter which went on to be featured on the hit reality series ''
Keeping Up with the Kardashians ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' (often abbreviated ''KUWTK'') is an American reality television series which focused on the personal and professional lives of the Kardashian–Jenner blended family, airing between 2007 and 2021. Its prem ...
'' in early 2010. By 2007, they released their second album, ''Technohop Vol. 2'', and in 2008 they released their third album, ''The 13th Grade''.


Rise to fame

In their new location, they discovered Manteca, California, native Dev, a singer who posted much of her work on MySpace. Dhar asked if she would like to sing for them, which led to the song "2Nite." The Cataracs, along with Dev, signed to the Indie-Pop label, which also features musicians such as Young L. They were later signed to a major label,
Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
. Through Universal, they began producing music for artists such as
Far East Movement Far East Movement (abbreviated FM) is an American hip hop and electronic music group based in Los Angeles. The group formed in 2003 and as of August 2018 consists of Kev Nish (Kevin Nishimura), Prohgress (James Roh), DJ Virman (Virman Coquia), ...
and
Glasses Malone Glasses Malone is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. Early life Glasses Malone grew up in the Watts and Compton neighborhoods in Los Angeles County. Malone was a Crip gang member as a teenager, and got into street racing after brea ...
. As artists, The Cataracs received recognition through their 2010 single "Club Love", which received air play at clubs and on many different radio stations. Despite such accomplishments, the Cataracs have had their most mainstream success with the song "
Like a G6 "Like a G6" is a song by American music group Far East Movement featuring fellow American musicians Dev and The Cataracs, released as the lead single from Far East Movement's third studio album ''Free Wired''. The track reached number one on the ...
" which was written by Singer-Vine/Dhar and produced by Dhar, and also went on to peak at #1 on the Billboard charts. The chorus for the song is sampled from lyrics in the song "Booty Bounce" by Dev, which they also produced. They were featured on two of
Shwayze Aaron Smith, better known as Shwayze (born May 29, 1985), is an American rapper. His first single " Buzzin'" peaked at No. 46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second single " Corona and Lime," reached No. 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in t ...
's songs on his 2010 mixtape Love Stoned. The duo also produced songs for albums such as The Pack's new album, ''
Wolfpack Party ''Wolfpack Party'' is the second and final studio album by the Bay Area rap group The Pack. The album was released on August 24, 2010 through SMC Recordings. Singles "Wolfpack Party 2010" was the first single from the album, and it was release ...
''. In early December 2010, they collaborated with Snoop Dogg on the song " Wet". It became the lead single for his 2011 album ''
Doggumentary ''Doggumentary'' is the eleventh studio album by American West Coast hip hop recording artist Snoop Dogg. It was released on March 29, 2011 on the Priority Records record label. The album was produced by Battlecat, The Cataracs, Gorillaz, Dav ...
''. They produced "Kick Us Out" for pop trio Hyper Crush. In an attempt to bolster their fanbase, and get people more acquainted with who they are, they released Gordo Taqueria. This will serve as a 2012 EP leading up to their major debut release in the near future. Unlike much of their previous work, this album excludes samples or appearances from labelmate Dev.


Singer-Vine's departure

On August 23, 2012, Hollowell-Dhar informed on the Cataracs Facebook page that Singer-Vine had left the group. The note goes on to say that "The Cataracs, as of 2 weeks ago, have taken a new form. David informed us of a pretty big decision: the decision to follow his heart and put music down." Hollowell-Dhar went on to produce solely while keeping the name The Cataracs. The first show without Singer-Vine took place on August 25 at
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
. In 2016, Singer-Vine (under the name Campa) and Felix Snow formed
Terror Jr Terror Jr is an American pop duo formed in 2016 founded by former The Cataracs band member David "Campa" Benjamin Singer-Vine, Lisa Vitale, and Felix Snow, who left the group in late 2017. Their single "Come First" peaked at number 10 on the '' Bi ...
with a lead singer that goes by the alias Lisa.


2012–14: Final years and Hollowell-Dhar's transition into KSHMR

In late 2012, Hollowell-Dhar, continuing under the name The Cataracs, released songs produced by himself and collaborating with artists such as
Martin Solveig Martin Laurent Picandet (; born 22 September 1976), better known by his stage name Martin Solveig (), is a French DJ, singer, songwriter and record producer. He hosts a weekly radio show called ''C'est La Vie'' on radio stations worldwide, incl ...
, Trevor Simpson, and
Borgeous John James Borger Jr. better known by his stage name Borgeous (stylized as BORGEOUS), is an American DJ and music producer. Career The LA-based Platinum recording artist and DJ/producer has already accomplished three Billboard Dance Radio Top 1 ...
. He primarily focused on his EDM output, while still occasionally doing vocals in songs like "Big Dipper" featuring Luciana, "Ready For The Weekend" featuring Icona Pop, and "Alcohol (Remix)" featuring
Sky Blu Sky Blu is a forward operating station for the British Antarctic Survey located in southern Palmer Land, Antarctica. It is in an area of blue ice, an extremely hard and dense ice which has lost the air bubbles that normally cloud the ice. I ...
of
LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off or Laughing My Fucking Ass Off) are an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Le ...
. Early in 2013, The Cataracs released two music videos on Vevo: "Alcohol (Remix)" featuring Sky Blu, and "Missed U 2" featuring Petros. The latter was the first Cataracs video not to have vocals by Hollowell-Dhar. Also in 2013, The Cataracs collaborated with Martin Solveig on "Hey Now", and produced the song "
Slow Down Slow Down or slowdown may refer to: Music * ''Slow Down'' (album), by Keb' Mo', 1998 Songs * "Slow Down" (Bobby Valentino song), 2005 * "Slow Down" (Brand Nubian song), 1991 * "Slow Down" (Douwe Bob song), representing the Netherlands at Euro ...
" for
Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...
's debut album '' Stars Dance.'' In 2014, Hollowell-Dhar began releasing music under the name
Kshmr Niles Hollowell-Dhar (born October 6, 1988), known professionally as Kshmr (pronounced "Kashmir" and stylized in all caps), is an American songwriter, DJ, music producer, and musician. He was ranked 23rd on ''DJ Mag''s 2015 Top 100 DJs poll and ...
, beginning with the song "Megalodon", though he did not reveal his real identity until the following year.


Discography


References


External links


The Cataracs

It's The Cataracs (fansite)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cataracs American hip hop record producers American musical duos Hip hop duos Electronic music duos Musical groups established in 2003 American synth-pop groups Pop-rap groups Musical groups from Berkeley, California Hip hop groups from California