DeVon "Devo" Harris (born December 9, 1977), also known as Devo Springsteen, is an American

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates 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 genre and film scoring. ...

, and DJ. The cousin of American rapper

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

, Harris discovered and led American singer

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

to sign with West's label,

GOOD Music GOOD Music (often stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American independent record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label entered an exclusive long-term worldwide music distribution, distributi ...

in 2003. Harris extensively contributed to Legend's debut '' Get Lifted'' (2004) and subsequent albums, along with releases for other artists including

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

Ol' Dirty Bastard Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004), known professionally as Ol' Dirty Bastard (often abbreviated as ODB), was an American rapper. He was one of the founding members of the New York rap group Wu-Tang Clan, which forme ...

, and the Last Poets. For his production on West's 2005 single " Diamonds from Sierra Leone", Harris won the Best Rap Song honor at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. Devo earned his BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. After earning his

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

degree from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and one of ...

in 2011, Harris has since shifted focus onto technology and media proprietorship.

Biography

Harris grew up in the U.S. and Germany. Both of his parents were in the U.S. Army. He graduated high school from The Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City, Missouri, and then attended the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

. At Penn, he wrestled, played football, and DJed at local radio stations WPPR and WQHS FM. After graduating with degrees in Economics and Strategic Management, he moved to New York City in 2000 with college roommate John Legend. While working in venture capital, he began working part-time assisting and serving as A&R at the production company G.O.O.D. Music. Harris eventually signed Legend to the label in 2003 and managed his project. Harris then earned an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

degree from

Music

Harris's influences include

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

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 Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

, and Dr. Dre. Harris has appeared on MTV Base, BET Style, and

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

and was a featured guest DJ on BET's Rap City while DJing internationally from Turkey to Japan and Africa. Harris also co-wrote the tracks "Lullaby" and "Let's Go" with Britney Spears and Tom Craskey. The song appeared on the demo version of Britney's album '' Blackout''. In 2008, Harris collaborated with John Legend on "If You're Out There" which appears in John Legend's third studio album '' Evolver''. The song was used as

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's campaign theme song and was performed at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Technology

In 2010, Harris created an interactive music video, "Attack of the 5 foot Hipster", by U.S. band Riot In Paris, which debuted on UniverseCity blog and was noted as the first interactive choose-your-own-adventure music video in the U.S. After graduating from Columbia Business School in 2011, Harris started his career in technology by teaching himself to code and launched Red Ochre Inc. in 2014. Soon after, he would become a Senior Product Manager at

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

. In 2020, Harris launched Adventr, an interactive streaming platform. In September 2021, Adventr became a finalist in the 2021 TechCrunch Disrupt Conference and announced its patent on voice-controlled interactive media.

Discography

Singles

Mixtapes

*2007, "Bacardi Grandmelon And Devo Springsteen Present: The Good The Bad The Ugly" *2006, "Bacardi Big Apple & Devo Springsteen Present: The Good Life"

Awards and nominations

References

External links

AllHipHop Feature - Devo Springsteen: Whip It!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Springsteen, Devo Kanye West African-American musicians 1977 births Musicians from Philadelphia Record producers from Pennsylvania American DJs Wharton School alumni Living people Grammy Award winners 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people Columbia Business School alumni Pembroke Hill School alumni