Jonathan Reuven Rotem (born July 23, 1975) is a South African-born American record producer, songwriter and music publisher.

Biography

Early life

Rotem was born in July 23, 1975 in Johannesburg, South Africa to Jewish Israeli immigrant parents. He moved to Canada at the age of two and to

Moraga, California Moraga is a town in Contra Costa County, California, United States. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, the town is named in honor of Joaquín Moraga, member of the famed Californio family. As of 2020, Moraga had a total population of 16,870 ...

at the age of twelve. Rotem's entry point into music was in receiving classical piano instruction at a young age. When he attended

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

in Boston it was initially with the intention of studying film scoring, but he ended up majoring in jazz composition.

Career

As his first major label placement,

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...

song "Fancy", from their 2001 album ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

'', is cited by Rotem as being his first 'big break', and the song that convinced the young producer that it was worth pursuing this career path. Nevertheless, further success was not forthcoming and for years Rotem struggled to make further headway in the industry. A significant breakthrough came when, through mutual friend Evan Bogart, he attracted the attention of former manager Zach Katz, a former music attorney who had recently represented rapper

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim (), is an American rapper. He is one half of Golden age hip-hop, golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, with whom he released four albums: ''Paid in Full ...

as well as music producers and songwriters in the Aftermath/Shady/G-Unit camp. Rotem says, "One of my biggest goals for years was meeting a manager with a good reputation and with connections to get my music to people." When asked in an interview with

HitQuarters HitQuarters was an international music industry publication and contact database founded in 1999. It was noted for its in-depth interviews with industry figures, as well as its A&R and manager contact directory, free artist promo pages and song ...

what made Katz decide to take the producer on, he explained,

This was a time where most of the people were beat makers, they didn't really play instruments. J.R. on the other hand, had a vast musical background ... So musically there were no limitations as far as what he could bring. Number two J.R. he was very, very focused. He really wanted to win. And number three he was humble. If I gave him any suggestions about his tracks he would literally sit there and take notes. Then he would come back the next day with the changes I had suggested.

Rotem's next major cut was

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

's "Position of Power" in 2005. In 2006, together with Katz and his brother Tommy, Rotem started his own record label, Beluga Heights, inking a joint venture partnership with

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

. Sean Kingston, a young

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

-based Caribbean artist, was the labels first signing. Kingston's self-titled debut album went on to sell over 2 million albums and 10 million singles worldwide. Rotem also started a publishing company under the Beluga Heights banner, signing songwriter Evan "Kidd" Bogart. Under a newly formed joint venture with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

, the label signed R&B sensation

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Since the start of his solo recording career in 2009, he has sold over 250 m ...

, whose debut album went on to sell 14 million singles and over 1 million albums worldwide. In 2009, Rotem was honored as BMI Producer of the Year. In 2011, he was return to honored by BMI as Songwriter of the Year along with

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

and

. His trademark is a horn that goes after with a stylized "J-J-J-J-J-R" and/or "Beluga Heights" at the beginning or end of records with which he has been associated. In 2015, Rotem worked along with Ne-Yo and Timbaland on the music for the second season of Fox's ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

''. On October 17, 2015, Gwen Stefani released " Used to Love You", co-written and produced by Rotem at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City which was Stefani's first single. Rotem has ten songs on Stefani's album, ''

This Is What the Truth Feels Like ''This Is What the Truth Feels Like'' is the third studio album by American singer Gwen Stefani. It was released on March 18, 2016, by Interscope Records. Initially, the album was scheduled to be released in December 2014 with Stefani working w ...

'' which was released on March 18, 2016.

Discography

Songs and singles produced by J. R. Rotem

References

External links

The DJBooth: Jonathan 'JR' Rotem Interview
(Mar '07)
SOHH June 2007 Feature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotem, J. R. Living people American hip-hop record producers American music industry executives American music publishers (people) American people of Israeli descent American people of South African-Jewish descent American pop musicians American pop keyboardists American pop pianists American male pianists American rhythm and blues musicians American rhythm and blues keyboardists Berklee College of Music alumni Businesspeople from Los Angeles Jewish American songwriters Musicians from Los Angeles People from Moraga, California Songwriters from California South African emigrants to the United States 21st-century American pianists Record producers from California 21st-century American male musicians 1975 births 21st-century American Jews American male songwriters