Michael Uzowuru

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Michael Uzowuru
Born (1991-11-10) November 10, 1991 (age 32)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active2010–present

Michael Uzowuru // (born November 10, 1991) is an American record producer. He has produced and written for SZA, Frank Ocean, Beyoncé, Donald Glover, Vince Staples, Earl Sweatshirt, and Rosalía, among others.

Life and career

Michael Uzowuru was born on November 10, 1991, in Los Angeles and raised in both Cypress, California and Rancho Cucamonga, California. He went to Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga. Michael is of Igbo descent through his mother, who immigrated to the United States from Nigeria.[1]

2010–2015: Career beginnings

Uzowuru began his music career by making independent beat tapes and working with a number of collaborators. His early projects include works with Vince Staples and Odd Future's Domo Genesis, Matt Martians from the Jet Age of Tomorrow, and Hodgy Beats.

In 2012, Uzowuru released a mixtape with the title Winter in Prague with longtime friend and collaborator Vince Staples.[2] In 2013, Uzowuru produced the opening track "Pre" for Earl Sweatshirt's debut album Doris. Later that year, he produced "Tweakin" and "Yap Yap" for Chicago rapper Vic Mensa's second mixtape Innanetape.

In addition to producing for other artists, Uzowuru released a number of instrumental and solo projects in 2014, notably Paisley Palm Trees, which was premiered by The Fader magazine[3] and Pink Orchids, released in August 2014.

2016–present

Uzowuru was named in the production credits for Frank Ocean's 2016 visual album Endless and Ocean's long-awaited second studio album Blonde. Uzowuru was credited as both a writer and a producer on the track "Nights".[4][5] He also executive produced rapper Kevin Abstract's second album American Boyfriend, which debuted in the Fall of 2016.[6][7]

In 2017, he appeared as co-producer on Frank Ocean's single "Chanel" released on Ocean's Beats1 radio show. Scott Vener and Pharrell Williams premiered a remix done by Uzowuru and collaborator Jeff Kleinman of Little Dragon's "High" featuring Denzel Curry and Twelve'len[8]

In 2018, Uzowuru's work appeared on Anderson .Paak's "Til It's Over", which was used in Apple's "Welcome Home" commercial directed by Spike Jonze.

In the spring of 2019, Uzowuru composed the score for the short film Guava Island, starred and produced by Donald Glover and released by Amazon Studios. The following summer, Uzowuru was credited for writing and production on Beyoncé's compilation album The Lion King: The Gift, having worked on the tracks "Mood 4 Eva" and "Brown Skin Girl".[9][10] He also wrote and produced for artists FKA Twigs and GoldLink.[11] Later in the year, Uzowuru appeared on the production and writing credits of the Frank Ocean single "In My Room".[12]

Uzowuru collaborated with Spanish singer Rosalía through 2020 and 2021 and co-produced her album Motomami, which ended up winning the Digital Album of the Year Award in the Latin Grammy Awards of 2022.[13]

In 2022 Uzowuru executive-produced Vince Staples album Ramona Park Broke My Heart. The album received widespread critical acclaim[14][15][16] and appeared on several best album year-end lists.[17][18][19][20]

In 2023, Uzowuru composed the score and co-produced the soundtrack for the Amazon TV series Swarm created by Donald Glover and Janine Nabers,[21] which was also released as an EP.[22]

Influence

In a 2015 MSNBC interview, Michael mentioned a number of musicians across a wide range of genre as his inspiration, including Elliott Smith, Nirvana, Kanye West, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Afrobeat, Fela Kuti and Björk.[1]

Discography

Music for TV and film

List of scores composed for Film/Television
Year Film Studio / Company Director
2020 Becoming Netflix Nadira Hallgren
2019 Guava Island Amazon Hiro Murai
2018 Welcome Home (commercial) Apple Spike Jonze
5 Reasons iPad Pro Can Be Your Next Computer (commercial)[23]
2023 Swarm (TV series)[21] Amazon Donald Glover

Writing and production credits

List of songs produced, showing year released, artist and album name
Year Artist Album Song
2023 Ni'Jah Swarm (EP) "Big World"
"Agatha"
"Sticky"
Snoh Alegra Single “Be my summer”
Dominic Fike Sunburn "4X4"
Sofia Valdes Silvia (EP) "Midnight freak-Out" (Also released as single)
"Easy"
"Wild"
"Silvia"
"Barbed Wire"
thxsomuch Sleez (EP) "Screws"
Ryan Beatty Calico "White teeth"
"Bright red"
Bakar Single "Good news"
Lous and The Yakuza IOTA "Lubie"
2022 SZA SOS "Notice Me"
"Open Arms" (featuring Travis Scott)
Ctrl (Deluxe) “Awkward”
Burna Boy Love, Damini "Love, Damini"
Rosalía Motomami "Saoko"
"Candy"
"Chicken Teriyaki"
"Hentai"
"Bizcochito"
"G3 N15"
"Motomami"
"Delirio de Grandeza"
"La Combi Versace"
"Diablo"
"LA KILIÉ "
"LAX"
2021 Kenny Mason Angelic Hoodrat: Supercut "4ever"
2020 Omar Apollo Apolonio "Bi Fren"
"I'm Amazing"
2019 Frank Ocean Single "Little Demon"
Frank Ocean Single "In My Room"
SiR Chasing Summer "Hair Down" (featuring Kendrick Lamar)
Beyoncé The Lion King: The Gift "Brown Skin Girl" (with Saint Jhn & Wizkid, featuring Blue Ivy Carter)
"Mood 4 Eva" (with Jay-Z & Childish Gambino)
GoldLink Diaspora "Days Like This" (featuring Khalid)
FKA Twigs Magdalene "Cellophane"
2018 Kelsey Lu Single "Due West"
Anderson .Paak Single "Til It's Over"
Jorja Smith Lost & Found "February 3rd"
Ludwig Göransson Black Panther: Wakanda Remixed "Ancestral Plane"
Choker Honeybloom "Drift"

"Starfruit NYC"

"Jet Stereo"

"Daisy"

Troye Sivan Bloom "Running Shoes"
2017 A$AP Mob Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Crazy "RAF"
Jesse Boykins III & Noname Bartholomew "Into You"
Little Dragon Single "High (Michael Uzowuru & Jeff Kleinman Remix)"
Rex Orange County Apricot Princess "Waiting Room"
Frank Ocean Single "Chanel"
2016 Blonde "Nights"
Endless "Rushes To"
Kevin Abstract American Boyfriend "Empty"

"Seventeen"

"Blink"

"Tattoo"

"Yellow"

"Kin"

"Runner"

"Papercut"

"June 29th"

"Miserable America"

"Echo"

"I Do"

2014 Vic Mensa Single "Major Payne"
2013 Innanetape "Tweakin" (featuring Chance the Rapper)

"Yap Yap"

Earl Sweatshirt Doris "Pre"
2012 Domo Genesis Single "Crushed Velvet"
Vince Staples Winter in Prague "Winter in Prague"

"Lord"

"SK La Sermon"

"Twitch"

"Waterpark"

"Matlock"

"Traffic"

"SK Climactic"

"Mattress"

"Black Oprah"

Single "Champagne Wishlist"
2011 Generic "Martin Ruger King"

"Barreta Scott King"

"Gold Chain Ricky"

"Vicoden"

Shyne Goldchain Vol. 1 "Versace Rap"
Domo Genesis Single "Cashmere"
Under the Influence "Mind Games"
Hodgy Beats Single "April 27th"
2010 The Jet Age of Tomorrow Journey to the 5th Echelon "Want You Still" (featuring Kilo Kish)

Mixtapes and EPs

Year Title Notes
2014 Pink Orchids
2012 Winter in Prague with Vince Staples
2011 Paisley Palm Trees
2010 Space is the Place
The Mellowest Trip
No Need for Sense

Singles

Year Title
2015 "Without You" (featuring Anderson .Paak)
2014 "April 13th" (featuring Vic Mensa)

References

  1. ^ a b "Michael Uzowuru: Validation from Kanye is bigger than a Grammy". MSNBC.com. February 5, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  2. ^ Diep, Eric. "Vince Staples & Michael Uzowuru "Winter in Prague"". complex.com. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  3. ^ Cooper, Duncan. "Michael Uzowuru's Paisley Palm Trees Beat Tape". thefader.com. the fader magazine. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  4. ^ Hogan, Marc (September 14, 2016). "Frank Ocean's Blonde Songwriting Credits Revealed". Pitchfork.
  5. ^ Pearce, Sheldon (August 21, 2016). "Frank Ocean's Blond: 6 Things to Know". Pitchfork.
  6. ^ "Pigeons & Planes: The Best in New Music Discovery and Curation".
  7. ^ "Kevin Abstract's 'American Boyfriend' is Unlike Any Record You've Heard This Year". www.vice.com. December 13, 2016.
  8. ^ @LittleDragon (March 19, 2017). "Shoutout to @pharrel @brokemogul for playing Michael Uzowuru & Jeff Kleinman's Remix w Denzel Curry & Twelve'len of…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Bailey, Alyssa (July 19, 2019). "Blue Ivy Carter Sings on Beyoncé's 'The Lion King: The Gift' and Twitter Had a Meltdown". ELLE. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  10. ^ Leight, Elias (July 19, 2019). "Inside Beyoncé's Bold Bet to Get Americans to Listen to African Music". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  11. ^ Bruce-Jones, Henry (April 25, 2019). "FKA twigs shares haunting new track, 'Cellophane'". Fact Magazine. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  12. ^ "michael uzowuru is the mysterious frank ocean producer who doesn't do press". i-d.vice.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  13. ^ "2022 Latin GRAMMYs: Complete Winners & Nominations List". www.grammy.com. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  14. ^ Ramona Park Broke My Heart by Vince Staples, retrieved August 5, 2023
  15. ^ Vince Staples - Ramona Park Broke My Heart Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic, retrieved August 5, 2023
  16. ^ "Vince Staples: Ramona Park Broke My Heart". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  17. ^ "The 100 Best Albums of 2022". Rolling Stone. December 1, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  18. ^ Jenkins, Craig (December 7, 2022). "The Best Albums of 2022". Vulture. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  19. ^ "The 50 best albums of 2022". The FADER. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  20. ^ Jesus, Ecleen Luzmila Caraballo, Jordan Rose, Eric Skelton, Brenton Blanchet, Jessica Mckinney, Stefan Breskin, edwinortiz, Angel Diaz, Alejandro De. "The Best Albums of 2022". Complex. Retrieved August 5, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ a b "How KIRBY Found The Voice For 'Swarms Pop Star Ni'Jah". Nylon. March 22, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  22. ^ "Donald Glover releases 'Swarm' series EP soundtrack". faroutmagazine.co.uk. March 17, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  23. ^ Apple (November 19, 2018), 5 Reasons iPad Pro can be your next computer — Apple, retrieved July 21, 2019

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