Kuk Harrell

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Kuk Harrell, whose full name is Thaddis Laphonia Harrell, is an American songwriter, arranger, sound engineer and vocal producer. He was born in 1964 and began his career in Chicago as a drummer and singer. He then worked as a session musician and wrote music for commercials for companies including McDonald's and Coca-Cola. In 1992 he moved to Los Angeles, where he sang on songs by Diane Warren and David Foster.

Music and breakthrough

In 2004 he went to work in Atlanta at RedZone Entertainment, the production company of his cousins Tricky Stewart and Mark Stewart. There he formed a team with Stewart and Terius Nash, better known as The-Dream. Harrell's speciality was vocals: as vocal producer he was responsible for how the voice sounded on the record. Mark Stewart called him the team's secret weapon. In 2007 he co-wrote Rihanna's Umbrella, with a rap by Jay-Z, and produced the vocals. The song won a Grammy. He also worked on Beyoncé's Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), Mary J. Blige's Growing Pains and Justin Bieber's My World 2.0.

Influence

Harrell is an example of a profession that became increasingly important in the hit factory of the 2000s. A hit no longer arose from a song and a singer alone, but from a team in which someone concentrated entirely on how the voice sounds. His name is rarely printed large on the sleeve, but his work can be heard on many of the biggest hits of his time.

Listening

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 12: The Hit Factory^NL Reader

Mentioned in other articles

• Umbrella SongIn March 2007 Umbrella by Rihanna was released, written by Terius The-Dream Nash and Christopher Tricky Stewart, with Kuk Harrell and Jay-Z.