Interviews

Published on February 11th, 2018 | by Dr. Jerry Doby

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Live Session: Award-Winning and Multi-Platinum Producer J. R. Rotem

What do you talk about with an award-winning and multi-platinum record producer who’s already appeared in the pages of the top entertainment outlets and highlighted and dissected by just about all the other major writers in the business? It becomes a conversation beyond the music, to life outlook, lessons learned and contributions to be made. J.R. Rotem hasn’t reached the peak of his climb yet and in just over 10 years, has already achieved more than 300 placements with household names from across the spectrum of music. Here’s a short list: Jason Derulo, Rihanna, Nikki Minaj, Dr. Dre, Gwen Stefani, Megan Trainer, Weezer, Fall Out Boy…you get my drift.

Multi-Platinum Record Producer J.R. Rotem (Photo: Jerry Doby/The Hype Magazine)

Multi-Platinum Record Producer J.R. Rotem (Photo: Jerry Doby/The Hype Magazine)

Carving out time with J.R. was another thing…with scheduling conflicts, we took two months to get together at his lab in Hollywood at Westlake Studios. I was met by a friendly and gracious staff and escorted into a highly decorated cavernous chill space. Nearly every inch on the “wall of fame” was occupied with his bonafides from the industry:

 

Here’s the official line on J.R. Rotem

J.R. Rotem’s accomplishments as a music producer, songwriter and 2x record label president (Beluga Heights, Lyon Estates), are a case study of incredible success over the last decade. J.R. attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where his focus was piano performance, with aspirations of scoring films professionally. Simultaneously, J.R. immersed himself in the world of Jazz, however, it was the release of two seminal CD’s – Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” and Snoop Dogg’s “Doggystyle,” that inspired J.R.’s desires to undertake music production.

J.R.’s first big break came when a CD of his beats was sought after by Bay Area producers who planned on using J.R. an upcoming hip-hop album, but the CD ended up in the hands of producer Dwayne Wiggins of Tony, Toni, Tone’ who advised the beats better suited Destiny’s Child. The song “Fancy” made it on to the “Survivor” CD and a second song “My Song” ended up on “Love Destiny” CD.

J.R.’s second break came when Dr. Dre heard one of the songs J.R. had produced for Vishiss, telling J.R.’s team he had to have it. Dr. Dre had always held a special significance to J.R., knowing the importance of such a request, Vishiss let J.R. sell the song.

In 2007, he launched break-out superstar and overnight sensation Sean Kingston, the first artist on Beluga Heights’ joint venture with Epic Records. In 2007 he was named “Super Producer” of the year alongside Timbaland & Swizz Beatz and was also named BMI’s 2008 Producer of the Year, a title he shared with T-Pain and Kanye West.

After accumulating over 300 placements in 4 years from 2004-2008, J.R, has continued working with industry heavy weights over the last decade including but not limited to Rihanna, Leona Lewis, Natasha Bedingfield, Vanessa Hudgens, Usher, Chris Brown, Ludacris, The Game, Nas, Dr. Dre, DMX, Mike Jones, Flo Rida, E-40, Gwen Stefani, Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears, Rick Ross, Maroon 5, Fifth Harmony, Megan Trainor, and has gone on to conquer the alternative rock scene working with Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Weezer, and most recently on Linkin Park’s latest project.

In 2016, the critically acclaimed multi-platinum producer founded a new label, Lyon Estates, in a joint venture partnership with Warner Brothers Records. Rotem’s first signed artist to his new venture is baby-faced Bay Area Crooner  “Marteen” whose hit single “Srircha” landed him as the opener on Kehlani’s summer tour and Dua Lipa’s  Fall 2017 national tour.

Pictured: J.R. Rotem in the lab at Westlake Studios (Photo: Jerry Doby/The Hype Magazine)

When I connected with the man himself, he was extremely gracious which, seeing how this is Hollywood, set the tone for an amazing and educational conversation. I rapidly found out why he’s one of the hottest talents in the biz, *ish just flows. J.R. greeted me with a genuine handshake and a smile while his engineer Sam made me comfortable so that when it was time to get crackin everything was smooth sailing.

We chose the comfortable outer room where I’d entered and after breaking the ice, got into our conversation. We started with J.R. on an introspective note and moved right through to his “give back” meaning Lyon Estates, his new venture with Warner to give opportunities for new, hungry artists…Tune in:

For more on J.R. Rotem go Behind the Boards with him on iTunes for a smsmorgasbordf his creativity:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/behind-the-boards-j-r-rotem/pl.d8f08671b28f40a5aff5ca9757e67621

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About the Author

Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.


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