Brent Kolatalo
Brent Kolatalo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City, New York, United States |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Associated acts |
|
| Website | brentk |
Brent Kolatalo is an American mixer, record producer, engineer and songwriter based in New York City. Kolatalo has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including Kanye West, Jay-Z, Eminem, Drake, Bruno Mars, X Ambassadors, Future, Chris Webby, Ella Henderson, Taylor Swift, Lorde, OneRepublic, Lady Gaga and Lana Del Rey among others.[1]
He has worked on several albums such as, To Pimp a Butterfly, Uptown Special, If You're Reading This it's too Late, Based On a T.R.U. Story, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Watch the Throne, Just Charlie, Late Registration and The College Dropout among others.
Life and career[]
Kolatalo was born in Barberton and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio.[2] He began practicing guitar when he was a kid, one of his tutors was Jeff Martin.[3][4]
He attended Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio and graduated in 2000.[4] In 2002, he went to Berklee College of Music in Boston, during summers he was a trainee at Avatar studios.[5] Kolatalo dropped out in 2004 after working on Kanye West debut studio album, The College Dropout which earning several nominations at the 47th Grammy Awards.[5][6]
In 2007, Kolatalo started The Skywalkers, a production team with his partner Ken Lewis which has been renamed, Katalyst in 2011.[7][8]
Kolatalo's songwriting credits include "The Blacker the Berry", Kendrick Lamar's track, which appeared on his album To Pimp a Butterfly (2015).[2] He is the engineer on multi-platinum Mark Ronson's single featuring Bruno Mars, "Uptown Funk".[9][10] In 2016, Kolatalo recorded and played on the track "Come to Mama" from Lady Gaga's album, Joanne.[11] In 2019, he has worked on Taylor Swift's album, Lover.[12]
Awards and recognition[]
He is a three-time Grammy nominee by name and has worked on over sixteen Grammy nominated albums.[13][8] Having nominated for his work as audio and mixer engineer on works such as Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly (2015),[10] Eminem‘s Eminem (Recovery) (2010)[14] and Kanye West’s The College Dropout (2004).[15]
Grammy awards[]
| Year | Artist | Album or Song | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Kendrick Lamar | To Pimp a Butterfly - The Blacker the Berry | Best Rap Album | Nominated |
| 2010 | Eminem | Recovery - Session One | Best Rap Album | Nominated |
| 2004 | Kanye West | The College Dropout - All Falls Down, Heavy Hitters, Last Call, Family Business | Best Rap Album | Nominated |
Discography[]
- 2020: Ella Henderson, Take Care of You — Producer
- 2020: Eminem, Music to Be Murdered By: Side B — Recording
- 2019: Rick Ross, Port of Miami 2 — Bass, Composer, Drums, Keyboards
- 2019: Taylor Swift, Lover — Engineer
- 2018: Des Rocs, Let The Vultures In — Producer, Mixing
- 2017: Belly, Mumble Rap — Composer
- 2017: The Marias, Superclean Vol. I. — Mixing
- 2017: K. Michelle, Kimberly: People I Used to Know — Composer
- 2017:The Score, ATLAS — Composer
- 2017: Lorde, Melodrama — Drum Programming
- 2016: One Republic, Oh My My — Additional Production, Drums, Keys, Guitars
- 2016: V. Rose, Young Dangerous Heart — Mixing
- 2016: The Score, Unstoppable — Composer
- 2016: Farid Bang, Blut — Mixing
- 2016: Bruno Mars, 24k Magic — Engineer
- 2016: Lady Gaga, Joanne — Drums, Engineer
- 2015: Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly — Composer
- 2015: X Ambassadors, VHS (Deluxe) — Producer
- 2015: Drake, If You're Reading This it's too Late — Composer
- 2015: Gallant, Red Bull Single for "Borderline" — Mixing[16]
- 2015: Jamie Foxx, Hollywood: A Story of a Dozen Roses — Composer
- 2014: Future, Honest — Producer
- 2014: Chris Webby, Chemically Imbalanced — Additional Production, Mixing
- 2014: TyDi, Redefined — Mixing
- 2014: Niykee Heaton, Bad Intentions — Sample Recreation
- 2013: Kanye West, Yeezus — Engineer
- 2013: Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2 — Digital Editing
- 2013: Pusha T, My Name Is My Name — Composer
- 2013: Jay-Z, Magna Carta... Holy Grail — Sampling
- 2013: John Legend, Love in the Future — Engineer
- 2013: Big Sean, Hall of Fame — Musician
- 2013: J. Cole , Born Sinner — Engineer
- 2012: Timeflies, One Night Ep — Mixing
- 2012: Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox — Drum Engineering
- 2012: Lana Del Rey, Born to Die — Drums, Engineer
- 2012: 2 Chainz, Based on a T.R.U. Story — Bass Programming, Drum Programming
- 2011:Jay-Z / Kanye West, Watch the Throne — Bass, Engineer, Guitar, Keyboards
- 2011: Drake, Take Care — Engineer, Instrumentation
- 2011: Maybach Music Group Presents: Self Made, Vol. 1 — Keyboards
- 2010: The Knocks, Magic — Mixing
- 2010: Rick Ross, Teflon Don — Instrumentation
- 2010: Charlie Wilson, Just Charlie — Musician Engineer
- 2010: Eminem, Recovery — Musician, Engineer
- 2010: Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy — Drum Programming, Engineer, Keyboards
- 2010: Kid Cudi, Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager — Engineer
- 2010: Rain, Back to The Basic — Mixing
- 2009: Mario, D.N.A. — Drum Programming
- 2009: SS501, Rebirth — Mixing
- 2008: Miggs, Unraveled — Mixing
- 2008: Cristian Alexanda, Too Fine — Mixing
- 2008: Balance, Golden State Warriorz Comp, Vol. 1 — Mixing
- 2008: Kanye West, 808's & Heartbreak — Musician
- 2008: San Quinn, From a Boy to a Man — Mixing
- 2007: E.P., Supastar — Mixing
- 2007: Skidmore Fountain, Break — Mixing
- 2006: Skidmore Fountain, Skidmore Fountain — Mixing
- 2006: D&A, Love Goes — Mixing
- 2006: Ghostface Killah, Fishscale — Musician
- 2005: Cuban Link, Chain Reaction — Engineer
- 2005: Common, Be — Musician
- 2005 : Memphis Bleek, 543 — Musician
- 2005: Cassidy, I'm a Hustla — Sample Recreation
- 2004: Jin, The Rest Is History —Engineer, Musician
- 2004: Kanye West, The College Dropout — Engineer
- 2004: Man on Earth, Disposable Sounds for the Fickle Mind — Engineer
- 2004: Jadakiss, Kiss of Death — Musician
References[]
- ^ Heads, Ambrosia For (December 30, 2019). "Here Are Ambrosia For Heads' Top 25 Rap Albums Of The Decade". Ambrosia For Heads. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ a b Dorn, Anna. "Meet Ken Lewis: Hip-Hop's Max Martin". DJBooth. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ Sep 25, Hollin Jones on; comments, 2019 in Interviews 0. "Interview: Brent Kolatalo". ask.audio. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ a b Hilty, Lindsey. "Lakota alumni win Grammy awards". journal-news. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ a b "Brent Kolatalo". Barker Collective. Retrieved February 6, 2021.[dead link]
- ^ "Brent Kolatalo". GRAMMY.com. November 23, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ "Ken Lewis: The One Man Band ...From Joe Budden to Kanye West". AllHipHop.com. May 13, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ a b "Producer Crosstalk: Brent Kolatalo". Music Connection Magazine. August 14, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ "Ken Lewis". Plugin Alliance. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ a b "US: BMG Proudly Congratulates Clients On Their Grammy Success". BMG. February 17, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ "Meet the Creative Team Behind Lady Gaga's 'Joanne' Album". Billboard. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ "Taylor Swift - Lover Credits and Streams". FreeMusicCredits.com. August 23, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ September 2019, Ben Rogerson 06. "Brent Kolatalo: 5 things I've learned about music production". MusicRadar. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ "Berklee Alumni Win 13 Grammy Awards | Berklee". college.berklee.edu. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ "Alumni All-Stars in the Field of Music Production and Engineering | Berklee". college.berklee.edu. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ Reilly, Dan (November 17, 2020). "9 Engineers on the Hardest Song They Ever Mixed". Vulture. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
External links[]
- Official website
- Brent Kolatalo discography at Discogs
- Brent Kolatalo at AllMusic
- Living people
- Mastering engineers
- American audio engineers
- Berklee College of Music alumni