Dallas Austin

Dallas Austin
Born	December 29, 1970 (1970-12-29) (age 40) Columbus, Georgia, United States
Genres	Pop, R&B, hip hop, pop rock
Occupations	Songwriter, Record Producer, Guitarist, and Keyboardist
Instruments	Guitar, keyboards, drums, Harmonica
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Rowdy Records
Associated acts	Monica, TLC, Sugababes, McFLY

Dallas Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of his most notable clients include Michael Jackson, TLC, Boyz II Men, Pink, Monica, Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Stacie Orrico, Another Bad Creation, Fishbone, Sugababes, Anastacia, Namie Amuro, Kim Zolciak from the Real Housewives of Atlanta and McFly.

Career

Austin was a member of Highland Place Mobsters on the influential hip hop label LaFace in the early 1990s before embarking on a career as a full-time producer. Highland Place Mobsters, a derivative of MCA Records 80's group "Glasswurk", contributed to the soundtracks for the movies White Men Can't Jump and Boomerang.^{[citation needed]}

As a producer and songwriter, Austin was first noticed in the mid 80's when his childhood manager, producer/drummer William "Vybe Chyle" Burke introduced him to Joyce Irby ('80s all-girl band Klymaxx) who signed him to Diva One Music. Since then Austin has crafted hits for LaFace and TLC (with which he won two Grammys for co-producing CrazySexyCool and FanMail), including the hit singles "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg", "What About Your Friends", "Creep", "Silly Ho" and "Unpretty". As a teenager, Irby took Austin to Sylvia Rhone, Motown head Jheryl Busby, L.A. Reid, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, asking them to give him a shot as a producer. Other credits of Austin's include the number-two single "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" recorded by Blu Cantrell, "Don't Let Me Get Me" and "Just Like a Pill" by Pink, and the hit "Secret" by Madonna. In more recent times, Austin's work has returned him to the charts, writing and producing the successful "Trick Me" for Kelis as well as "Left Outside Alone" and "Sick and Tired" for Anastacia.^{[citation needed]}

Austin has tried his hand at remixing for other artists, most notably "They Don't Care About Us" for Michael Jackson and "The Power of Good-Bye" for Madonna.^{[citation needed]} In addition to American artists, Austin has produced songs for international artists. In 1999 Austin and Japanese pop singer Namie Amuro began a professional relationship in which he produced many of her songs until present.^{[citation needed]}

Austin is also known for socially conscious productions such as TLC's "Unpretty" and "Damaged" and more recently "Ugly" for UK act Sugababes. For the Sugababes, Austin produced several other tracks on their number-one album Taller in More Ways, including the single "Push the Button", which spent three weeks at the top of the UK charts. He also produced the Girls Aloud' Comic Relief collaboration with Sugababes on "Walk This Way". He is also responsible for producing Gwen Stefani's single "Cool" from her Love.Angel. Music.Baby. album.^{[citation needed]}

In 1992, Austin formed Rowdy Records with fellow producer L.A. Reid, though Reid left the following year. Austin branched out into cinema as well, becoming the executive producer of Drumline (2002) for 20th Century Fox. He also served as the film's musical director. Austin is currently working with Warner Bros. studios on another music-driven film set in Atlanta.^{[citation needed]}

Drumline cast member Orlando Jones also chose Austin to be the music director, alongside DJ Rukus, for his short-lived The Orlando Jones Show, a live talk show that aired on F/X.^{[citation needed]}

United Arab Emirates incident

In July, 2006, Austin was arrested and held in a United Arab Emirates prison on drug charges. After fellow songwriter U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch interceded on Austin's behalf, the UAE consulate in Washington D.C. placed calls to Lionel Richie for a character reference.^[1][2]

Richie recounts for the New York Times:

It was, 'Tell me what kind of guy is Dallas Austin.' I said, 'Listen, this is a great guy. He's done a great job for the community. A gangster, a hoodlum, a thug, he's not.'^[1][2]

Austin pleaded guilty in court, apologized for his actions, and was subsequently granted a royal pardon by Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.^[1][2]

Discography

Main article: List of songs produced by Dallas Austin

..

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Jeff Leeds and Sharon Waxman, with Hassan M. Fattah in Dubai (July 8, 2006). "That's What Friends in High Places Are For". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/08/arts/music/08pard.html. Retrieved 2010-04-16. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Gil Kaufman (July 10, 2006). "Dallas Austin Sprung From Dubai Jail With Help From Songwriting Senator, Lionel Richie". VH1 News. Archived from the original on 2007-09-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20070913202016/http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1535959/20060710/richie_lionel.jhtml. Retrieved 2007-06-12. 

External links

• Dallas Austin on music.com
• Dallas Austin's myspace
• Dallas Austin's beatbuggy
• Dallas Austin biography on VH1.com
• Rowdy.tv is a social networking site for Rowdy Records
• EMI biography of Dallas Austin.

Persondata
Name	Austin, Dallas
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 29, 1970
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death