Rodney Alejandro

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Rodney Alejandro is an American musician, composer, arranger, producer and

hip hop
. From an early age music was all around, and his diverse influences only help broaden his music appreciation and creative palette.

Early life

(1987–1995)

Alejandro's professional career began as a senior in high school, with the co-founding of Tejano-pop band Valentino. Valentino was led by David Flores, who departed another Houston band called La Mafia. Alejandro joined the band on keyboards, having taught himself after saving a year to buy his first keyboard, an

A.B. Quintanilla III asked Rodney to come work with Selena contributing arrangement and production services on her song "Amame",[1]
on the Entre Mi Mundo project. Tony Guerrero of La Sombra from Chicago, asked Rodney to sequence and program sounds for their projects, and a solo project by the lead singer Gavino Guerrero. Albert "Tiger" Diaz, another singer in the group, recorded a solo project and he too hired Alejandro for arranging and keyboard programing. These relationships would lead to further collaboration many years later.

Valentino continued to perform, but making the crossover to more Latin American pop music market. They performed original bilingual pop songs recorded at Sugarhill Studios in Houston. Traveling to LA, they worked with producers Michael Sembello, and Preston Glass, on demos pursuing a record deal. In 1992, Valentino performed on Buscando Estrellas, the Latin version of the American show Star Search, and won in the band category. "Vamos A Bailar" was a song written by Alejandro, the group used to win with. That trip to LA introduced him to other artist one being Coyote of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Rodney contributed a bi-lingual song called "Mas Dura" to their effort on the American show, Star Search. The band went on to win the season finale and signed to Capitol/EMI Latino. Their first single was "Bien Dura", a full Spanish version of the original bilingual song. Unknowingly, Alejandro became the only songwriter to win Star Search in Spanish and English. In 1992, Valentino signed a record deal with BMG International. Alejandro contributed 8 of the 10 tracks record for the album and project was released in 1993. While in the studio, Rodney met Jamie Glaser, a guitarist who mentioned the value of his Berklee education. Being self-taught in pop music got him only so far, so Rodney set his sights on Berklee College of Music. Upon returning to Houston from LA, Alejandro enrolled at a local community college to pursue his education and music professional goals.

(1995–1997)

Having completed basic requirement course at San Jac Community College, he then transferred to Berklee College of Music in June 1995. Summer semester was his first, carrying a full course load, his objective was to get in and get out. By the end of summer he took a job in the school's work study program. He was assigned to the Berklee Performance Center, where he worked as a

summa cum laude
, and received the Production Scholar of the Year from the MP&E dept. and Outstanding Excellence from the CW&P dept. See Education below for further details.

Career

(1997–2001)

After graduating, Rodney headed to San Francisco with one connection. During his time at Berklee, he maintain a professional relationship with producer Preston Glass. Preston introduced Rodney to 3x Grammy Winner

Jeff "Skunk" Baxter
, to name a few. Narada's show of love is giving people nicknames. After a session one day, Rodney acquired the name "Cortada". On every project completed with Narada he is credited with that moniker. It since has been added to various credits though Rodney has been independent since 2001. Highlights from Rodney's time at Tarpon Studios in San Rafael, CA under the super producer Narada Michael Walden.

(2001–2009)

In 2001, Rodney made the move to Los Angeles and officially launched SweetSpot Entertainment, Inc. His company would be the headquarters for all his music production, live performance and music publishing activities. While still cultivating his English music contacts, he began to make new connections for the Spanish music market. He would team up with Claudia Brant, and

The Script
, amongst many other artist and provided music for film and TV productions. Here are some highlights from his work with SweetSpot Entertainment, Inc. He also works for The Script, in some way.

(2002)

(2003)

thumb|left

  • Live Performer on keyboards with
    G Tom Mac various cities, Andy Vargas at Conga Room
    .
  • Keyboards/Music Programmer- on artist Elan's album Street Child, released on AbbyWho Records.[21]
  • Songwriter/Arranger- "Besame Despacito" & "You Better Love Me"(Alejandro, Claudia Brant, Nir Seroussi) released on Lideres/Universal Latino artist Sandra.[22]
  • Songwriter-"Mujer(Dulce Veneno)"(Alejandro, Brant) released on RCA artist Juan Antonio's album project Los Que Se Aman.[23]
  • Songwriter- "Cumbianchera" (Alejandro, Brant) released on Capitol/EMI Latino artist La Onda's album Otra Onda.[24] In 2004, La Onda would win Premio Lo Nuestro in the categories of Best New Artist and Best Tejano Performance.
  • Producer- "Asi, Asi" pop remix by La Onda on Capitol/EMI Latino release Otra Onda.
  • Songwriter- "Rompecabezas" sung by
    Latin Grammy nominated in the category of Mejor Album Vocal Pop Duo o Groupo. In 2004, this project wins a Premio Lo Nuestro for Best Duo or Group in Regional Mexican Category. On November 4, 2004, Kumbia Kings 4 was certified 2× platinum, for 2,000,000 plus sells by the RIAA.[18]

(2004)

References

  1. ^ 11. Selena - Amame. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-08.
  2. ^ All Music Guide
  3. ^ a b Billboard Magazine
  4. ^ All Music Guide
  5. ^ Billboard Review
  6. ^ The Fish.com
  7. ^ All Music Guide
  8. ^ BillBoard Magazine
  9. ^ All Music Guide
  10. ^ Billboard Magazine
  11. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Love Sent Angel Mytown x. YouTube.
  12. ^ All Music Guide
  13. ^ "مجلة الغنيمي بالكويت".
  14. ^ All Music Guide
  15. ^ All Music Review
  16. ^ All Music Guide
  17. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Grupo la onda-así así (remix). Video original. YouTube.
  18. ^ a b RIAA Archived July 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ Billboard Magazine
  20. ^ Recording Industry Association of America Archived July 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ All Music Guide
  22. ^ All Music Guide
  23. ^ All Music Guide
  24. ^ All Music Guide
  25. ^ Billboard Magazine
  26. ^ a b All Music Guide

External links

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