JR Hutson (born Lee Hutson Jr.) is an American record producer, executive producer, songwriter and talent developer. He has collaborated with several notable artists including Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Stevie Wonder, George Duke, Trick Daddy, Anthony Hamilton, Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathaway, Earth Wind & Fire, Wayman Tisdale and Childish Gambino. Hutson has been awarded Gold and Platinum records. He has also been nominated for four Grammy Awards. He is currently producing and developing talent.
Hip hop production and labels 1990s
Hutson also had a string of notable productions coming out of his native miami. Connecting with Slip N Slide Records, he produced among others a track Featuring Trick Daddy and J-Shin called “You, Me & She”, as well as a host of other local miami rap talent. Hutson also scored his first deal for a hip hop artist he developed named Sianhide. Warner Brothers then executive KRS-One tapped Hutson for his artist and he subsequently dropped the single “We Gon Ride” on KRS's “Temple Of HipHop Kulture” compilation.
Los Angeles and Hidden Beach tenure 2000s to 2007
In the early 2002, Hutson moved to Los Angeles, California, after spending a few weeks producing and developing Vannessa Marquez. While in LA, Hutson reconnected with long time Champion Steve Mckeever who now had an imprint on Sony named Hidden Beach Recordings. Re-kindling his artist passion, Hutson wrote, produced & performed “I Choose You” on the hidden hits compilation. Also, Hutson penned & produced “Wonderful & Special” for HB artist Mike Phillips in which he was the featured singer. After producing many projects for Hidden Beach, it was A&R Charles Whitfield who made a recommendation to HB marquee artist Jill Scott that she collaborate with Hutson on her next album. Legend has it that the Hutson composed instrumental CD that Whitfield gave to Scott is what ultimately became the core of her album, . The two formed a very fruitful creative relationship. In an interview with HitQuarters,[1] producer JR Hutson commented on the creation of the song "Whenever You're Around":
"I tried to take a real Quincy Jones approach to that record. I brought in a lot of musicians and we were just vibing to a few different things, and that was one of the tracks that stood out to me in the jam session that day. So I tweaked and tweaked the track, edited it and reformatted it, and then eventually ended up with that track."
2008 The Light Of The Sun to present
In 2008, Hutson connected with Musiq Soulchild to produce the successful ballad "SoBeautiful".
In 2010, Hutson and Jill Scott officially began production on Scott's album The Light of the Sun. Hutson acted as executive producer and co-wrote multiple songs on the album. Recording took place in several locations including 9th Street Studios, Studio 609, Fever Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California, Threshold Sound & Vision in Santa Monica, California, The Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Boom Boom Room in Burbank, California, and The Village Studios in West Los Angeles, California. It features collaborations from Anthony Hamilton, Eve, Doug E Fresh, and Paul Wall. The album was released for pre-order days before it was officially released on June 21, 2011. It debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 chart, with 135,000 copies sold in its first week, becoming her first #1 debut on the chart.
In 2012, Dave Pensado featured a "J.R." Hutson produced song called "Missing You" on his "Pensado's Place: Into The Lair Episode #37". Dave explains his mixing techniques for pad synths on the song.
In 2013, Hutson accomplished another line item on his wish list by writing and producing a song for Earth Wind & Fire’s Now, Then & Forever album. This album marked the return of the original EWF line up complete with keyboardist Larry Dunn as well as the original EWF horns. It was the first record the group had recorded after a 10-year recess. Hutson’s track, “Love is Law” is the 2nd track on the album.
1995
Wayman Tisdale - Power Forward (Motown Records)
1996
Wayman Tisdale - In The Zone (Motown Records)
1997
Zhane - Saturday Night (Motown Records)
1999
The Temple Of Hiphop Kulture - Criminal Justice: From Darkness To Light (Reprise/Warner Bros.)
2000
Vanessa Marquez - (Unreleased)
2001
Latrelle - Dirty Girl, Wrong Girl, Bad Girl (Unreleased) (Arista Records)
2002
Mike Phillips -You Have Reached Mike Phillips (Hidden Beach/Sony)
2003
SWV - Gold And Platinum Collection (BMG Records)
2005
Mike Phillips - Uncommon Denominator (Hidden Beach/Sony)
2007
Jill Scott - The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 (Hidden Beach/Sony)
2008
Musiq Soulchild - OnMyRadio (Atlantic Records)
2009
Eric Roberson - (Dome Records)
2011
Jill Scott - The Light of the Sun - (Warner Bros.)
JR Hutson Executive Producer
2013
Earth Wind & Fire - Now, Then & Forever (Sony Records)
2014
Leela James - Fall For You-
2015
Kenny Lattimore - Anatomy Of A Love Song- (E1 Records.)
JR Hutson Executive Producer
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| 2008
| The Real Thing: Words And Sounds Vol. 3
(Jill Scott's album) (as producer)
| Best R&B Album
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| 2010
| SoBeautiful (Musiq Soulchild's album)
| Best Male R&B Performance
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| 2015
| Because The Internet (Childish Gambino's album)
| Best Rap Album
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| 2016
| Covered: Recorded Live At Capitol Studios (Robert Glasper's album)
| Best Jazz Instrumental Album
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|- | 2010 | SoBeautiful by Musiq Soulchild (co-writer) | Award Winning R&B Song | |- | 2012 | So In Love (Jill Scott Feat. Anthony Hamilton) (co-writer) | Award Winning R&B Song | |}
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Musiq Soulchild | Producer/Writer||8||81| |
Jill Scott Feat. Anthony Hamilton | Writer||10||97|1 |
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