Jeff Bhasker

Jeffrey Nath Bhasker^[2] (born March 4, 1974) is an American record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles. He won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year in 2016 and was nominated for the award in 2013.

Bhasker came to prominence as the primary producer of Kanye West's album 808s & Heartbreak (2008), and further worked with West on his subsequent albums including My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), Watch the Throne (2011), his tours, and later, Donda (2021). For other artists, Bhasker has also produced the albums Some Nights (2012) by Fun., Uptown Special (2015) by Mark Ronson, and Harry Styles' self-titled debut album (2017), among others.

Bhasker has received Grammy Awards for his work on the songs "Run This Town" for Jay-Z, "All of the Lights" for Kanye West, "We Are Young" for Fun., and "Uptown Funk" for Mark Ronson.^[3][4]

Bhasker was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and raised in Socorro, New Mexico.^[5][6] His American-born mother is a pianist and his Indian-born father, Ravi Bhasker, is a medical doctor who has served as Socorro's mayor for over 24 years. Bhasker was introduced to jazz by his mother and his piano teacher.^[7] He played in the jazz band at Socorro High School, where he graduated in 1993, and then studied jazz piano and arranging at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.^[8][9]

Bhasker began his career gigging around Boston as a keyboardist and played in a wedding band. After playing with the 1970s-era R&B band Tavares, Bhasker moved to New York on September 11, 2001. He toured with the jam band Lettuce and began focusing more on songwriting.^[10] One of his first productions was with neo soul singer Goapele, on her album Closer (2001). Bhasker produced a song on rapper The Game's first album, The Documentary (2005).^[11]

Bhasker relocated to Los Angeles in 2005. He got a job doing demos for songwriter Diane Warren.^[12] He began writing with Bruno Mars, and songwriter and executive Steve Lindsey served as their mentor. He played cover songs in a band with Mars around Los Angeles.^[6]

Around 2007, Bhasker began his association with rapper/producer Kanye West.^[13] Initially serving as a substitute keyboardist on the recommendation of his friend and West's tour DJ A-Trak, West was impressed with his musical ability and hired him for West's Glow in the Dark Tour as his musical director.^[14] He was set to be the musical director for the cancelled Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga, before going on to be the music director of Lady Gaga's The Monster Ball Tour.^[15] Bhasker collaborated on West's albums 808s & Heartbreak, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and the Jay-Z/Kanye West collaboration album, Watch the Throne, including the songs "Welcome to Heartbreak". "Lift Off", and "Runaway". Bhasker received the Grammy Award for Best Rap Song for West's "All of the Lights", and the Jay-Z/Rihanna/Kanye West song "Run This Town".^[16] Bhasker and West reunited on "Come to Life" on 2021's Donda.

Following this period, Bhasker would go on to produce Fun's Some Nights (2012), Uptown Special (2015) with Mark Ronson, and Harry Styles' self-titled debut album (2017). Bhasker's collaborations span multiple genres, including his work with Alicia Keys, Mark Ronson, Kid Cudi, Cam, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Young Thug, and more.

Bhasker co-wrote and co-produced Mark Ronson's single "Uptown Funk", which earned him a 2016 Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Additionally, he received the 2016 Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical for his achievements in producing that year.^[17]

His RIAA multi-platinum selling records include Kanye West's "Love Lockdown", "Runaway", "Monster" and "Power", Jay-Z's "Run this Town", Drake's "Find Your Love", Fun's "We Are Young", "Some Nights" and "Carry On", Pink's "Just Give Me a Reason", Bruno Mars' "Talking to the Moon" and "Locked out of Heaven", Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk", Rihanna's "Kiss it Better"and Harry Styles' "Sign of the Times".

As a vocalist, Bhasker has used the alias Billy Kraven (last name credited as Craven in the interview and in the record). He explained his reasons in an interview with GQ:

It kind of started out as me creating a character to be a songwriter. I wanted to keep it separate at first, but now I kind of like the idea that people know it’s me. It kind of defines the parameters. The Billy Craven stuff is a little bit darker, it deals with social themes like the war and death. It’s Blue-Eyed Soul meets Marilyn Manson. U.G.L.Y. is more a lighter side—a lot of humor and crassness—it’s commentary on a lot of these swaggy songs. It pokes a little fun at the state of contemporary pop and urban music.

^[1] When speaking on the Billy Kraven's pseudonym in 2013, he said "I just thought it was a cooler sounding name, and I was making these kind of dark pop songs that suited it. It's kinda like Billy Joel meets Wes Craven."^[18]

• A Man Named Scott (2021) – Himself