| Amir Esmailian | |
| Birth Date: | 1983 12, mf=y |
| Birth Place: | Tehran, Iran |
| Education: | Merivale High School |
| Years Active: | 2011–present |
Amir Esmailian (Persian: امیر اسماعیلیان; born December 28, 1983), also known as Cash and Cash XO,[1] is an Iranian-Canadian music industry executive, talent manager, and record producer. He is the co-founder of XO Records and the co-manager of the label's primary artist, singer the Weeknd. He has executively produced albums and songs for artists such as Nav (whom he also manages) and the Carters.
Amir Esmailian was born in Tehran, Iran on December 28, 1983, during the Iran–Iraq War. To flee the conflict, his family emigrated to Ottawa, Canada in 1988. Growing up, Esmailian was neighbors with future rapper and XO signee, Belly. The two would often go to recording studios together. He got his nickname, "Cash", as a child, given to him by his friend and future XO member, Hawk Marley.[2] His first job as a 12 year-old involved making Canadian Football League trading cards.[3] He is a graduate of Merivale High School in Ottawa.[4]
In 2002, Esmailian's friend and rapper, Belly, was signed to Wassim "Sal" Slaiby's Capital Prophets label (later the CP Music Group). Slaiby also hired Esmailian as the head of street promotion for the label. At age 19 in 2003, Esmailian began traveling with rapper and friend, Juelz Santana, on his tours. In 2007, he started co-managing Belly alongside Sal, which took him to Florida in an effort to help his client break into the club scene.[2]
While living in Miami in 2011, Esmailian's friend, Hawk Marley, sent him some of singer the Weeknd's tracks when the artist was relatively unknown. Esmailian then drove to Toronto, Canada and began managing the Weeknd.[3] In 2012, Esmailian, Slaiby and the Weeknd founded the XO record label as a joint venture with Republic Records.[2] [5] Through the XO and Republic partnership, the Weeknd released several albums in the following years, including Trilogy (2012),[3] Kiss Land (2013),[6] and Beauty Behind the Madness (2015). The latter album would be honored with two Grammy Awards.[4] Along with Slaiby, Esmailian was named to Billboards "40 Under 40: Music's Young Power Players" list in 2015.[3] Esmailian was also pivotal in the 2016 release of Starboy, the Weeknd's third studio album that debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, received triple platinum certification and won Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2018 Grammy Awards. On March 20, 2020, XO and Republic Records released the Weeknd's fourth studio album After Hours. The album debuted and peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and received platinum certification. In March 2020, After Hours broke the record for the most global pre-adds in Apple Music history, with over 1.02 million users.
In 2016, Esmailian discovered the Toronto-based rapper and record producer Nav, signing him to XO and becoming his co-manager. In February 2017, Nav released his debut self-titled mixtape, in which him and Esmailian were the executive producers of.[2] Esmailian would go on to be an executive producer on Nav and Metro Boomin's collaborative mixtape, Perfect Timing, alongside the two in July of that year.[7]
In May 2018, Nav released his debut studio album, Reckless, in 2018, in which Esmailian executive produced alongside Nav.[8] Also in June 2018, Esmailian earned songwriting credits on the Carters' Everything is Love album with "Friends", a song in which Nav co-produced since it was an instrumental version of a track left off from Reckless.[9] [10] He would again earn executive producer credits alongside Nav and the Weeknd on Nav's second studio album, Bad Habits, which was released in March 2019,[11] and debuted and peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.[12] In May 2020, Esmailian, Nav, and the Weeknd again executive produced Nav's third studio album, Good Intentions and its deluxe reissue, Brown Boy 2, the former that once again debuted and peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Esmailian is also credited as a producer for seven songs and a songwriter for nine songs on the album.[13] In November 2020, he would go on again to be an executive producer alongside Wheezy on Nav's commercial mixtape, Emergency Tsunami.
In April 2019, Esmailian premiered 21 previously unreleased songs on the fifth episode of the Weeknd's Beats 1 radio show, Memento Mori. Tracks by Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug, Travis Scott, Gunna, Nav, 21 Savage, Offset, Gucci Mane, Future, and others were played.[14] In 2020, Esmailian launched a Champagne named Noirblanc, under the house name Xavier D’Orsenac.
On April 29, 2024, Esmailian's house in Encino was the target of a shooting, perpetrated by three unknown assailants who fired multiple times onto his home striking a security guard.[15]
| List of songs written along with notes to indicate production | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Artist | Album | Song | Co-written with |
| 2013 | French Montana | Excuse My French | "Gifted" | Karim Kharbouch, Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Danny Schofield |
| 2016 | Travis Scott | Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight | "Beibs in the Trap" | Jacques Webster II, Navraj Goraya |
| 2017 | Nav and Metro Boomin | Perfect Timing | "ASAP Ferg" | Navraj Goraya, Leland Wayne, Symere Woods |
| "Both Sides" | Navraj Goraya, Leland Wayne, Shéyaa Abraham-Joseph | |||
| "Call Me" | Navraj Goraya, Leland Wayne | |||
| "Need Some" | Navraj Goraya, Leland Wayne, Radric Davis, Tim Gomringer, Kevin Gomringer | |||
| 2018 | Tory Lanez | Memories Don't Die | "Dance for Me" | Daystar Peterson, Navraj Goraya, Sergio Romero, Daniel Gonzalez |
| Nav | Reckless | "Never Change" | Navraj Goraya, Danny Schofield | |
| "Faith" | Navraj Goraya, Quavious Marshall, Mariel Orr | |||
| "Champion" | Navraj Goraya, Jacques Webster II, Ozan Yildirim, Michael Hernandez | |||
| "Glow Up" | Navraj Goraya, Danny Schofield | |||
| "Just Happened" | Navraj Goraya, Danny Schofield, Robert Richardson | |||
| "Wanted You" | Navraj Goraya, Symere Woods, Khaled Khaled, Benjamin Diehl | |||
| "With Me" | Navraj Goraya, Benjamin Diehl | |||
| The Carters | Everything Is Love | "Friends" | Beyoncé, Shawn Carter, Matthew Samuels, Jahaan Sweet, Rupert Thomas, Jr., Navraj Goraya, Tavoris Hollins, Jr., Brittany Coney, Denisia Andrews | |
| Tory Lanez | Love Me Now? | "Cut Me Off" | Daystar Peterson, Navraj Goraya, Javar Rockamore, Robert Reese, Theodore Thomas, Thomas Walker | |
| 2019 | Future | The Wizrd | "First Off" | Nayvadius Wilburn, Jacques Webster II, Jacob Canady |
| Nav | Bad Habits | "Tap" | Navraj Goraya, Robert Williams, London Holmes, Westen Weiss | |
| "Tension" | Navraj Goraya, Mohkom Bhangal, Jordan Bacchus, Sugar-Ray Henry, Jason Quenneville | |||
| "Tussin" | Navraj Goraya, Jeffery Williams, Mohkom Bhangal, Jacob Canady, Ezekiel Henry | |||
| "Know Me" | Navraj Goraya, Andrew Franklin, Austin Schindler | |||
| "Amazing" | Navraj Goraya, Nayvadius Wilburn, Brytavious Chambers | |||
| 2020 | Lil Uzi Vert | Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World 2 | "Leaders" | Symere Woods, Navraj Goraya, Andrew Franklin, Mohkom Bhangal |
| Nav | Good Intentions | "No Debate" | Navraj Goraya, Jeffery Williams, Wesley Glass, Andrew Franklin, Mohkom Bhangal | |
| "My Business" | Navraj Goraya, Nayvadius Wilburn, Andrew Franklin | |||
| "Turks" | Navraj Goraya, Sergio Kitchens, Jacques Webster II, Wesley Glass | |||
| "Status" | Navraj Goraya, Symere Woods, Keanu Torres | |||
| "Codeine" | Navraj Goraya, Sergio Kitchens, Andrew Franklin | |||
| "Saint Laurenttt" | Navraj Goraya, Andrew Franklin, Nima Jahanbin, Paimon Jahanbin | |||
| "Run It Up" | Navraj Goraya, Bashar Jackson, Andrew Franklin, Mohkom Bhangal, Windsor Lubin | |||
| "Spend It" | Navraj Goraya, Jeffery Williams, Wesley Glass, Brandon Korn | |||
| "No Ice" | Navraj Goraya, Durk Banks, Andrew Franklin, Dylan-Cleary Krell | |||
| Future | High Off Life | "Solitaires" | Nayvadius Wilburn, Jacques Webster II, Wesley Glass | |
| Nav | Emergency Tsunami | "Breaking News Intro" | ||
| "Friends & Family" | Navraj Goraya, Wesley Glass, Jasper Harris | |||
| "Young Wheezy" | Navraj Goraya, Sergio Kitchens, Wesley Glass | |||
| "Nasty" | Navraj Goraya, Wesley Glass, Colin Franken, Corey French | |||
| "Repercussions" | Navraj Goraya, Jeffery Williams, Wesley Glass, Sean Momberger | |||
| "Vetement Socks" | Navraj Goraya, Wesley Glass, Chandler Durham, Colin Franken, Alexander Bak | |||
| "Don't Need Friends" | Navraj Goraya, Dominique Jones, Wesley Glass, Andrew Franklin | |||
| "Make It Right Back" | Navraj Goraya, Wesley Glass, Robert Richardson | |||
| "Trains" | Navraj Goraya, Raqhid Render, Wesley Glass | |||
| "Do Ya Deed" | Navraj Goraya, Saaheem Valdery, Wesley Glass | |||
| "Droppin Tears" | Navraj Goraya, Wesley Glass, Sugar-Ray Henry | |||
| "Modest" | Navraj Goraya, Wesley Glass, Sugar-Ray Henry | |||
| "Turn & Twist" | Navraj Goraya, Wesley Glass, Colin Franken | |||
| "Breaking News Outro" | ||||
| "Pickney" | Navraj Goraya, Wesley Glass | |||
| "Stella McCartney" | Navraj Goraya, Nayvadius Wilburn, Wesley Glass | |||
| 2021 | Rowdy Rebel | "Jesse Owens" | Chad Marshall, Navraj Goraya, Andrew Franklin | |
| 2022 | Nav | Demons Protected by Angels | "Dead Shot" | Navraj Goraya, Symere Woods, Andrew Franklin |
| "One Time" | Navraj Goraya, Caleb Toliver, Nayvadius Wilburn, Dylan Cleary-Krell | |||
| "Weirdo" | Navraj Goraya, Wesley Glass, Chandler Ingram | |||
| "My Dawg" | Navraj Goraya, Durk Banks, Andrew Franklin, Keanu Torres, Fabio Aguilar | |||
| "Interstellar" | Navraj Goraya, Symere Woods, Andrew Franklin, Patrick Piscot, Jeppe Jacobsen | |||
| "Lost Me" | Navraj Goraya, Rony Kordab, Luke Honeywood, Patrick Bodi | |||
| "Reset" | Navraj Goraya, Bryson Tiller, Andrew Franklin | |||
| "Mismatch" | Navraj Goraya, Marcellus Register, Wesley Glass, Mohkom Bhangal | |||
| 2023 | Don Toliver | Love Sick | "Embarrassed" | Caleb Toliver, Jacques Webster II, Wesley Glass, Dylan Cleary-Krell, Douglas Ford |
| Travis Scott | Utopia | "Topia Twins" | Jacques Webster II, Robert Thomas, Shéyaa Abraham-Joseph, Wesley Glass, Oliver Rodigan, Dylan Cleary-Krell, Henri Velasco | |