Danja (record producer) explained

Danja
Birth Name:Floyd Nathaniel Hills
Birth Date:22 February 1982
Origin:Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.
Years Active:1998–present

Floyd Nathaniel Hills (born February 22, 1982), known professionally known as Danja, is a producer from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Beginning his career as a co-producer for Timbaland, he has since produced for Britney Spears, Usher, Keri Hilson, T.I., Nelly Furtado, Ciara, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Missy Elliott, M.I.A., Justin Timberlake, JoJo, Joe Jonas, Simple Plan, the Clutch, Pink, T-Pain, Diddy, Meek Mill, Björk, Duran Duran and AGNEZ MO.

Early life

Hills, born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, took up the drums and piano in his early teens. He got his start by playing in his church when he was growing up.[1] In 2000, Hills worked with producer and singer Teddy Riley on Blackstreet's fourth album, Level II. In 2001, a chance encounter with Timbaland turned into an opportunity to play some music for him. Two years later, Timbaland brought Danja to Miami to work in his studio.[1] [2] [3]

Career

With Timbaland, Hills produced a wide catalog of songs in 2006 including "Put You On The Game" by rapper The Game, "Promiscuous" and "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado, "SexyBack", "What Goes Around...Comes Around" and "My Love" by Justin Timberlake. In the subsequent years, he produced "Love Story" by Katharine McPhee, "Innocence" and "Earth Intruders" by Björk, and "Give It to Me" and "The Way I Are" off Timbaland's second solo album.[4]

In 2007, Danja produced "Gimme More" for Britney Spears, as well as "Break the Ice" and five other tracks for her Blackout album. The following year, he produced "Kill the Lights" and other songs for her following album, Circus.[5]

Danja produced several tracks with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake for Madonna's 2008 album Hard Candy, including its lead single "4 Minutes". He also produced Mariah Carey's "Migrate" from E=MC², Keri Hilson's "Knock You Down" from In a Perfect World..., and P!nk's "Sober" from Funhouse.

Danja produced the song "Toy Soldier" on Keri Hilson's second album No Boys Allowed (2010), "Freak" by Jamie Foxx, "The Writer" by Jesse McCartney, and "Sleep When I'm Gone" by DJ Khaled on the album We the Best Forever (2011). In 2010, Danja produced three songs on Diddy – Dirty Money's album Last Train To Paris and "Everything On Me" on T.I's album No Mercy. Danja produced several singles for the recording career of songwriting collaborator Kevin Cossom, including his debut "Baby I Like It" featuring Fabolous and Diddy. For Travis Garland, he produced "Believe", "Don't Leave Me Rose", and "Killer". Danja has also produced "Sexy to Me" by singer/songwriter Joanna Levesque, which is also featured on the singer's commercial for Clearasil. According to Danja's Twitter account, he was in studio with Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z

Production discography

See main article: Danja production discography.

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

YearCategory WorkOriginal artist(s)Result
2007Album of the YearFutureSex/LoveSoundsJustin Timberlake[6]
Best Dance Recording"SexyBack"Justin Timberlake
2008Record of the Year"What Goes Around... Comes Around"Justin Timberlake
Best Dance Recording"LoveStoned/I Think She Knows"Justin Timberlake
Best Rap Song"Ayo Technology"50 Cent featuring Justin Timberlake

Other Awards

|-! scope="row"| 2008| NRJ Music Award| International Album of the Year| rowspan="2"| Blackout| | align="center"| [7] |-! scope="row"| 2008| MTV Europe Music Award| Best Album| | align="center"|[8] [9] |}

Notes and References

  1. News: Timbaland's Right Hand Man, Danja . Janeé Bolden . SOHH.com . 2006-10-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070130120738/http://sohh.com/articles/article.php/9941 . 2007-01-30 .
  2. News: Danja: Hitting the right note . Malcolm Venable . HamptonRoads . 2007-02-10 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070712093120/http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=119133&ran=226934 . 2007-07-12 .
  3. News: Timbaland Protege Danja Makes His Own Noise With DJ Khaled, Trey Songz. Jayson Rodriguez. MTV News. 2007-05-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20070503014251/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1558394/20070430/danja.jhtml. dead. May 3, 2007.
  4. Epic's Walk Honors Nate 'DanjaHandz' Hills. Hillary Crosley. Billboard. 2007-05-10. 2007-05-11. 2008-06-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20080616124625/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i2291852ff4bdc3dd5f33f20bb97d3a8f. dead.
  5. News: Jurgensen. John. Life of Danja. 19 February 2017. Wall Street Journal. 14 October 2007.
  6. Web site: Nate (Danja) Hills. grammy.com. 23 November 2020. The Recording Academy. February 7, 2021.
  7. Web site: Spears wins album award at NRJ ceremony. Dadds. Kimberly. January 28, 2008. August 16, 2011. Digital Spy. October 25, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121025033212/http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a88040/spears-wins-album-award-at-nrj-ceremony.html. live.
  8. Web site: Americans Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Kanye West, 30 Seconds To Mars Dominate 2008 MTV EMAs. MTV. October 12, 2017. November 4, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151104093607/http://www.mtv.com/news/1598808/americans-katy-perry-britney-spears-kanye-west-30-seconds-to-mars-dominate-2008-mtv-emas/. dead.
  9. News: Britney Spears seals comeback with two gongs at MTV Europe Music Awards. Lyons. Ben. Sutherland. Laura. November 7, 2008. August 16, 2011. Daily Record. March 1, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120301125119/http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/2008/11/07/britney-spears-seals-comeback-with-two-gongs-at-mtv-europe-music-awards-86908-20875355/. live.