Background
Rotem, who is Jewish, was born in South Africa to Israeli immigrant parents in 1975.
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Jonathan Rotem
Edit ProfileEducation
When he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston it was initially with the intention of studying film scoring, but he ended up majoring in jazz composition.
Career
He moved to Toronto at the age of two and finally to Moraga, California at the age of twelve. "s entry point into music was in receiving classical piano instruction at a young age. As his first major label placement, the Destiny"s Child song "Fancy", from their 2001 album Survivor, is cited by as being his first "big break", and the song that convinced the young producer that it was worth pursuing this career pathological
Nevertheless, further success was not forthcoming and for years struggled to make further headway in the industry. says, "One of my biggest goals for years was meeting a manager with a good reputation and with connections to get my music to people." When asked in an interview with HitQuarters what made Katz decide to take the producer on, he said, "This was a time where most of the people were beat makers, they didn"t really play instruments.
JR on the other hand, had a vast musical background. So musically there were no limitations as far as what he could bring.
Number two J.R he was very, very focused. And number three he was humble.
If I gave him any suggestions about his tracks he would literally sit there and take notes.
Then he would come back the next day with the changes I had suggested." "s next major cut was 50 Cent"s "Position of Power" in 2005. Sean Kingston, a young Miami-based artist, was the labels first signing. Kingston"s self-titled debut album went on to sell over 2 million albums and 10 million singles worldwide. also started a publishing company under the Beluga Heights umbrella, signing "SOS" co-writer Evan "Kidd" Bogart.
Under a newly formed joint venture with Warner Brothers
Records, the label signed popular sensation Jason Derülo, whose debut album went on to sell 14 million singles and over 1 million albums worldwide. In 2009, was honored as BMI Producer of the Year.
In 2011 he was again honored by BMI as Songwriter of the Year alongside Lady Gaga and Derülo. His trademark is a horn that follows with a stylised "J-J-J-J-J-R" and/or "Beluga Heights" at the start or end of records with which he has been affiliated.
J.R. is managed by Pulse Management, a division of Pulse Recording.
In 2015, worked alongside Neyo and Timbaland on the music for Season 2 of Fox"s Empire (2015 television series). On October 17, 2015, Gwen Stefani premiered Used to Love You - co-written and produced by J.R. - at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City which was Gwen"s first single. J.R. has 10 songs on the forthcoming Gwen Stefani album to be released on March 18, 2016.
