Skip to main content
GRAMMYs Breaking News
Breaking News
  • MusiCares Launches Help for the Holidays Campaign Apply HERE
  • Recording Academy
  • GRAMMYs
  • Membership
  • Advocacy
  • MusiCares
  • GRAMMY Museum
  • Latin GRAMMYs
GRAMMYs
  • Advocacy
  • Membership
  • GRAMMYs
  • Governance
  • Jobs
  • Press Room
  • Events
  • Login
  • MusiCares
  • GRAMMY Museum
  • Latin GRAMMYs
  • More
    • MusiCares
    • GRAMMY Museum
    • Latin GRAMMYs

The GRAMMYs

  • Awards
  • News
  • Videos
  • Recording Academy
  • More
    • Awards
    • News
    • Videos
    • Recording Academy

Latin GRAMMYs

MusiCares

  • About
  • Get Help
  • Give
  • News
  • Videos
  • Events
  • Person of the Year
  • More
    • About
    • Get Help
    • Give
    • News
    • Videos
    • Events
    • Person of the Year

Advocacy

  • About
  • News
  • Issues & Policy
  • Act
  • Recording Academy
  • More
    • About
    • News
    • Issues & Policy
    • Act
    • Recording Academy

Membership

  • Join
  • Events
  • PRODUCERS & ENGINEERS WING
  • GRAMMY U
  • GOVERNANCE
  • More
    • Join
    • Events
    • PRODUCERS & ENGINEERS WING
    • GRAMMY U
    • GOVERNANCE
Log In Join
  • SUBSCRIBE

  • Search
Modal Open
Subscribe Now

Subscribe to Newsletters

Be the first to find out about GRAMMY nominees, winners, important news, and events. Privacy Policy
GRAMMY Museum
Membership

Join us on Social

  • Recording Academy
    • The Recording Academy: Facebook
    • The Recording Academy: Twitter
    • The Recording Academy: Instagram
    • The Recording Academy: YouTube
  • GRAMMYs
    • GRAMMYs: Facebook
    • GRAMMYs: Twitter
    • GRAMMYs: Instagram
    • GRAMMYs: YouTube
  • Latin GRAMMYs
    • Latin GRAMMYs: Facebook
    • Latin GRAMMYs: Twitter
    • Latin GRAMMYs: Instagram
    • Latin GRAMMYs: YouTube
  • GRAMMY Museum
    • GRAMMY Museum: Facebook
    • GRAMMY Museum: Twitter
    • GRAMMY Museum: Instagram
    • GRAMMY Museum: YouTube
  • MusiCares
    • MusiCares: Facebook
    • MusiCares: Twitter
    • MusiCares: Instagram
  • Advocacy
    • Advocacy: Facebook
    • Advocacy: Twitter
  • Membership
    • Membership: Facebook
    • Membership: Twitter
    • Membership: Instagram
    • Membership: Youtube
GRAMMYs

Tainy

News
Behind The Board: Tainy behind-board-tainy-traces-his-path-selling-his-first-beat-working-j-balvin

Behind The Board: Tainy Traces His Path From Selling His First Beat To Working With J Balvin

Facebook Twitter Email
The GRAMMY-nominated producer talks about growing up surrounded by music, his journey into a studio career and collaborating with some of music's biggest names
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Apr 13, 2020 - 3:26 pm

GRAMMY-nominated Puerto Rican producer Marco “Tainy” Masís has played a key role in the continued explosion of reggaeton and Latin pop around the globe through his work with J Balvin, Bad Bunny, Wisin & Yandel, Anuel AA, Arcangel and more. In the latest episode of Behind The Board, Tainy takes us through his career's journey, how he got his start and some of the keys to his massive success.

Behind The Board: Tainy

 

"Music is a part of every house," Tainy said of his musical beginnings. "I  was growing up, reggaeton was starting to boom."

Tainy, called "one of the architects of modern reggaeton" by Rolling Stone, quickly became part of the movement. His childhood friend Josias de la Cruz, known as the producer Nely, introduced him to FL Studio and eventually to Francisco Saldaña and Víctor Cabrera of the production duo Luny Tunes.

"Even when I started to do music, I never knew this was going to by my career," he recalled. "I used to draw a lot, so that's what I thought I would eventually be doing. I'd be an architect or an artist. I was in love with music but I never knew how to create it."

Tainy began to pickup the tricks of the trade from his heroes while developing a sound all his own. Once he sold his first beat, he began to realize this was something he could excell at, and his career has come a long way from pitching packs of his beats to collaborating from the beginning of a project with some of music's biggest names. 

"[With] Balvin, it was a totally different experience for him to sit down beforehand and say, 'Okay, this is my vision. This is what I want to do. I want to try these sounds,'" he said of the formative expereince. "Giving us all those ideas and see how can we make this into music. Having him trust us with that input helped me grow as a producer."

Tainy was nominated for his first career GRAMMY nomination, a nod in the Record Of The Year category, for his production work on "I Like It," the star-studded smash hit by Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin. Reflecting on his success, Tainy talked also about how he incorporates what inspires him with his own ideas and what makes a great record.

"I think I understood, 'Okay, I have something that's me. Nobody else can be this or do this,'" he said. "All of these influences that you have will create something different eventually.. You're learning from them, taking different pieces to create something totally different."

Hear more from Tainy in the video above and stay tuned for more episodes of Behind The Board. 

Grammys Newsletter

Subscribe Now

GRAMMYs Newsletter

Be the first to find out about winners, nominees, and more from Music's Biggest Night.

Behind The Board: Joel Little On Working With Lorde, How Vans Warped Tour Inspired Him & More

GRAMMYs

Joel Little

News
Behind The Board: Joel Little behind-board-joel-little-working-lorde-how-vans-warped-tour-inspired-him-more

Behind The Board: Joel Little On Working With Lorde, How Vans Warped Tour Inspired Him & More

Facebook Twitter Email
The GRAMMY-winning producer/songwriter talks though his path of starting a band, a record label and a successful studio career
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Apr 6, 2020 - 2:44 pm

New Zealand-born producer/songwriter Joel Little's career took off when he co-wrote and produced Lorde's 2013 smash hit, "Royals." But as with any successful professional, the journey began long before the accolades rolled.

Behind The Board: Joel Little

A guitar player since age 13, Little's road to a career in music started with Vans Warped Tour in 1998, where everything changed. He started taking the idea of forming a band seriously after seeing that show, and went on to form pop/punk outfit Goodnight Nurse in Auckland in 2001.

On the side, he started a label with his Goodnight Nurse bandmate, Sam McCarthy, and found some early success working behind-the-scenes on music. He setup a recording studio, and one of the first artists who came in to work there was Lorde. Little earned a GRAMMY win for Song Of The Year and another nomination for Record Of The Year for his work on "Royals."

In the latest episode of Behind the Board, Little shows us around his current setup, and talks about what works for him as a producer/songwriter. To Little, it's not about his ego or imposing his influnce into the process.

"I shouldn't be trying to force myself on the song," he said. "I'm there to help [the artist] say what they want to say."

He aslo recounts the best advice he's ever recieved, talks about learning the ropes and setting up his studio without studying audio engineering in school and more above in the video above.

Grammys Newsletter

Subscribe Now

GRAMMYs Newsletter

Be the first to find out about winners, nominees, and more from Music's Biggest Night.

Behind The Board: Jahaan Sweet On Working With Boi-1da, Drake & What Makes A Great Record

 

GRAMMYs

AG

News
Behind The Board: AG behind-board-ag-connecting-vocal-breaking-sync-more

Behind The Board: AG On Connecting With The Vocal, Breaking Into Sync & More

Facebook Twitter Email
The songwriter/producer/mix engineer also talks about how music saved her life, why music for picture is more artist-driven than the industry realizes, and some of her favorite projects
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Mar 23, 2020 - 3:55 pm

"Any song that I hear...  it's the vocal," said songwriter/producer/engineer AG from her studio in Los Angeles. "That's the point of entrance for most people. If an artist can get though that and if I can help them arrive at an incredibly honest vocal that will connect with people, that, to me, is the whole ball game."

AG has applied her vocal-first approach to an impressive catalog of work, including collaborations with Larkin Poe, Snow Patrol, Natalie Imbruglia, Deap Vally, Aloe Blacc, KYGO, Robert Delong, Warpaint, MORGXN and more, plus a long list of syncs and in-episode song placements.  In the latest edition of Behind The Board, AG talks about how music intervened in her life just in time.

Behind The Board: AG

"Early on I realized that music was going to save me, and it has saved me so many times in my life," she said. "I always knew I was kinda different for many reasons, and I think that music was where I always felt like I belonged, so i was like, 'if I don't do this, I'm going to die [laughs]... I have to figure it out because this is what I know I'm meant to do, and I just have to figure out how I'm going to make money.'" 

AG was able to foray her skills into music for tv/film, a move many music makers attempt though few succeed. As a woman in the industry, AG recognizes the margin for error was even smaller. 

"I sort of fell into the sync world, and I just had a knack for it," AG said, adding, "Granted, I had to get good at it very quickly, because women don't have permission to suck."

Drawing upon her expereince and success in music, both as making her own and working with a wide array of different artists, AG carved her own lane i the sync world, recognizing that, even in the world of sync, there are certain artists who have a sound that naturally lends itself to syncing to picture. Her work can be heard in trailers for films and shows such as "The Handmaid’s Tale," A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, Highwaymen, ad campaigns for brands such as Cadillac, Guess, Ford, and the Olympics, in television shows including "Grey’s Anatomy," "Riverdale" and Blacklist" and in films such as Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw and The Last Witch Hunter.

Watch the video above to hear AG discuss some of her favorite projects, including collaborations with Christina Perri, MILCK and more.

Grammys Newsletter

Subscribe Now

GRAMMYs Newsletter

Be the first to find out about winners, nominees, and more from Music's Biggest Night.

Behind The Board: Jozzy On "Old Town Road," Learning From Her Mentors Timbaland And Missy Elliott & More

GRAMMYs

Louis York

News
Behind The Board: Louis York behind-board-chuck-harmony-claude-kelly-their-anti-side-project-louis-york

Behind The Board: Chuck Harmony & Claude Kelly On Their Anti-Side Project Louis York

Facebook Twitter Email
"We're trying to shatter what you know about us already,” Kelly said of their band and songwriting/production duo's growing catalog of work
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Feb 3, 2020 - 2:34 pm

Having teamed up to write and produce songs with pop heavyweights such as Bruno Mars, Mary J. Blige, Brittney Spears, and Rihanna, to name just a few, the songwriting/production duo of Chuck Harmony and Claude Kelly could easilty consider their band, Louis York, a side project. Instead, Harmony and Kelly are clearly full steam ahead with the band.

Behind The Board: Louis York

"I think it's also easy to think of two successful musicians who started a band to kind of see it as a side project, and it's completely the opposite," says Kelly. "We're trying to shatter what you know about us already with better things. So the records that we've done that people know us for, we're very proud of... but Louis York and Weirdo Workshop and everything that's coming out of this is all of that on steroids, because we learned from the best."

Drawing upon not one but two careers' worth of hits, the duo enters their second decade of working together with a brigh outlook at what's to come in music, and how they fit in..

"A few months ago, I was on a treadmill, and I realized that 2020 was a few months away," said Harmony. "I got excited, because... every decade the sound of music changes, so it made me excited that I could be a part of what's coming... And it's with that mindset that I create for Lous York."

https://twitter.com/LouisYorkMusic/status/1184997235253223424

WARNING:
For most intense eargasms, please consume this album from beginning to end. Avoid jumping around or skip songs on first listen. We want you to get the complete journey from opening to closing...like a great story.
Extreme feelings may occur. 🎶#AmericanGriots pic.twitter.com/8YiAfDdJdy

— Louis York (@LouisYorkMusic) October 18, 2019

The band's hightly anticipated debut album, American Griots, arrived last October to even higher crital acclaim. The goods they delivered are a testament to the deep well of experience and total creative freedom Harmony and Kelly weild when working together.

"Louis York is definitely about me expressing myself, totally," said Harmony. 

Watch the latest edition of Behind The Board in the video above, where Harmony and Kelly, both GRAMMY nominees, take us deep into their Weirdo Workshop to talk about their musical beginnings, collaborating with other artists and more...

Grammys Newsletter

Subscribe Now

GRAMMYs Newsletter

Be the first to find out about winners, nominees, and more from Music's Biggest Night.

Behind The Board: DJ Khaled Reflects On His Early Days, Working With Music's Biggest Artists & More

GRAMMYs

Angela Aguilar

Photo: David Crotty/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

News
Angela Aguilar's Amazing Journey | For The Record angela-aguilars-amazing-journey-grammy-nominated-artist-record

Angela Aguilar's Amazing Journey To GRAMMY-Nominated Artist | For The Record

Facebook Twitter Email
Trace Aguilar's soaring success all the way back to her musical roots in the latest edition of For The Record
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Aug 19, 2020 - 4:03 pm

From the very beginning, GRAMMY- and Latin GRAMMY-nominated artist Ángela Aguilar had music in her heart. Aguilar's father is GRAMMY-winning mariachi singer/songwriter Pepe Aguilar, her grandfather was the late GRAMMY-nominated master mariachi singer and Mexican Cinema Golden Era actor Antonio Aguilar and her grandmother is the prolific Mexican singer and actress Flor Silvestre. But even with such musically auspicious beginnings, Ángela has carved out a style and an audience all her own.

Angela Aguilar's Amazing Journey | For The Record

In the latest edition of GRAMMY.com's For The Record, we take a look back at Aguilar's rise from being born in 2003 into "La Dinastía Aguilar" to garnering global superstar status.

Ángela's musical start came at age 9, when she released Nueva Tradición with her older brother Leonardo in 2012. Her debut solo album arrived in 2018, Primera Soy Mexicana, and earned the singer her first career GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nominations.

In 2019, Aguilar performed alongside Aida Cuevas and Natalia Lafourcade perform an unforgettable rendition of "La Llorona" at the 61st GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony.

Also in 2019, she showed even more of her range, delivering her first recorded performance in English when she covered Lady Gaga's "Shallow" for the Recording Academy's ReImagined series 

Angela Aguilar Covers Lady Gaga's "Shallow"

Earlier this year, on Jan. 31, she released Baila Esta Cumbia, a very special tribute album to late GRAMMY-winning legend Selena. In June, she released "Que No Se Apague la Música," an at-home concert video to benefit MusiCares. The dynamic performance was filmed at her home in Zacatecas, Mexico, and dedicated to the music community, the doctors and nurses fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and her loyal fans.

Aguilar has accomplished so much in her career already, her fans everywhere eagerly await her next project. Watch the full video above to find out more about Aguilar in the latest edition of For The Record.  

Meet The First-Time GRAMMY Nominee: Angela Aguilar On Her Culture And Family Legacy

Top
Logo
  • Recording Academy
    • About
    • Governance
    • Press Room
    • Jobs
    • Events
  • GRAMMYs
    • Awards
    • News
    • Videos
    • Events
    • Store
    • FAQ
  • Latin GRAMMYs
    • Awards
    • News
    • Photos
    • Videos
    • Cultural Foundation
    • Members
    • Press
  • GRAMMY Museum
    • COLLECTION:live
    • Explore
    • Exhibits
    • Education
    • Support
    • Programs
    • Donate
  • MusiCares
    • About
    • Get Help
    • Give
    • News
    • Videos
    • Events
  • Advocacy
    • About
    • News
    • Learn
    • Act
  • Membership
    • Chapters
    • Producers & Engineers Wing
    • GRAMMY U
    • Join
Logo

© 2021 - Recording Academy. All rights reserved.

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Copyright Notice
  • Contact Us

Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.