J.R. Rotem

Biography

Jonathan Reuven Rotem (born September 1, 1975) is a South African-born American record producer, songwriter and music publisher.

Early life

Rotem was born on July 23, 1975 in Johannesburg, South Africa to Jewish Israeli immigrant parents. He moved to Canada at the age of two, and to Moraga, California at twelve.
Rotem played piano as a child. He attended Berklee College of Music with the intention of studying scoring for film, but instead majored in jazz composition.

Career

As his first major label placement, Destiny's Child song "Fancy", from their 2001 album Survivor, is cited by Rotem as being his first 'big break', and the song that convinced the young producer that it was worth pursuing this career path. Nevertheless, further success was not forthcoming and for years Rotem struggled to make further headway in the industry.
A significant breakthrough came when, through mutual friend Evan Bogart, he attracted the attention of former manager Zach Katz, a former music attorney who had recently represented rapper Rakim as well as music producers and songwriters in the Aftermath/Shady/G-Unit camp. Rotem 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."
Rotem's next major cut was 50 Cent's "Position of Power" in 2005. In 2006, together with Katz and his brother Tommy, Rotem started his own record label, Beluga Heights, inking a joint venture partnership with Epic. Sean Kingston, a young Miami-based Caribbean 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. Rotem also started a publishing company under the Beluga Heights banner, signing songwriter Evan "Kidd" Bogart. Under a newly formed joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, the label signed R&B sensation Jason Derulo, whose debut album went on to sell 14 million singles and over 1 million albums worldwide.
In 2009, Rotem was honored as BMI Producer of the Year. In 2011, he was return to honored by BMI as Songwriter of the Year along with Lady Gaga and Jason Derulo. His producer tag is a horn that sounds with a stylized "J-J-J-J-J-R" and/or "Beluga Heights" at the beginning or end of records he produced.
In 2015, Rotem worked along with Ne-Yo and Timbaland on the music for the second season of Fox's Empire. On October 17, 2015, Gwen Stefani released "Used to Love You", co-written and produced by Rotem at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City which was Stefani's first single. Rotem has ten songs on Stefani's album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like which was released on March 18, 2016.