No I.D.

Biography

Ernest Dion Wilson (born June 23, 1971), known professionally as No I.D. (formerly Immenslope), is an American record producer, DJ and songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. He is known for his early work with Chicago-based rapper Common, as well as his career mentorship of rappers Kanye West, J. Cole and Logic. Wilson first gained success for his role as an in-house producer for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings—leading to largely uncredited work on Dupri's productions "My Boo" by Usher, "Outta My System" and "Let Me Hold You" by Bow Wow—before reaching commercial success with his solo productions. He worked with Jay-Z to produce his singles "Run This Town" and "Holy Grail," West to produce "Heartless," and Drake to produce "Find Your Love" and "Nonstop"; each have peaked within the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Nicknamed "the Godfather of Chicago hip hop," Wilson is also a former recording artist and signed with Relativity Records to release his only studio album, Accept Your Own and Be Yourself (The Black Album) (1997). He served as president of West's record label GOOD Music from 2008 to 2011, and thereafter formed his own label, ARTium Records as an imprint of Def Jam Recordings. The label has signed artists including Vince Staples, Jhené Aiko and Snoh Aalegra. Also in 2011, Wilson formed the supergroup Cocaine 80s with Common, Aiko, and James Fauntleroy, and was named Executive Vice President of A&R for Def Jam Recordings. In 2018, he was appointed as Executive Vice President of Capitol Music Group.

Musical career

In 1996, Wilson released an album under the pseudonym No I.D., titled Accept Your Own and Be Yourself (The Black Album). The moniker No I.D. is a play on the backwards spelling of his birth name, Dion. He also released a beat tape, titled Invisible Beats. In Wilson's early career he was working as a co-producer for Jermaine Dupri. No I.D. went on to work on hit singles such as "My Boo" by Usher and Alicia Keys and "Let Me Hold You" by Bow Wow featuring Omarion, as well as "Resurrection" and the ode to hip hop "I Used to Love H.E.R.", which garnered Chicago-based rapper Common his early fame. Wilson also introduced Chicago-based rapper Kanye West to hip hop production, inviting him to his sessions with Common, when West was only beginning. He also introduced West to a long-time friend named Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua, who was A&R for Roc-A-Fella Records, who eventually signed West to his imprint Hip Hop Since 1978, which launched West's career as an artist and into stardom. West cites Wilson as his mentor on "Last Call," the outro to his highly acclaimed debut album The College Dropout (2004). West also referenced Wilson's mentorship on songs such as "Big Brother" and "Made in America." Wilson's second official release was with Dug Infinite, a two-album package titled The Sampler, vol. 1 (2002).

In 2007, he was the focus of significant attention for producing two songs from Jay-Z's album American Gangster. At the time he worked with artists such as Jay-Z, Rhymefest, Plies, Big Sean, Killer Mike, Rick Ross, Drake (Thank Me Later) and Kanye West (808's & Heartbreak, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy), Young Jeezy, and Rihanna on their then-upcoming albums. Wilson produced "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)", the first single for Jay-Z's eleventh studio album The Blueprint 3 (2009), as well as the second single "Run This Town", which features Kanye West and Rihanna. He once again teamed up with Common for the first time since 1997, when he handled the production for his ninth album The Dreamer/The Believer (2011). In June 2011, Wilson formed Cocaine 80s, a musical ensemble composed of several musicians, including Common, James Fauntleroy II, Kevin Randolph, Makeba Riddick, Rob "The Mixer" Kinelski, Steve Wyreman, Free Bass, Keys of Coke and Sam Lewis, among several others.
After resigning as President of Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music record company, in August 2011, it was announced No I.D. was appointed Executive Vice President of A&R for Def Jam Recordings. In addition, Def Jam has signed an exclusive joint venture label deal for No I.D.'s Artium Recordings. The announcements were made by Barry Weiss, Chairman and CEO of Universal Republic and Island Def Jam Motown and Karen Kwak, EVP / Head of A&R, Island Def Jam Music Group. In 2012, Wilson was an executive producer on New York City-based rapper Nas' critically acclaimed eleventh album Life Is Good, producing five songs, including the twice Grammy Award-nominated single "Daughters", as well as "Loco-Motive" and "Accident Murderers".In April 2013, it was revealed Wilson signed up-and-coming rapper Logic, to Def Jam. In 2013, Wilson served as the primary producer of G.O.O.D. Music recording artist Big Sean's second album Hall of Fame. In an August 2013 interview with Complex, Wilson said he was currently working on Jhene Aiko and Logic's upcoming respective debut albums. Since the inception of Artium, Wilson has signed Common, Los Angeles-based singer Jhené Aiko and singer Elijah Blake. On June 30, 2017, Wilson was credited as the primary producer on 4:44 - an album released via Tidal by Jay-Z. The album was met with widespread acclaim from music reviews and is notable for the personal account of Jay-Z's alleged infidelity on the title track. No I.D. has produced more tracks for Jay-Z than anyone else other than Just Blaze and Timbaland.

ARTium Recordings

ARTium Recordings is an American record label imprint, founded by No I.D. In August 2011, it was announced No I.D. was appointed Executive Vice President of A&R for Def Jam Recordings. In addition, Def Jam has signed an exclusive joint venture label deal for No I.D.'s ARTium Recordings. The announcements were made by Barry Weiss, Chairman and CEO of Universal Republic and Island Def Jam Motown and Karen Kwak, EVP / Head of A&R, Island Def Jam Music Group. No I.D. would report directly to Mr. Weiss and Ms. Kwak. In 2012, No I.D. signed American neo-soul singer Jhené Aiko. By September 2013, No I.D. had signed up-and-coming American R&B singers Elijah Blake and Snoh Aalegra On June 4, 2014, it was announced No I.D.'s longtime collaborator and Chicago-bred rapper Common, signed a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings and ARTium Recordings.

Artists (past and present)

Cocaine 80s
Common
Jhené Aiko
Jordan Ward
Snoh Aalegra
Vince Staples
DJ Dahi
Mark Battles
Ogi