Danja (record producer)

Floyd Nathaniel Hills (born February 22, 1982), professionally known as Danja (/ˈdeɪndʒə/), is an American record producer and songwriter from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Starting off as a co-producer for Timbaland, he has since then created an extensive catalog of solo-produced singles. He has produced songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Usher, Keri Hilson, T.I., Nelly Furtado, Kevin Cossom, Ciara, Mariah Carey, Timbaland, 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.

Danja
Birth nameFloyd Nathaniel Hills
Also known as
  • Danjahandz
  • Nate Hills
  • Nathaniel Hills
Born (1982-02-22) February 22, 1982
OriginVirginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
Instruments
Years active1998–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitewww.only1danja.com

Early life

Hills, born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, took up 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.[2] 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][3][4]

Career

With Timbaland, Hills produced a wide catalog of songs in 2006 with an ongoing string of hits throughout the year until present, 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 among others, such as "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.[5]

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 five other songs for Britney Spears' album Circus, but only three songs appeared on the album. Around this time, Danja was reported to be charging $50,000 - $100,000 per track.[6]

His works in recent years include, Madonna, "4 Minutes", he also produced with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake other tracks from her 2008 album Hard Candy, Mariah Carey on her song "Migrate" from E=MC², Keri Hilson on her song "Knock You Down" from In a Perfect World..., P!nk on her song "Sober" from Funhouse.

Danja produced the song, Toy Soldier on the Keri Hilson album No Boys Allowed, "Freak" by Jamie Foxx, "The Writer" by Jesse McCartney, "Sleep When I'm Gone" by DJ Khaled for his upcoming album "We The Best Forever". Danja has also been in studio with rapper J. Cole working on his debut album Cole World.

Danja also produced 3 songs on Diddy - Dirty Money's Last Train To Paris. According to Danja's Twitter account, He was in studio with Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z. Danja is working with his artist Kevin Cossom for his debut, L.O.V.E. He produced the first single, "Baby I Like It" which features Fabolous and Diddy. He produced the single "Believe", as well as two leaks "Don't Leave Me Rose" and "Killer" by Travis Garland. He recently produced the song "Everything On Me" on T.I's latest album "No Mercy". Danja has also produced "Sexy to Me" by singer/songwriter Joanna Levesque, which is also featured on the singer's commercial for Clearasil.

Danja co-wrote and co-produced "Shining" by DJ Khaled featuring Jay-Z and Beyoncé which immediately hit number one on Billboard's Trending 140. The release is off DJ Khaled's upcoming project on Epic Records. Danja has upcoming cuts on Andy Grammer, Keyshia Cole, Jordan Fisher, Stanaj and more.

Production equipment

Danja uses an iMac, an Apogee Duet Sound Card, an Akai MPC4000, a Roland V-Synth, an Alesis Andromeda A6 synthesizer, a Yamaha Motif, and an Access Virus TI. He also uses Apple Inc's audio sequencer Logic Pro.

Danja charges around $50,000-100,000 a track.[7]

Production discography
Main article: Danja production discography

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards
Year Category Work Original artist(s) Result Ref.
2007 Album of the Year FutureSex/LoveSounds Justin Timberlake Nominated [8]
Best Dance Recording "SexyBack" Justin Timberlake Won
2008 Record of the Year "What Goes Around... Comes Around" Justin Timberlake Nominated
Best Dance Recording "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows" Justin Timberlake Won
Best Rap Song "Ayo Technology" 50 Cent featuring Justin Timberlake Nominated

References
  1. Janeé Bolden (2006-10-09). "Timbaland's Right Hand Man, Danja". SOHH.com. Archived from the original on 2007-01-30.
  2. John Jurgensen, "Life of Danja" - WSJ.com Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved 10-22-2010.
  3. Malcolm Venable (2007-02-10). "Danja: Hitting the right note". HamptonRoads. Archived from the original on 2007-07-12.
  4. Jayson Rodriguez (2007-05-01). "Timbaland Protege Danja Makes His Own Noise With DJ Khaled, Trey Songz". MTV News.
  5. Hillary Crosley (2007-05-10). "Epic's Walk Honors Nate 'DanjaHandz' Hills". Billboard.
  6. Jurgensen, John (14 October 2007). "Life of Danja". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  7. "Exclusive: Clipse Q&A". Archived from the original (Online news article) on November 12, 2007. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  8. "Nate (Danja) Hills". grammy.com. The Recording Academy. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
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