Emile Ghantous
Emile Ghantous (born May 24, 1975) is an American Grammy-nominated[1] record producer and songwriter. He has worked with a number of artists from around the world including Pitbull, Chris Brown,[2] Charlie Wilson, Bobby V, Prince Royce, Now United, I.O.I and Jolin Tsai.[3]
Emile Ghantous | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Emile Ghantous |
| Born | May 24, 1975 Peoria, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop, rock, R&B, soul, alternative dance, hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Music producer, songwriter, arranger, vocal producer, A&R |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | FUSION |
Life and career
Early life
Ghantous was born on May 24, 1975 in Peoria, Illinois.[4] He is of Lebanese ancestry.[5] He moved to Chicago in 2000 to study music production and business at Columbia College Chicago. While studying at Columbia College, he got his big break by working with local Chicago legends Public Announcement (of R. Kelly fame), Sparkle, and Do or Die.
2005–2008: The Insomniax
Ghantous created the songwriting/production duo The Insomniax along with partner Erik Nelson in 2005. The Insomniax quickly began working with major recording artists Boyz II Men (MSM Records), JoJo (Blackground/Universal), 3LW (So So Def/Jive), Bobby V (formerly Bobby Valentino) (Disturbing The Peace/Def Jam), Jon B (Yab Yum/Epic), B5 (Bad Boy Records), Fat Joe (Atlantic Records), R. Kelly (Jive Records), Ralph Tresvant (of New Edition), 2XL (Tommy Boy Records), Karina Pasian (Def Jam Records), Lemarvin (Motown Records), I-15 (Interscope Records), Na'Shay, Nephu, Aksent (Capitol Records), AI (Def Jam Japan), Lil Romeo (No Limit Records), and many others.
2009–2013: New ventures
With a production schedule in high gear, Ghantous relocated to Los Angeles, CA in 2009 where he worked on international releases for German artist Fabian Buch and Japanese recording artist Che'Nelle (EMI Japan Records).
In 2010, Ghantous worked with R&B legend Charlie Wilson, of the Gap Band. He wrote and produced "Never Got Enough" and "Throw It Away" from the album Just Charlie on RCA Records.
From 2011- 2012, Ghantous co-wrote and co-produced the #1 hit for JLS "Take A Chance On Me" on Sony Records UK. He also worked with Jason Derulo, Kristinia DeBarge, Frankie J, Prince Royce, X Factor group Lakoda Rayne, and many others.
During 2013, Ghantous worked with Pitbull and Chris Brown on the song "Hope We Meet Again" from the album Global Warming on RCA Records, as well as Charlie Wilson's newest album release Love, Charlie on RCA Records. Wilson recently received the BET Lifetime Achievement Award. Ghantous also worked with international recording artist Inna on her latest album Party Never Ends and was Grammy nominated for his work on Frankie J's "Faith, Hope y Amor" album.
2014–present: Work with international artists
Ghantous teamed up with songwriters/producers Steve Daly and Keith Hetrick and formed a new production company called The Cartoons in 2014. The Cartoons spent the year working on projects which included Charlie Wilson, Boyz II Men, Cher Lloyd, Christina Aguilera, Snoop Dogg, Taio Cruz, Shaggy, Johnny Gill, IM5, Jolin Tsai, and Benj.
2015 was a busy year as well for Ghantous. He was Grammy nominated for "Best R&B Album" and received an NAACAP nomination for "Best R&B Album" and "Song of the year" for the Top 5 Urban AC hit song "Goodnight Kisses" for Charlie Wilson. He also worked with Latin sensation Paulina Rubio, Aston Merrygold of JLS, Sophia Grace, Jolin Tsai, Fifth Harmony, Korean K-Pop girl group Playback (South Korean band) and boyband New District.
Ghantous began working as an A&R Consultant for several Korean K-Pop labels in 2016, and landed a #1 hit with I.O.I called "Whatta Man". He also worked closely with Randy Jackson of American Idol fame with the boyband New District. Other projects included Carah Faye Charnow of Shiny Toy Guns, Emmalyn Estrada of G.R.L., R&B sensation Mario Dewar Barrett, Interscope Records recording artist Jaira Burns and The Jacksons on their 50th anniversary album. Ghantous ended the year with the Charlie Wilson and T.I. hit single "I'm Blessed" which hit #1 on both Urban AC and the Gospel charts and stayed in the top 10 for 18 months. The song "I'm Blessed" also received and ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Award in 2018, and in 2019 was chosen as #12 song of the decade by Associated Press. Charlie Wilson follow-up single "Good Time" featured Pitbull, Teddy Riley & Ray Parker Jr..
Ghantous stayed busy working internationally with many K-Pop acts and co-wrote the single "Pick Me" for Produce 101. The song "Pick Me" has become one of the biggest K Pop hits in the last 10 years and was selected as the song for the presidential campaign. He also worked as a consultant for several international labels.
In 2018, he signed a letter along with Paul McCartney, Don Henley, Carole King, Katy Perry, U2's The Edge, Pink, Sia, and Max Martin boycotting SiriusXM's Music Modernization Act.[6][7]
Ghantous started working in the studio with many new recording artists such as Celina Sharma (EMI/London), Lily McKenzie (Ultra), Carly Gibert (10:22/ DefJam), Angel Taylor, Project 2one5 (Hitco), Nicki Minaj, Aluna George, DaniLeigh (Def Jam), Baby Goth (Universal Republic) in 2019, and has also been developing the sound for WanMor, who are Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men's children. He ended the year with the single "Na Na Na" by Now United, who are signed to XIX Entertainment. They are Simon Fuller's newest group consisting of 16 members from different countries.
2020 started as a very busy year for Ghantous working with Now United. In March 2020, the world shut down due to the rise of COVID-19 and recordings were all put on hold. So Ghantous came up with the idea of recording Now United virtually using their I-Phones as their microphone. He had them record their vocals using the voice notes application. From there, the group sent their individual parts to him, where he mixed and edited them to sound like they recorded in a recording studio. The result was their single "By My Side", followed by the song "Feel It Now" (performed by the group Now United), that was used by Pepsi for their #FeelItNow & #ForTheLoveOfIt international campaign.[8] Ghantous also had another number 1 hit song with long time collaborator Charlie Wilson called "One I Got" which spent 6 weeks on the Urban AC Charts.
Emile has had songs on ABC's The Today Show, Dancing with the Stars, NBC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, CBS's The Talk, VH1 & BET's Hit The Floor, as well commercials, local TV shows, and airliners all around the world.
Discography
| Year | Song | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Guessing Games" | Public Announcement | When the Smoke Clears | Boss Entertainment |
| "Yep" | ||||
| "Get It Poppin'" | JoJo | The High Road | Blackground Records | |
| 2006 | "Ooh" | Ai | What's Goin' On Ai | Universal Music Japan |
| 2007 | "Muzak " | Boyz II Men | The Remedy | MSM Records/Avex |
| "The Last Time" | ||||
| "Here I Come" | ||||
| "Rock Star" | B5 | Don't Talk, Just Listen | Bad Boy Records | |
| "Checkin' For Me" | Bobby Valentino | Special Occasion | DTP/Def Jam Recordings | |
| "Siamese Cat Song" | B5 | Disneymania 5 | Walt Disney Records | |
| "Red Dress (I Just Wanna Know Her)" | Marcos Hernandez | Endless Nights | Ultrax Music | |
| "Change Your Mind" | ||||
| "Empty" | ||||
| "Shine" | ||||
| "I'm Not Used to That" | ||||
| "We'll Never Know" | ||||
| 2008 | "On and On" | Jon B | Helpless Romantic | Arsenal Records |
| "It Must Be You (Remix)" | Ralph Tresvant | Non-album single | Xzault Media Group | |
| 2010 | "Feel Good" | Che'Nelle | Feel Good | EMI |
| "Headphones" | ||||
| "Venus & Mars" | ||||
| "Eliminated" | ||||
| "Pretty Boy" | ||||
| "When You're with Me" | Fabian Buch | Hello, Hello | Unique Army/Sony | |
| "Never Got Enough" | Charlie Wilson | Just Charlie | Jive Records | |
| "Throw It Away" | ||||
| 2011 | "Almost Famous" | Lemarvin | Outside Looking In | Unique Army/Insomniax |
| "Take a Chance on Me" | JLS | Jukebox | Sony BMG | |
| "Loving You" | Che'Nelle | Luv Songs | EMI | |
| "Addicted" | Prince Royce | Phase II | Atlantic Records | |
| "Dear Love" | Lil' Eddie | Already Yours | Manhattan Recordings Japan | |
| 2013 | "Hope We Meet Again" (featuring Chris Brown) | Pitbull | Global Warming | RCA Records |
| 2013 | "I Think I'm In Love" | Charlie Wilson | Love, Charlie | |
| "How Would You Like That" | Frankie J | Faith, Hope y Amor | Universal Music Latin | |
| "Tienes Que Creer en Mi" | ||||
| "Beautiful" (featuring Pitbull) | ||||
| "My Heart's Too Young to Die" | ||||
| "No Te Quiero Ver Con El" | ||||
| "Take Me Down to Mexico" | Inna | Party Never Ends | ||
| 2014 | "Goodnight Kisses" | Charlie Wilson | Forever Charlie | RCA Records |
| "As Long as I'm with You" | Boyz II Men | Collide | BMG | |
| "Ladies Man" | ||||
| "Medusa" | Jolin Tsai | Play | Warner | |
| "Your Body" | Johnny Gill | Game Changer | J Skillz Records | |
| "Get to Know You" | im5 | Non-album single | ||
| 2015 | "Unforgettable" (featuring Shaggy) | Charlie Wilson | Forever Charlie | RCA Records |
| "Infectious" (featuring Snoop Dogg) | ||||
| "Somebody Loves You" | ||||
| "Playback" | Playback (South Korean band) | Non-album singles | Clear Company | |
| 2016 | "Whatta Man" | I.O.I | YMC Entertainment | |
| "Girl in the Mirror" (featuring Silentó) | Sophia Grace | SGE/Universal | ||
| "U.K. Girl" | ||||
| "Closer" | New District | Isina | ||
| "Ain't Got Money" | ||||
| "Can't Stop Won't Stop Loving You" | Daichi Miura | HIT | Avex / Sonic Groove | |
| 2017 | "I'm Blessed" (featuring T.I.) | Charlie Wilson | In It to Win It | RCA Records |
| "Good Time" (featuring Pitbull) | ||||
| "Precious Love" | ||||
| "I'll Be Yours" | Girl's Day | Everyday #5 | DreamT Entertainment | |
| 2018 | "파르페" | AOA | Bingle Bangle | FNC Entertainment |
| "Waste Away" | Jaira Burns | Burn Slow | Interscope Records | |
| "Pick Me" | Produce 101 | Pick Me | CJ E&M | |
| 2019 | "Emotions" | Lily McKenzie | Emotions | Ultra Records |
| "Na Na Na" | Now United | Non-album singles | XIX Entertainment/AWAL | |
| 2020 | "Lavish" | Carly Gibert | Lavish | DefJam / 1022 |
| "Christmas Time Is Here" | Whitney Woerz | Christmas Time Is Here | Island Records / 1022 | |
| "Come Together" | Now United | XIX Entertainment / AWAL | ||
| "ONE LOVE featuring R3Hab" | ||||
| "By My Side" | ||||
| "Let the Music Move You" | ||||
| "Show You How to Love" | ||||
| "Feel It Now" | ||||
| "The Weekend's Here" | ||||
| "Paradise" | ||||
| "Habibi" | ||||
| "حبيبي" | ||||
| "Pas Le Choix" | ||||
| "Hawele" | ||||
| "Winter Wonderland" | ||||
| "Sleigh Ride" | ||||
| "Lay Low" | Ava Maybee | single | Ava Maybee | |
| "One I Got" | Charlie Wilson | BMG Records | ||
| "All Of My Love (featuring Smokey Robinson)" | ||||
| Misfit[9] | NCT U | NCT 2020 Resonance Pt. 1 | SM Entertainment / Dreamus / Capitol / Caroline | |
| "Somebody To You" | Kyra Fields | Single | Kyra Fields Music | |
| "Be With You" | Haven | Haven Music | ||
| "RN" | ||||
| "Hoodie In The Summer" | ||||
| "Asking For A Friend" | ||||
| 2021 | "How Far We've Come" | Now United | XIX Entertainment / AWAL | |
References
- "Meet the boy band hoping to make it bigger than NSYNC". www.aol.com.
- "ASCAP Experience Reveals First Set of Panelists: Dan Wilson, Poo Bear, Jason Mraz, More". www.variety.com.
- Georgiadis, Candice (June 11, 2020). "Grammy-Nominated Producer Emile Ghantous "They Told Me It Was Impossible And I Did It Anyway"". Medium. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
- Antony Bruno (July 23, 2019). "The Big Break" (Podcast).
- Yassine, Hussein. "How Lebanese-Americans Became Some Of The Most Successful People In The US". the961.com. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
- "Paul McCartney, Don Henley, Katy Perry, More Pen Letter to SiriusXM: 'We Will Boycott' (EXCLUSIVE)". www.variety.com.
- "Paul McCartney, Katy Perry, Dozens More Threaten SiriusXM Boycott Over Music Modernization Act". www.stereogum.com.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOqzKuGA-Yw
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b-EatqUvb4
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Emile Ghantous. |