Alexander Junior Grant (born 27 August 1983), professionally known as Alex da Kid or by.ALEXANDER, is a British musician,

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, songwriter, record executive and fashion designer from

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district in the borough of London Borough of Haringey, Haringey in London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater Lond ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He has gained recognition for producing several hit singles for artists of multiple music genres (mostly hip hop and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

), such as Dr. Dre ("

I Need a Doctor "I Need a Doctor" is a single by American rapper Dr. Dre featuring fellow American rapper Eminem and American singer Skylar Grey. The song was produced by Alex da Kid and released for digital download through the American iTunes Store on Febru ...

"),

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was releas ...

"),

B.o.B Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years late ...

Airplanes An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spectr ...

" featuring Hayley Williams), Eminem (" Love the Way You Lie" featuring Rihanna), Diddy (" Coming Home" with Dirty Money featuring

Skylar Grey Holly Brook Hafermann (born February 23, 1986), known professionally as Skylar Grey, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Mazomanie, Wisconsin. In 2004, at the age of 17, Grey signed a publishing deal with Universal Music ...

), Imagine Dragons ("

Radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...

") and Cheryl (" Under The Sun"). Although he now lives in Los Angeles, the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' named him one of "London's Most Influential People in 2011." He has been nominated for numerous Grammy Awards including "Album of the Year" for his work on Rihanna's ''Loud''. His record label, KIDinaKORNER, is a subdivision of Interscope Records. In both 2013 and 2014, Grant (as owner of KIDinaKORNER Records) was chosen by

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...

for their "Top 40 Under 40." In 2020, Grant released a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

album titled ''000 CHANNEL BLACK'', under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

by.ALEXANDER.

Early life

Alexander Junior Grant was born 27 August 1983 in North London, to a Jamaican father and an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

mother. Grant was a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, playing for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

until 19 years of age, at which time a friend introduced him to the digital music editing software

FruityLoops FL Studio (previously known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. FL Studio features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. The program is availa ...

, prompting an interest in music production. He then attended

University of West London The University of West London (UWL) is a public research university in the United Kingdom with campuses in Ealing, Brentford, and in Reading, Berkshire. The university has roots in 1860, when the Lady Byron School was founded, later Ealing C ...

(UWL) to study towards a master's degree in ''Audio Technology'', now called ''Advanced Music Technology''.

Musical career

Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram. Universal Music Publishing is the worl ...

's Jessica Rivera first heard about Grant in 2009 though Grant's lawyer Scott Felcher. On request, Grant sent Rivera some of his music, and the publishing executive later related her reactions to HitQuarters: "It hit me right away that this dude had something different to bring to the table ... He wasn't just straight up hip-hop – his sound was very different and transcended genres." In 2016, Grant released his first solo project as an artist. The single, "Not Easy" features X Ambassadors,

Elle King Tanner Elle Schneider (born July 3, 1989), known professionally as Elle King, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Her musical style was influenced by country, rock and blues. In 2012, King released her debut EP, '' The Elle King ...

and

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 20 ...

via KIDinaKORNER/

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. The track was written and produced by Alex da Kid for KIDinaKORNER,

Sam Harris Samuel Benjamin Harris (born April 9, 1967) is an American philosopher, neuroscientist, author, and podcast host. His work touches on a range of topics, including rationality, religion, ethics, free will, neuroscience, meditation, psychedelics ...

, Casey Harris, Adam Levin, Elle King, and Wiz Khalifa. In 2017, Grant released his second track, "American Funeral" which was a co-written collaboration with Joseph Angel. In a ''

Music Connection ''Music Connection'' is a United States-based monthly music-trade magazine, which began publication in 1977. It caters to career-minded musicians, songwriters, recording artists and assorted music-industry support personnel. The magazine began ...

'' magazine cover story from January 2015, Grant said, as a producer, he co-writes everything that he works on with the artists. On August 27, 2020, Grant released his first full-length project, a

album titled ''000 CHANNEL BLACK'', under the moniker by.ALEXANDER. The album features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

s from 070 Shake, Tanerélle,

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his adopted ...

Michèle Lamy Michèle Lamy (born 1944) is a French culture and fashion figure. She has been a clothing designer, performer, film producer, and restaurateur, and is the life partner of Rick Owens. She is the co founding partner of Owenscorp and functions as t ...

, Rainsford and

Irina Shayk Irina Valeryevna Shaykhlislamova (russian: Ирина Валерьевна Шайхлисламова; born 6 January 1986), known professionally as Irina Shayk (; russian: Ирина Шейк), is a Russian model and television personality who ...

Other ventures

KIDinaKORNER

In 2011, Grant launched his record label, KIDinaKORNER.

_by.ALEXANDER

In 2020, Grant founded _by.ALEXANDER, his own luxury

fashion label Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

. His debut collection, called “000 CHANNEL BLACK,” features a mix of one-off pieces and elevated sportswear styles. Actor

Gary Busey Gary Busey (; born 1944) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics ...

and model Irina Shayk star in the first editorial campaign, kicking off the launch. Designed and developed in Los Angeles by Grant himself, the unisex 19-piece collection is full of contrasting details and juxtapositions.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Production discography

Singles produced

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alex da Kid 1982 births British hip hop record producers Living people Musicians from London Alumni of University College London Alumni of the University of West London English record producers English hip hop musicians English pop musicians Black British musicians People from Wood Green Footballers from Wood Green Musicians from Bristol Bristol City F.C. players Association footballers not categorized by position English footballers English people of Jamaican descent Fashion designers from London