Brandon Kenneth Bell, professionally known as Donut, is an American record producer and songwriter who has produced songs for

Jeremih Jeremy Phillip Felton (born July 17, 1987), known professionally as Jeremih ( ), is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. He embarked on a musical career after meeting record producer Mick Schultz in 2008, and signed a recording contract wi ...

and

PnB Rock Rakim Hasheem Allen (December 9, 1991 – September 12, 2022), known professionally as PnB Rock, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Allen signed with Atlantic Records in 2015 and gained initial recogn ...

, among others.

Career

Bell received the moniker Donut from

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

’ brother Pharaoh, who mentored Bell in his early career. He would later travel to Philadelphia and then Los Angeles by way of a spontaneous Atlanta trip to meet fellow producer Needlz, with whom he began to work with after Bell reached out to Needlz to buy recording equipment from him on

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussi ...

. This began a long-term partnership where they would exchange beats. In a 2016 ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' article celebrating the success of their production " Oui" for Jeremih, it was revealed that both Needlz and Bell worked on contributions to what became

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

's project '' Anti'', but did not make the cut. They also teased an "80s-infused" potential single for a forthcoming Keri Hilson album, which was subsequently shelved. A song for Hilson, "Somethin (Bout U)", would be released a decade later on her 2025 comeback album '' We Need to Talk: Love''.

Discography

References

Living people Writers from Houston Musicians from Houston African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American male singers American contemporary R&B singers American male pop singers American hip-hop singers African-American record producers American hip-hop record producers Songwriters from Texas Record producers from Texas 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers Year of birth missing (living people) American male songwriters {{US-songwriter-stub