Martin "Doc" McKinney (born August 27, 1971) is a

Canadian-American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadian ...

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 ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. McKinney is a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-award-winning producer. He was formerly one half of the duo (now solo act)

Esthero Esthero ( ; born Jenny-Bea Englishman on December 23, 1978 in Stratford, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who lives in Los Angeles, California. The name ''Esthero'' refers both to the singer and formerly to the two-person team of herself ...

. His work with fellow

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

artist

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...

, whose McKinney-produced mixtapes ''

House of Balloons ''House of Balloons'' is the debut mixtape by Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was released on March 21, 2011, by the artist's own record label XO. The mixtape was released for free on the Weeknd's website and was the subject of increased media d ...

'' and ''

Thursday Thursday is the day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. According to the ISO 8601 international standard, it is the fourth day of the week. In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week. Name ''Se ...

'', were freely released in 2011, was met with widespread critical acclaim. McKinney returned to working with The Weeknd on his third album, '' Starboy'', which he executive produced together with him. The album also won him the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album.Interview with Doc McKinney
Paul Tingen. Retrieved on March 31, 2018

Life and career

Born in Canada and raised in Minneapolis, McKinney grew up in the heart of the Twin Cities indie scene and immersed in its ambience. During his adolescent years, McKinney played in various punk rock and hip hop based groups. While the cities' most influential contributions came out of the 1980s, McKinney was immersed in the music scene of that decade. McKinney settled in Toronto in 1994, as an aspiring producer. McKinney was introduced to Jenny Bea Englishman – now known as "

" – which led him to becoming one half of the then duo. The introduction was headed up by then EMI Publishing President, Michael McCarty. After co-writing and producing their entire breakthrough album ''Breath From Another'', McKinney carefully transitioned Jenny-Bea into a solo act so she could return to the studio. McKinney went on to produce Res – co-writing and producing her critically acclaimed album, '' HowIDo'', alongside Santi White (Santigold). McKinney has since worked with Santi White (Santigold) on various projects, including her 2008 release of her Solid Gold Mixtape. Since then, McKinney has had the opportunity to work with Sting, Drake, Kelis, Dr. Dre, G-Love, Raphael Saadiq, Mary J. Blige, Sinéad O'Connor, Alice Smith, Amanda Blank, Trouble Andrew, Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest), Hawksley Workman as well as Latin artists Belinda, RBD and Debi Nova.

Personal life

McKinney is a supporter of

War Child (charity) War Child International is a network of three independent non-governmental organisations: War Child UK, War Child Holland, and War Child Canada, each legally, operationally, and financially independent but sharing a common brand identity and m ...

, GEM's –

Girls Educational and Mentoring Services Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) is a non-profit organization that provides services to commercially sexually exploited and domestically trafficked girls and young women, typically underage youth exploited by pimps and traffickers. ...

, and

Red Hot Organization Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a not-for-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilati ...

(AIDS Awareness). As an appreciation of his support, he donates his work as a producer/songwriter/engineer.

Selected production discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinney, Doc 1971 births Living people American people of Canadian descent Record producers from Minnesota Businesspeople from Minneapolis Grammy Award winners Songwriters from Minnesota