Shep Crawford (December 18, 1970) is a

Grammy Award 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 pre ...

-winning American R&B and gospel musician, songwriter, and record producer best known for Whitney Houston's " Same Script, Different Cast", Deborah Cox's " Nobody's Supposed to Be Here", Tamia's "Stranger in My House", Sisqó's "Incomplete", and Kelly Price's "As We Lay". He is the founder and pastor of The Experience Christian Ministries in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

Early life and influences

Crawford was born and raised in Los Angeles. He attended Carver Missionary Baptist Church with his family where he learned musicianship from Pastor Richard Stubbs. At the age of eight, Crawford began playing the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

and organ for the Carver Church each week. At the age of 19, he became a licensed

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

at Love and Unity Community Church by Pastor Carl A. McCorkle.

Career

Crawford has written and produced multiple albums for chart-topping artists, including

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

Tamia Tamia Marilyn Washington Hill (born May 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Tamia performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. In 1994, after signing a development dea ...

Deborah Cox Deborah Cox (born July 13, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before ...

Montell Jordan Montell Du'Sean Barnett Jordan (born December 3, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Best known for his 1995 single "This Is How We Do It", Jordan was the primary male solo artist on Def Jam's Def Soul imprint until le ...

, and

Kelly Price Kelly Cherelle Price (born April 4, 1973) is an American R&B and gospel singer. She started her singing career in 1992. Price originally garnered attention by singing backing vocals for Mariah Carey on multiple songs, including her ''Billboar ...

. In 1995, Crawford co-produced the song "Daddy's Home" on Montell Jordan's debut album ''

This Is How We Do It "This Is How We Do It" is the debut single by American singer Montell Jordan. It was released by Def Jam Recordings on February 6, 1995 as the lead single from his debut album, also titled '' This Is How We Do It'' (1995). The single was Def J ...

''.

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

brought Crawford on as his

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

, after having known each other as musicians in church during their childhood, and Crawford began his professional career. In 1998, he produced and co-wrote the platinum single

track " Nobody's Supposed to Be Here". The song was certified

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, spending a then-record fourteen weeks at number 1 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart, and ranking at number 1 on the ''

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 ...

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as ...

chart and number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Chart. In 2017, ''Billboard'' ranked the song at number 5 on its Greatest of All Time Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It won the Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single (Female) and was nominated for the Billboard Music Award for Top R&B Song. He also wrote and produced the 1998

track " We Can't Be Friends" which ranked at number 1 on the ''

R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...

chart for two weeks. In 1999, Crawford produced and co-wrote the

Sisqó Mark Althavan Andrews (born November 9, 1978), known professionally as Sisqó (stylized as SisQó), is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. He is most prominently known for " Thong Song", his membership in Dru Hill ...

song " Incomplete". The song was certified

in the

and ranked at number 1 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Chart and the ''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. In 2000, he produced the

and

duet " Same Script, Different Cast". It was nominated for the Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single (Group, Band or Duo). He also began working with

and went on to produce multiple albums for her. That same year, Crawford was named as one of the top three producers and songwriters of the year by ''Billboard''. In 2001, Crawford won both the

Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance The Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers of quality traditional R&B vocal performances. ...

for Glady Knight's album ''At Last'' and the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album for Yolanda Adams' album '' The Experience''. In 2003, Crawford won the

Grammy Award for Song of the Year The Grammy Award for Song of the Year is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. The Song of the Year award is one of the four most prestigious categories at t ...

, the

Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award 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 ma ...

, and the

Grammy Award for Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...

, and was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record four times, while B ...

for Luther Vandross' album ''Dance With My Father''. That same year, he wrote and produced the song " Stranger in My House" for

. The song was ranked number 1 on the ''

chart. He also founded 45 Live Records with former manager Erica Grayson and signed his first artist

Onitsha Onitsha ( or just ''Ọ̀nị̀chà'') is a city located on the eastern bank of the Niger River, in Anambra State, Nigeria. A metropolitan area, metropolitan city, Onitsha is known for its river port and as an economic hub for commerce, industr ...

, to produce her debut album ''Church Girl'' in collaboration with Still Waters, a division of

Hidden Beach Recordings Hidden Beach is an American independent record label known for R&B, soul, inspirational and contemporary jazz genres. Hidden Beach was formed in 1998 by Steven McKeever and holds a distribution deal with Universal Music Group. History Steven ...

. In 2012, he produced select songs on Tamia's album, '' Beautiful Surprise''. The album and song of the same name were nominated for Best R&B Album and

Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record four times, while B ...

at the

55th Annual Grammy Awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...

in 2013.