Tyler Reese Mehlenbacher (born September 30, 1993), known professionally as Tyler Reese, is an American record producer, songwriter, musician and composer from

Richland, Washington Richland () is a city in Benton County, Washington, United States. It is located in southeastern Washington at the confluence of the Yakima River, Yakima and the Columbia River, Columbia Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was ...

. He first became known as one half of the music production duo The Donuts, which he formed with Sergiu Gherman. Working closely with their mentor Bēkon, The Donuts produced for notable names such as

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic lyrics and genre explorations, she has been credited as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R& ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

Hozier Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (born 17 March 1990), known professionally as Hozier ( ), is an Irish musician. His music primarily draws from Folk music, folk, Soul music, soul and blues, often using religious and literary themes and taking politica ...

, H.E.R. and Joji, among others. Beginning his solo career in 2022, Reese has since produced two songs on Kendrick Lamar’s GNX ( "wacced out murals" & "man at the garden") and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for '' The Color Purple (2023)''.

Musical career

Reese discovered music production while attending

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

where he studied Contemporary Writing and Production, and trumpet, focusing on

jazz improvisation Jazz improvisation is the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines or accompaniment parts in a performance of jazz music. It is one of the defining elements of jazz. Improvisation is composing on the spot, when a singer or instrumentalist inv ...

. Dropping out after two years due to being rejected from the school's Electronic Production and Design program, he began interning at The Bridge Sound & Stage in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

where he learned the fundamentals of

studio recording A studio recording, or a recording session is any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance. Studio cast recordings In the cas ...

. In 2016, Reese moved to Los Angeles and began interning for DJ Kahlil where he met Sergiu Gherman and Bekon. In 2017, Reese and Gherman formed The Donuts and co-produced "Garden (Say It Like Dat)" by

with their mentor Bekon. The song would receive 2x platinum certification from the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, and the album, '' Ctrl,'' received a nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2018 Grammy Awards. In 2019, Reese produced "Fate" and "Lord is Coming" by H.E.R. on her album '' I Used to Know Her'', earning him a nomination for Album of the Year at the 2020 Grammy Awards and a Gold certification from the

. In 2022, Reese produced " Auntie Diaries" and "Mirror" for

on his album '' Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers''. The album received a nomination for Album of the Year and won in the

Best Rap Album The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories ...

category at the 2023 Grammy Awards. In 2024, Reese co-wrote " Too Sweet" by

which spent several weeks at number one on various charts, including

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

, marking Hozier's first number one in the United States, while also topping the

Adult Alternative Airplay Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative radi ...

chart for a significant period. In 2024, Reese also produced " wacced out murals" and " man at the garden" on

's sixth studio album '' GNX''.

Awards and nominations

Production and songwriting credits

References

21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American songwriters People from Kennewick, Washington Songwriters from Washington (state) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mehlenbacher, Tyler Reese 1993 births Living people