Austin Garrick, also known as Watts, is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

record producer, songwriter, musician and composer from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He has produced for artists such as

Ghostface Killah Dennis David Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang ...

, Redman,

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...

Ryuichi Sakamoto was a Music of Japan, Japanese musician, composer, keyboardist, record producer, singer and actor. He pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the Synthesizer, synth-based band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his ...

and

Gesaffelstein Mike Lévy (; born 24 June 1985), known professionally as Gesaffelstein (), is a French music programmer, DJ, songwriter and producer from Lyon. He has worked alongside artists such as Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Daft Punk, Kanye West, ASAP Rocky, A$ ...

. He is one half of synth-pop duo Electric Youth (alongside childhood girlfriend Bronwyn Griffin), who first rose to prominence upon the release of their song "

A Real Hero "A Real Hero" is a song by French electronica artist College in collaboration with Electric Youth, released in 2010. The song was included as the eleventh track on Electric Youth's debut studio album '' Innerworld''. The track was used as a main ...

", from the acclaimed

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of the motion picture ''

Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...

''.

Early life and career

Watts grew up in the Oakwood-Vaughan neighbourhood of Toronto. He was born to a Vincentian musician father and a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

-born mother (of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

descent), a doctor. His father, who was a drummer in the

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

band Messenjah, taught him how to play drums when he was two years old, and professionally by the age of five. Nicknamed "Stixs", he would perform around Toronto regularly, opening for reggae band

Third World The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

at the age of seven and in front of a crowd of over 50,000 at the

Rogers Centre Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a retractable roof stadium in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, it is home to t ...

alongside

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

, at the age of 12. After his parents got divorced, he started making beats as an alternative to performing. When Watts became serious about a career as a record producer, he made several trips to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He dropped out of high school in Grade 11 after a meeting with producer K-Cut (of the legendary group Main Source). In New York, K-Cut took Watts under his wing and taught him about making great records, and the music business in the U.S. He later worked with Rashad Smith under the Tumblin' Dice Productions label.

Selected discography

*”Memory Emotion” (entire album) - Electric Youth ( Last Gang/

eOne Lionsgate Canada is a Canadian entertainment company and a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Based in Toronto, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition and production of films and television series. The company began on June 1, 1973 ...

) *”Forever” -

feat. Electric Youth ( Columbia) *"

(From the Motion Picture

)" -

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

& Electric Youth (Lakeshore) *”andata (Electric Youth Remix)“ -

(

Milan Records Milan Records is a record label located in Los Angeles, California specializing in film scores and soundtrack albums. In addition, Milan has an electronic catalog which features down-tempo, chillout, and eclectic electronic releases. In July 2 ...

) *'' Innerworld'' (entire album) - Electric Youth (

Secretly Canadian Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, part of the Secretly Group. The Secretly Group includes record labels Dead Oceans and Jagjaguwar as well as a music publisher known as Secretly Publis ...

/ Last Gang) *"Baby" -

feat.

Raheem DeVaughn Raheem DeVaughn (born May 5, 1975) is an American singer and songwriter. His debut album, '' The Love Experience'' (2005), reached No. 46 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 album chart. It featured the singles "Guess Who Loves You More" and "You". His ...

(

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

) (Produced with Rashad Smith) *"Do My Thing" -

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ; formerly stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Clevelan ...

feat.

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

(

Universal Motown Universal Motown Records was an American record label that operated as a division of Universal Motown Republic Group. It was the contemporary incarnation of the legendary Motown Records label, and the " urban" half of the Universal Records ...

) (Produced with Rashad Smith) *"Exclusive" – Foxy Brown feat. Stacey (Black Roses) *"Blow Treez" – Redman feat.

& Ready Roc (Def Jam) *"Jingle Baby" –

Joe Budden Joseph Anthony Budden II (born August 31, 1980) is an American broadcaster and former rapper. He first gained recognition with his 2003 single " Pump It Up", which peaked in the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and preceded the release of h ...

(Def Jam) *"Jingling Baby" (Remix) – Joe Budden feat. Coke (Def Jam) *"Jingling Baby" – Coke (Def Jam) *"Something About You" –

In Essence In Essence (occasionally referred to as I.E.) was a five-member Canadian R&B group based in Toronto, Ontario. Their music has been played both in Canada and the United States. The band was active between 1993 and 2006, and their album ''The Maste ...

( Sony BMG Canada) *"All Night" – In Essence (Sony BMG Canada) *"Getting It On" –

Jacksoul Jacksoul, sometimes stylized as jackSOUL, was a Canadian soul and R&B music group formed in 1992 in Toronto. The band was fronted by singer Haydain Neale and was a multi-recipient of the Juno Award. Biography In 1994, jacksoul independently re ...

(Sony BMG Canada)

References

External links

Watts
on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

Canadian hip-hop record producers People from York, Toronto 21st-century Black Canadian musicians Canadian people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines descent Canadian people of Polish descent Canadian people of Greek descent Canadian people of Russian descent Living people Musicians from Toronto Year of birth missing (living people) {{music-producer-stub