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Danja (record producer)

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Danja
Birth nameFloyd Nathaniel Hills
Also known as
  • Danjahandz
  • Nate Hills
  • Nathaniel Hills
Born (1982-02-22) February 22, 1982 (age 42)
OriginVirginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • CEO
  • Producer
  • Songwriter
  • Singer
  • Rapper
  • Background Vocalist
  • Ad-libber
  • Graphic Designer
Instrument(s)
Years active1998–present
Labels
Websitewww.only1danja.com[dead link]www.realmwrld.com

Floyd Nathaniel Hills (born February 22, 1982), professionally known as Danja (/ˈdeɪndʒə/), is a Grammy Award winning African-American producer from Virginia Beach, Virginia, whom now in 2024 resides in Miami and is CEO of his own label, with a variety of musicians linked with his name. Beginning his career as a co-producer for Timbaland, he has since worked extensively on numerous hit singles in his solo work. Namely, Hills has produced for industry musicians throughout his career including Britney Spears, Usher, Keri Hilson, T.I., Nelly Furtado, Ciara, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Missy Elliott, M.I.A., Justin Timberlake, JoJo, Joe Jonas, Simple Plan, The Clutch, Pink, T-Pain, Diddy, Meek Mill, Björk, Duran Duran and AGNEZ MO. From 2021 upto presently in 2024 Hills has produced with or for musicians from various backgrounds Hayley Kiyoko is one whom Hills helped widen her audience aswell as his when producing 10 tracks on her album Panorama (Hayley Kiyoko album), aswell as Ste (Previously SteJR) a YouTube and SoundCloud musician, and musicians of REALM.

Early life[edit]

Hills, born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, took up the drums and piano in his early teens. He got his start by playing in his church when he was growing up.[1] In 2000, Hills worked with producer and singer Teddy Riley on Blackstreet's fourth album, Level II.[2] In 2001, a chance encounter with Timbaland turned into an opportunity to play some music for him. Two years later, Timbaland brought Danja to Miami to work in his studio.[1][3][4]

Career[edit]

With Timbaland, Hills produced a wide catalog of songs in 2006 including "Put You On The Game" by rapper The Game, "Promiscuous" and "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado, "SexyBack", "What Goes Around...Comes Around" and "My Love" by Justin Timberlake. In the subsequent years, he produced "Love Story" by Katharine McPhee, "Innocence" and "Earth Intruders" by Björk, and "Give It to Me" and "The Way I Are" off Timbaland's second solo album.[5]

In 2007, Danja produced "Gimme More" for Britney Spears, as well as "Break the Ice" and five other tracks for her Blackout album. The following year, he produced "Kill the Lights" and five other songs for her following album, Circus; however, only three songs appeared on the final release. Around this time, Danja was reported to be charging $50,000 - $100,000 per track.[2]

Danja produced several tracks with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake for Madonna's 2008 album Hard Candy, including its lead single "4 Minutes". He also produced Mariah Carey's "Migrate" from E=MC², Keri Hilson's "Knock You Down" from In a Perfect World..., and P!nk's "Sober" from Funhouse.

Danja produced the song "Toy Soldier" on Keri Hilson's second album No Boys Allowed (2010), "Freak" by Jamie Foxx, "The Writer" by Jesse McCartney, and "Sleep When I'm Gone" by DJ Khaled on the album We the Best Forever (2011).

In 2010, Danja produced three songs on Diddy – Dirty Money's album Last Train To Paris and "Everything On Me" on T.I's album No Mercy. Danja produced several singles for the recording career of songwriting collaborator Kevin Cossom, including his debut "Baby I Like It" featuring Fabolous and Diddy. For Travis Garland, he produced "Believe", "Don't Leave Me Rose", and "Killer". Danja has also produced "Sexy to Me" by singer/songwriter Joanna Levesque, which is also featured on the singer's commercial for Clearasil. According to Danja's Twitter account, he was in studio with Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z

During 2015 Nathaniel Hills was in his studio working on his self produced album titled "PREMONITIONS" which he later released on 25th September in the same year to his SoundCloud profile, as a one time only album for his listeners.

Danja co-wrote and co-produced "Shining" by DJ Khaled featuring Jay-Z and Beyoncé which immediately hit number one on Billboard's Trending 140. It was among for of his productions featured on Khaled's 2017 album, Grateful. During 2017 Nathaniel Hills known as Danja recorded his first and only single titled "KISSZZESS" with backing vocals from Keri Hilson throughout the track, later released his debut single to his SoundCloud profile on 17th August in the same year. Presently in 2024 Nathaniel Hils known professionally as Danja has had his discography remixed from alot of none industry musicians around the world, Danja has currently got his own label known as REALM which he put together during 2023 as a way for musicians of all types to work together aswell as with him for the world to be more familiar of newer musicians. Currently in June 2024 Danja still has his business known as REALM which now includes an app to download on iPhone and Android for musicians of all skill levels, Ethnicities, ages and sexual orientations around the world to work together. Danja has worked with many of his students being a mastermind teacher with his label, the titles to search are "Connected/Spazgasm/Never Satisfied (SteJR Mash-Up Remix)" and "Closer/KISSZZESS/The Devil Works Hard (SteJR Mash-Up Remix)" both collaborative singles are from his student known professionally as Ste previously as SteJR. Danja has many musical students as of June 2024 and is helping all shine around the world.

Production discography[edit]

Main article: Danja production discography

Awards and nominations[edit]

Grammy Awards[edit]

Year Category Work Original artist(s) Result Ref.
2007 Album of the Year FutureSex/LoveSounds Justin Timberlake Nominated [6]
Best Dance Recording "SexyBack" Justin Timberlake Won
2008 Record of the Year "What Goes Around... Comes Around" Justin Timberlake Nominated
Best Dance Recording "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows" Justin Timberlake Won
Best Rap Song "Ayo Technology" 50 Cent featuring Justin Timberlake Nominated

Other Awards[edit]

Awards and nominations for Blackout by Britney Spears
Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2008 NRJ Music Award International Album of the Year Blackout Won [7]
2008 MTV Europe Music Award Best Album Won [8][9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Janeé Bolden (2006-10-09). "Timbaland's Right Hand Man, Danja". SOHH.com. Archived from the original on 2007-01-30.
  2. ^ a b Jurgensen, John (14 October 2007). "Life of Danja". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  3. ^ Malcolm Venable (2007-02-10). "Danja: Hitting the right note". HamptonRoads. Archived from the original on 2007-07-12.
  4. ^ Jayson Rodriguez (2007-05-01). "Timbaland Protege Danja Makes His Own Noise With DJ Khaled, Trey Songz". MTV News.
  5. ^ Hillary Crosley (2007-05-10). "Epic's Walk Honors Nate 'DanjaHandz' Hills". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  6. ^ "Nate (Danja) Hills". grammy.com. The Recording Academy. 23 November 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  7. ^ Dadds, Kimberly (January 28, 2008). "Spears wins album award at NRJ ceremony". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  8. ^ "Americans Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Kanye West, 30 Seconds To Mars Dominate 2008 MTV EMAs". MTV. Archived from the original on November 4, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  9. ^ Lyons, Ben; Sutherland, Laura (November 7, 2008). "Britney Spears seals comeback with two gongs at MTV Europe Music Awards". Daily Record. Archived from the original on March 1, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2011.

External links[edit]

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