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)
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
Instrument(s)
Years active1998–present
Labels
Websitewww.only1danja.com[dead link]

Floyd Nathaniel Hills (born February 22, 1982), professionally known as Danja (/ˈdeɪndʒə/), is an American record producer and songwriter from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Starting off as a co-producer for Timbaland, he has since worked extensively as a solo producer and received credits on numerous hit singles. Namely, Hills has produced for acts 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.

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

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.

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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