Cathy & Rodney...
[From
Billboard]
Jerkins Is Back, Busier Than Ever
Edited By Barry A. Jeckell. October
01, 2004, 415 PM ET
After a little time away, producer Rodney Jerkins is back
on the Billboard charts. With his Darkchild crew, he has a hand in the new
Destiny's Child single, "Lose My Breath," from the trio's forthcoming
Columbia album, "Destiny Fulfilled," and Kierra "KiKi" Sheard's "You Don't
Know," from her No. 1 gospel debut, "I Owe You" (EMI Gospel).
But judging from Darkchild's slate of works in progress, Jerkins doesn't
have a lot of time to celebrate.
His projects include teen star Lindsay Lohan's solo debut
on Casablanca and a new album from Jennifer Lopez. In addition to producing
songs for model Tyra Banks (including "Shake Your Body"), Jerkins is
collaborating with his wife, Joy Enriquez (for his Darkchild imprint through
Bungalo/Universal) and 2004 "American Idol" winner Fantasia. He's also
working with several newcomers, including Bad Boy acts B5 and Sherry Dennis,
Casablanca's Cory Gunz and Darkchild's female hip-hop artist Asia Lee.
Additionally, the 26-year-old Orlando, Fla.-based producer is recording his
own instrumental album, "Versatility," due early next year. And he's on his
way to London to write with Cathy Dennis for Whitney Houston.
"I've always been thrilled by the sound of a marching band," Jerkins says
about the inspiration behind "Lose My Breath," which he co-produced and
co-wrote with Beyoncé. "And I wanted to do something beyond any tempo out
there in urban music. There are 120 beats per minute on that track."
As for Sheard's powerful debut, Jerkins notes, "I just wish the urban
secular world would take more of a look at the gospel world to see what's
really happening there."
Since Michael Jackson's "You Rock My World" -- which reached No. 13 on
Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart in 2001 -- Jerkins had
been relatively quiet on the chart front. In addition to supervising
soundtracks to "Honey," "Scary Movie 3" and "My Baby's Daddy," he married
Enriquez in April of this year in Laguna Niguel, Calif.
But Jerkins is "ready to go again. "It feels like I'm starting all over, but
this time I have experience under my belt. I'll be able to pick and choose
and do it right this time. Conquer, conquer, conquer is all I want to do."
-- Gail Mitchell, L.A.
NEWSFILE: 1 OCTOBER 2004
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