George Kerr
Kerr with The Supremes' Florence Ballard (1968)
The career of George Kerr is one that spans over five decades. In that time he’s worn several hats, including record label owner, writer, producer, artist, arranger, and recording engineer. As a vocalist, Mr. Kerr has been a member of The Imperials (formally known as Little Anthony and the Imperials,) The Serenaders, as well as a solo artist. He has produced songs for The O’Jays, Linda Jones, The Whatnauts, The Moments (also known as Ray, Goodman and Brown,) The Chi-Lites, The Manhattans, Cuba Gooding and The Main Ingredient, The Delfonics, Marvin Gaye, Blue Magic, Florence Ballard of The Supremes, The Escorts. Not to mention, Kerr was the first to record the late great Phyllis Hyman. He worked as a writer and producer for the Jobette and Motown powerhouses early on, as well as Sylvia and Joe Robinsons All Platinum, Stang and Turbo labels. In fact, he owned and operated his own A&I Records independently, and then with the Robinsons on distribution through All Platinum. With all these accolades and accomplishements under this belt, perhaps one of the biggest is becoming the “godfather” of hip hop production, by way of all the modern day producers who’ve sampled his works. Most notable, the most sampled record in hip hop, the self titled debut LP by The Skull Snaps. The drum intro, and subsequent parts of “It’s a New Day” have provided a sound bed for much of 90’s hip hop and beyond. These George Kerr productions have been looped, chopped, and manipulated to give a new generation of producers hit records. Songs produced, engineered and arranged by George Kerr have provided hits for artists like Stezo, Gang Starr, Rob Dougens “Clubbed To Death” from the blockbuster movie The Matrix, The Pharcyde, Black Moon, Diamond D, Jill Scott, Smoke Dza, J Dilla, Kayne West, Lil Wayne and Drake, Chance The Rapper, Jennifer Lopez and Nas, and most recently Jack Harlowe’s 2023 single “They Don’t Love It.” - Jay Quan, Rock The Bells