Charlie Heat

Composer and producer Charlie Heat got the ultimate upgrade for his career when Kanye West credited his name on one of his own songs on The Life of Pablo. Born Ernest Brown in Woodbury, New Jersey in 1989, Brown was passionate about music and basketball from an early age. His mother was an immigration lawyer and his father a musician, and when his father took him to see the movie Drumline, Ernest's musical aspirations really took flight. Although he had initially pursued both music and basketball with equal fervor, he began to see music as his number one purpose. Brown received a drum scholarship to attend Clark Atlanta University, which was where his nickname, the Human Torch, evolved into the pseudonym Charlie Heat.

Brown began working with Young Savage, and later started collaborating with Lil Uzi Vert on his mixtape The Real Uzi Vert. As his reputation grew, he began to work with increasingly bigger names like Travis Scott and Madonna. But it was a call from Kanye West in 2015 that would really put the young producer's name on the map. Following the call, Brown sent the rapper 100 of his own beats, after which he was swiftly flown to L.A. and signed to West's Very G.O.O.D. Beats -- a subsidiary of his GOOD Music record label. Brown very quickly found himself working on West's new record, The Life of Pablo. He went on to produce several tracks on the album, and West namechecked him on "Facts [Charlie Heat Version]." His efforts were noticed at the 2017 Grammy Awards, where he received three nominations. Brown later worked with singer/songwriter Kehlani on her single "Undercover," and in 2017 he released an EP with Ant Beale entitled No Rain No Flowers. "Celebrate Life," another Ant Beale collaboration, appeared in 2018 and also featured rapper DRAM. Heat finally delivered his debut album Fireworks in 2019. ~ Bekki Bemrose, Rovi