| Kevin Rudolf | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Born | February 17, 1983 |
| Origin | Miami, Florida, United States |
| Genres | Rock, Rap rock, Pop, Hip Hop |
| Occupations | Singer, record producer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums, bass |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Cash Money, Universal Republic |
| Associated acts | Lifehouse, Lil Wayne, Birdman, Timbaland, Hollywood Undead, Cash Money, Rick Ross, Kid Cudi |
| Website | www.kevinrudolf.com |
Kevin Rudolf (born February 17, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer signed to Cash Money Records. Rudolf is mostly known for singing and producing rock/pop music. His breakout moment was his hit single "Let It Rock" featuring Lil Wayne, released in 2008, and his production for various artists such as Lil Wayne, Cobra Starship, Lifehouse, Hollywood Undead, Leona Lewis and many others. Rudolf's debut single, "Let It Rock" featuring Lil Wayne, was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on May 5, 2009. It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 on the UK Singles Chart, #3 on the Australian Singles Chart, and #2 on the Canadian Hot 100. It is the 35th biggest digital download sale of all time with over 4 million downloads (quadruple platinum) and was chosen as the theme song for the 2009 NBA All Star Game. His second single, "Welcome to the World," reached #58 on the Billboard Hot 100. His second studio album To the Sky features the platinum hit single "I Made It" featuring Lil Wayne, Jay Sean, and Birdman which peaked at 21 on the US Hot 100 and number 11 on the Digital Singles Billboard Chart. Rudolf has won 3 BMI awards.
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In 2001, Rudolf got his first break with the release of self-written pop record Binocular by Maverick Records under the pseudonym Binocular. The lead track, "You", was featured on the TV series Smallville. As Rudolf grew out of his teenage years he relocated to Miami, FL working as a session guitarist for producer Timbaland, playing on the number one hit record “Say It Right” by Nelly Furtado, “The Jump Off” by Lil Kim, “My Style” by The Black Eyed Peas featuring Justin Timberlake, as well as many others. While honing his production skills with Timbaland in Miami, he met Brian “Baby” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams who immediately took an interest in his talents. In the summer of 2008 it was official, Rudolf was the newest edition to Cash Money / Universal Republic, and was the first rock artist signed to the Hip-Hop oriented team of superstars. His ground breaking first album “In The City” released on November 24, 2008, featured Rick Ross, Nas and Lil Wayne. “Let It Rock” is the second most widely used sports song behind “We Will Rock You”. It is also used as the main theme for the WWE's 2009 Royal Rumble.[11] and featured on the soundtrack for WrestleMania XXV. "NYC" featuring Nas was featured on CSI: NY. On October 5, 2008. "Let It Rock" reached #5 on the Billboard US Hot 100 chart, #5 on the UK Singles Chart, #3 on the Australian ARIA Chart and #2 on the Canadian Hot 100. His second studio album “To the Sky” features the hit single “I Made It” featuring Lil Wayne, Jay Sean, and Birdman. In 2011 it reached #21 on the United States Billboard charts. In Canada, it reached #44 on the Canadian Hot 100 .[1] The song debuted at number four in Australia, marking the second top-five hit for Rudolf on the ARIA Singles Chart.[2]
He has won 3 BMI Awards and have defined his career as a singer, songwriter, producer, opening doors and opportunities to venture in to different genres of music. He has produced and co written records with Cobra Starship, Leona Lewis, Lifehouse, Natasha Beddingfield, Selena Gomez, Weezer, Cher Lloyd, Flo Rida, Ida Marie, Hollywood Undead, Lil Wayne, My Darkest Days, Nas, Rick Ross, Lil Kim, John West, and Timbaland. He has appeared and performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Dancing with the Stars, Miss USA Pageant, and at the 2009 NBA All-Star Game. In 2009 Rudolf lead his first US Tour, the “Let It Rock tour”.
Rudolf publishes the works of songwriter Jacob Kasher Hindlin (J Kash), and producer Jeff Halatrax. Kash has written records for various artists such as Leona Lewis, Cobra Starship, Britney Spears, Lil Wayne as well as "We Are Who We Are" by Kesha and has received an ASCAP award in 2011 for the song "Halfway Gone" by Lifehouse. Halatrax has written and produced records for artists such as Selena Gomez, Jesse McCartney, Hollywood Undead, Jason Derulo and Christian TV. .
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| US [1] |
CAN | ||
| 2008 | In the City
|
94 | 74 |
| 2010 | To the Sky
|
78 | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [2] |
US Pop [3] |
AUS [4] |
CAN [5] |
NZ [6] |
UK [7] |
||||
| 2008 | "Let It Rock" (featuring Lil Wayne) | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 5 | In the City | |
| 2009 | "Welcome to the World" (featuring Kid Cudi or Rick Ross) | 58 | 26 | 42 | 56 | — | 77 | ||
| 2010 | "I Made It (Cash Money Heroes)" (featuring Birdman, Jay Sean, and Lil Wayne) |
21 | 17 | 4 | 44 | 4 | 37 | To the Sky | |
| "You Make the Rain Fall" (featuring Flo Rida) | — | — | — | 59 | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
| Year | Single | Artist(s) | Peak chart positions |
Certifications (sales threshold) |
Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [4] |
CAN [11] |
||||||
| 2008 | "Shooting Star" | David Rush (also featuring LMFAO and Pitbull) |
— | 66 | Feel the Rush Vol. 1 | ||
| 2010 | "Just Say So" | Brian McFadden | 1 | — |
|
Wall Of Soundz | |
| 2009 | "I Want It All" | Birdman | — | "Pricele$$" | |||
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | "Let It Rock" | Justin Francis |
| 2009 | "Welcome to the World" | Jeff Panzer/Bill Yukich |
| 2010 | "I Made It (Cash Money Heroes)" | Jeff Panzer/David Rousseau |
| 2010 | "You Make the Rain Fall"[12] | Jeff Panzer |
| Year | Title | Artist (s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "Let It Rock" | Kevin Rudolf Ft. Lil Wayne |
| 2011 | "Halfway Gone" | Lifehouse |
| 2011 | "Good Girls Go Bad" | Cobra Starship Ft. Leighton Meester |
| Instrument | Year | Title | Album | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guitar, Bass | 2005 | "Thinking of You" | Certified | David Banner (feat. Case) |
| Guitar | 2006 | "Say It Right" | Loose | Nelly Furtado |
| "Scream" | Timbaland Presents Shock Value | Timbaland (feat. Keri Hilson and Nicole Scherzinger) | ||
| "Release" | Timbaland (feat. Justin Timberlake) | |||
| "My Style" | Monkey Business | The Black Eyed Peas (feat. Justin Timberlake) |
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