Parker Ighile

Peter Ibrahim Ighile, better known by his stage name Parker Ighile, is a British producer, singer and songwriter. He is currently signed to Trinidadian-American musician Nicki Minaj's, yet to be named, record label and serves as her first official artist.^[1] As a producer and songwriter, he has worked with artists Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Jessie J, Ariana Grande, N-Dubz, Chipmunk, and Conor Maynard. At the age of 18, he started his professional music career, producing Chipmunk's song "Oopsy Daisy", which reached number one in the UK Charts.^[2]

Life and career

Early life and career beginnings

Parker Ibrahim Ighile was born in London, England where he lived with his parents and sister Ame Ighile. His father and mother are from Benin and Kaduna, respectively. The church his mother attended was very musical; and instrumental in his early stages of learning the practical side of music. Parker studied music in college and university, respectively. However, in school he learned more of theoretical aspects than practical. He started in music production at age 11 after he and some friends formed a Christian music group. Parker's music is influenced by a wide variety of genres – from R&B and rap to dance and garage to Bollywood movie soundtracks – due to early and frequent exposure to his mother’s diverse taste in music. "My philosphy is that the wider your knowledge and taste in music is, the more innovative and outstanding your own music becomes", Ighile states.^{[citation needed]}

At 18, Ighile produced & Co-wrote his first UK Platinum hit on Chipmunk's first & number one single,^[2] "Oopsy Daisy".^[3] Parker produced and co-wrote seven songs in total on the I Am Chipmunk album which peaked at number two in the UK album chart and was Certified Gold. He went on to write with The Invisible Men and Jessie J and co-wrote her debut single, "Do It like a Dude" as well as "Who's Laughing Now". More credits include a song on N-Dubz's Love.Live.Life album, which he cowrote with Ina Wroldsen. He used trans-genre influences to create a unique and dynamic sound and also produced Angel's "Wonderful", debuting at number 20 for the week ending July 21—reaching a peak on top 10 at number nine several weeks later;^[4] and Conor Maynard's "Vegas Girl".^[5][6]

2012-present: Record deal and Young, Dumb & 21

Ighile teamed up with music strategist Efe Ogbeni, who was heavily involved in the success of super producer RedOne, to help propel him further into the music business.^[7] On 15 November 2012, Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj announced that Ighile was signed as the first official artist to her label, Pink Friday Records.^[8] She has described his artistry as "lethal and dope".^[9] He has since produced Minaj's "Hell Yeah" and Rihanna's "What Now". In late 2012, A song titled "So Beautiful" leaked on the internet, and Ighile announced some weeks later on Twitter that he was working on a mixtape, Young, Dumb & 21, which is set to be released in early 2013 and that "So Beautiful" would act as the first single. Ighile's artistry is usually compared to Sting's and Fela's; and his production to that of Kanye West. On February 22, 2013, Parker released a music video for his mixtape's leading track, "So Beautiful", onto his official YouTube account. The video is set in black and white, which follows the story of a young couple. He would later release a remix to the song that features Nigerian musician MI Abaga.^[10] Vibe Magazine^[11] describes Ighile's sound as Electro-Soul.^[12] Ighile defined his sound as Progressive Urban Pop, PUP, sometimes referred to as Progressive Afro Pop, P.A.P during an interview with [Billboard.com]. Speaking about "So Beautiful" Ighile tells Billboard.com, “This song is an introduction to my sound, Progressive Urban Pop (P.U.P) or Progressive Afro Pop (P.A.P).”^[13]

Partnership with Samsung Galaxy

Parker Ighile, in collaboration with Quincy Jones and Samsung, produced his own version of "Over the Horizon", the official song of the Samsung Galaxy products. The official song and video performance have been released on August 2013 on the Samsung Galaxy Music website.^[14]

Other Projects

Among his projects, Parker Ighile is executive producing Australian 16-year-old sensation Grace Sewell. He has stated that "She reminds him of Janis Joplin with an Adele vocal range".^{[citation needed]}

During Summer 2013, Parker Ighile took part of the Quincy Jones 80th Birthday Celebration in Asia with concerts in Korea and Japan.

Discography

As lead artist

As featured artist

Mixtapes

Production and Writing discography

References