Dave Tozer

Dave Tozer
Background information
Genres	Hip hop, R&B, Rock, Pop
Occupation(s)	Record producer, Songwriter, Musician
Instruments	Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Programming, Drum Programming
Labels	Sony/ATV, Famous Music
Associated acts	John Legend Kanye West Jay-Z Kimbra

Dave Tozer is a Grammy Award-winning music producer, songwriter, and musician. He has worked with several R&B, Hip-Hop, Rock and Pop artists including John Legend, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, John Mayer, Kimbra, Natasha Bedingfield, Musiq Soulchild, Emeli Sande, Daniel Merriweather, Chrisette Michele, Mayer Hawthorne, Pixie Lott, Estelle, DEV and Jazmine Sullivan.

Early life

Hailing from Bridgeton, New Jersey, Tozer taught himself guitar, bass and keyboard. After moving to Philadelphia in the late 1990s, Tozer honed his production skills at various Philadelphia-area studios and began working as a freelance musician playing everything from Hip-Hop and Rock to R&B and Pop. Through Max Blumenthal, a mutual friend, Tozer met University of Pennsylvania student John Stephens ^[1] (later Grammy award-winning R&B star John Legend) and began a fruitful, professional relationship. In addition to developing creatively with Legend, Tozer produced his three independently released albums: John Stephens (2000), Live at Jimmy‘s Uptown (2001) and Live at SOB’s (2003).

Musical career

2004–2007

In 2004, Tozer contributed to eight tracks on Legend‘s Grammy Award-winning major label debut Get Lifted and his writing skills garnered him a publishing deal with Viacom-owned Famous Music Publishing. 2005 proved to be an important year for Tozer with the massive success of Get Lifted, which earned eight Grammy nominations and reached multi-platinum status. Legend won three awards including Best New Artist and Best R&B Album. Tozer was a producer on Get Lifted and the track “Stay With You,” which Tozer co-wrote and produced, was also nominated for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.

In 2005, soon after the success of Get Lifted, Tozer was crafting songs for artists such as Heather Headley and Natasha Bedingfield. He also contributed to Kanye West‘s Grammy-winning single “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” and produced another Legend track for the Luther Vandross tribute album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross. For Tozer, the year culminated in a deal with Sony Music as an in-house producer and a renewal of his Famous Music Publishing contract.

In 2006, Tozer worked on the track “Do U Wanna Ride” from Jay-Z's comeback album Kingdom Come. Tozer also reunited with his old friend Legend and produced three songs from his acclaimed second album Once Again, including the iTunes single “On Top Of The World."

In 2007, Tozer continued to work with several different artists, including J Records recording artist Jazmine Sullivan and Mercury Records recording artist George Stanford. Along with contributing to the development of the Philadelphia-based artist, Tozer worked to get Stanford signed to Epic Records before he subsequently moved to Mercury Records.

2008–2010

In 2008, Tozer reunited with longtime collaborator, John Legend to co-write and produce “This Time” on John Legend’s third album, Evolver. In 2009, Tozer worked with American Idol's Elliott Yamin to co-write and produce the record "Someday" on Yamin's second album, Fight for Love.

In 2010, Tozer wrote and produced “Find Me” for Musiq Soulchild and Jazmine Sullivan for Soulchild’s upcoming album. He also went on to collaborate with Justin Timberlake, co-writing and producing three songs for Timberlake's signees, Free Sol, to be released on their debut album, No Rules, on Timberlake’s imprint Tennman Records.

2011–Present

In 2011, Tozer and John Legend began working together on what would become Legend's fourth studio album, Love In The Future. Tozer co-executive produced the album with Kanye West. Recording sessions for the album took place over the next two-and-a-half years. The album was released on September 3, 2013 to widespread critical acclaim, and was Grammy-nominated for R&B album of year in 2014. In addition to being one of the album's two executive producers, Tozer produced fifteen tracks, mixed twelve, and co-wrote ten songs for the album.

In 2012, Tozer teamed up with legendary soul singer Michael Bolton to co-write and produce the Motown-inspired track, "Gotta Keep Dreamin," for Bolton's, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough: A Tribute to Hitsville." Later that year, Tozer worked with Mayer Hawthorne, co-writing and producing "The Valley."

In 2013, Tozer co-wrote and produced "Painted In Tears" for X-factor runner-up and Columbia Records recording artist Rebecca Ferguson. In addition, Tozer mixed Pixie Lott's "Higher & Higher," as well as two songs for the award-winning soundtrack to 12 Years A Slave, "Move" and "Roll, Jordan, Roll." Tozer also collaborated with Warner Bros. Records recording artist Kimbra on her latest album, The Golden Echo, co-producing and co-writing the track "Nobody But You."

On August 12, 2013, John’s Legend’s "All of Me," which Tozer produced and mixed, impacted U.S Radio as the third single from Love In The Future. The week ending May 16, 2014, All of Me peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Legend’s first number one single in the United States and knocking off "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, which had spent ten weeks at number-one on the chart. "All of Me" went on to reign the Hot 100 for two weeks and become certified 8x Platinum in the United States. The song peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and New Zealand and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Philosophy

In an interview with David Weiss of SonicScoop, Tozer summed up his approach as a producer, stating, “Magic is what I’m after. Writing a great song, it's like you've tapped into some spirit that’s guiding you. The words flow, the dots connect, and you've created something with a mystical quality. You know that feeling when it comes. When I’m with an artist, I’m on the lookout for voodoo.” ^[2]

Discography

• 2014: Kimbra - The Golden Echo
• 2013: Rebecca Ferguson - Freedom
• 2013: John Legend - "Roll Jordan Roll", "Move" featuring Fink
• 2013: John Legend - Love In The Future
• 2013: Pixie Lott - "Higher & Higher"
• 2013: Mayer Hawthorne - "The Valley"
• 2013: Michael Bolton - Ain't No Mountain High Enough: A Tribute To Hitsville, USA
• 2010: Emile Sande - "Nothing Left To Lose"
• 2010: Musiq Soulchild - "Find Me" feat. Jazmine Sullivan
• 2010: FreeSol - "The Coolest", "Panic Attack", "Restraining Order"
• 2009: Elliott Yamin - Fight for Love
• 2008: John Legend - Evolver
• 2008: George Stanford - Big Drop
• 2008: Lizz Wright - The Orchard
• 2006: Jay-Z - Kingdom Come
• 2006: John Legend - Once Again
• 2005: Kanye West - Late Registration (Musician)
• 2005: Various Artists - So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross
• 2004: John Legend - Get Lifted
• 2003: John Legend - Live at SOB's
• 2001: John Legend - Live at Jimmy's Uptown
• 2000: John Legend - John Stephens

Selected Credits

References

1. ↑ BMI Article
2. ↑ SonicScoop Interview

Further reading

• John Legend - Get Lifted
• John Legend - Love in the Future

External links

• Official Twitter Account
• Official Facebook Page
• Producer Dave Tozer Helps John Legend Find Truth in ‘Love’
• SourceTV Exclusive: Interview with John Legend’s ‘Love In The Future’ Executive Producer Dave Tozer
• VIBE Interview: Producer Dave Tozer Talks Making Of John Legend's 'Love In The Future,' Working With Kanye West
• SonicScoop: Inside John Legend’s “Love in the Future” – Track by Track with Executive Producer Dave Tozer