The Cataracs

The Cataracs was an American hip hop indie-pop production project (formerly duo) formed in Berkeley, California consisting of songwriter, vocalist, and producer Niles "Cyranizzy" Hollowell-Dhar (born 6 October 1988), and formerly songwriter and vocalist David "Campa" Benjamin Singer-Vine (born 1987). The duo started out as an independent group, during their years at Berkeley High School. The two were first signed to the label Indie-Pop. Singer-Vine left the group in August 2012 with Hollowell-Dhar continuing on with the name The Cataracs despite David's departure. Hollowell-Dhar also released materials starting 2014, under the name of KSHMR.

Biography

Early days

The duo met in their sophomore year while attending Berkeley High School. Singer-Vine was featured in a rap CD that was being passed around campus. When Dhar eventually heard the CD, he subsequently created a response. However, the “diss” response brought the two together and they soon became friends. In 2003, the two joined together to create what is now The Cataracs (named after the phrase “Who smoke ‘til your eyes get cataracts” from Snoop Dogg's song “What's my name Pt. 2”).^[1] In the summer of 2006, they released their first album, Technohop Vol. 1. In August 2006, the group joined with The Pack to make the single “Blueberry Afghani”. The song soon became a hit and was chosen as a “Download of the Week” by 106 KMEL and many music sites such as The Fader, UK’s Hip Hop Connection and XLR8R praised it.^[2]

Singer-Vine attended Columbia College Chicago, in Chicago, Illinois. Niles Dhar is also a member of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity at San Francisco State University. But in order to pursue their dreams and career in music, they both decided that they would have to leave school. The duo then packed their bags and moved to Los Angeles, CA, where they began working on their music full-time, creating songs like "Club Love" and “Baby Baby", the latter which went on to be featured on the hit reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians in early 2010.^[3] By 2007, they released their second album, Technohop Vol. 2, and in 2008 they released their third album The 13th Grade.^[4]

Rise to fame

In their new location, they discovered Manteca, California native Dev, a singer who posted much of her work on MySpace. Dhar asked if she would like to sing for them, which led to the song "2Nite." The Cataracs, along with Dev, signed to the Indie-Pop label, which also features musicians such as Young L.^[5] They were later signed to a major label, Universal Records.^[6] Through Universal, they began producing music for artists such as Far East Movement and Glasses Malone. As artists, The Cataracs received recognition through their 2010 single "Club Love", which received air play at clubs and on many different radio stations. Despite such accomplishments, the Cataracs have had their most mainstream success with the song "Like a G6" which was written by Singer-Vine/Dhar and produced by Dhar,^[7] and also went on to peak at #1 on the Billboard charts.^[8] The chorus for the song is sampled from lyrics in the song "Booty Bounce" by Dev, which they also produced. They were featured on two of Shwayze's songs on his 2010 mixtape Love Stoned. The duo also produced songs for albums such as The Pack's new album, Wolfpack Party.

In early December 2010, they collaborated with Snoop Dogg, the inspiration behind the group's name, on the song "Wet", which became the lead single for his 2011 album Doggumentary. They produced "Kick Us Out" for pop trio Hyper Crush. On July 17, 2011 Campa released a free album on his website, campaiscold.com titled Would You Hate Me If I Took a Sip? along with 3 music videos to go along with it.In an attempt to bolster their fanbase,and get people more acquainted with who they are, they released Gordo Taqueria. This will serve as a 2012 EP leading up to their major debut release in the near future. Unlike much of their previous work, this album excludes samples or appearances from labelmate Dev.

David's Departure

On August 23, 2012 Niles informed on the Cataracs Facebook page that David had left the group.^[9] The note goes on to say that "The Cataracs, as of 2 weeks ago, have taken a new form. David informed us of a pretty big decision: the decision to follow his heart and put music down." Niles will go on to produce solely while keeping the name The Cataracs. The first show without David took place on August 25 at Cornell University.

2012-2013

In late 2012, Niles (continuing on with the name The Cataracs despite David's departure) released songs produced by himself and collaborating with artists such as Martin Solveig, Trevor Simpson, and Borgeous. Niles has recently been focusing on a new embark as being an EDM artist, while still occasionally doing vocals in songs like "Big Dipper" featuring Luciana, "Ready For The Weekend" featuring Icona Pop, and "Alcohol (Remix)" featuring Sky Blu of LMFAO.

Early in 2013, The Cataracs released two music videos on Vevo. The video for "Alcohol (Remix)" featuring Sky Blu gained much attention and over 2.5 million views, which is even more than the commercially successful single "All You", released in early 2012. Also the video for "Missed U 2" featuring Petros was released a few months later. It was the first video by The Cataracs to not have vocals by Niles. Both directed by Anthony Fox. In May 2013, Martin Solveig released "Hey Now" with The Cataracs featuring Kyle. The song gained much attention, ranking as high as number 10 on the iTunes Dance Music chart. In June 2013, The Cataracs announced he was going to be producing the second lead single from Selena Gomez's debut album, "Stars Dance". The song titled "Slow Down" charted in the US, France, Canada, etc., and made its way to the top 20 on the iTunes Top 100 chart. In a radio interview, Gomez expressed how much she admired The Cataracs and was so happy to be working with him. The song "Undercover" on the "Stars Dance" album was also written and produced by The Cataracs. Gomez stated that it was her favorite song on the album. In September 2013 Niles of The Cataracs revealed via Facebook that he had recorded many new records. Some of which are remixed records with guest features from Gordo Taqueria. He also revealed he has spent a lot of time with David Singer-Vine, and even alluded to a reunion possibly between the two in the future.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

Music videos

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

External links

• The Cataracs
• It's The Cataracs (fansite)
• Official Facebook Page
• Official Twitter Page