Prince Charles Alexander

Prince Charles Alexander
Prince Charles Alexander
Background information
Birth name	Prince Charles Alexander
Born	(1958-04-02) April 2, 1958 Boston, Massachusetts, US
Genres	Contemporary R&B, Pop-Rap, Hip-Hop, Gospel, French Hip-Hop
Occupation(s)	Record Producer, Audio Engineer, Recording Artist, Educator
Instruments	Saxophone, Flute, Lyricon, Wind Synthesizer, Synthesizer, Vocals, Piano, Drum Kit, Recording Studio, Digital Audio Workstation

Charles Alexander (born April 2, 1958), in Boston, Massachusetts, known professionally as Prince Charles Alexander, is a Grammy Award–winning^[1] American producer, audio engineer, recording artist and educator.

Background

"Prince Charles and the City Beat Band"^[2] recorded three albums on Virgin Records from the early to mid 80s,^[3] and achieved their biggest successes on the European charts.^[4]

Alexander fronted the group as the lead singer and multi instrumentalist. The futuristic wind synthesizer called the "Lyricon" was the instrument that made his brand of next generation p-funk unique,^[5] and the group's sound incorporated many of the devices that would propel rap music to the forefront of the American music scene.^[6]

Prince Charles Alexander holds an M.S. from Northeastern University and a B.A. from Brandeis University. He is also a graduate of the prestigious Boston Latin School, the first public high school in America (1635).^[7]

Production and Engineering career

With the emergence of rap as the dominant reflection of street culture, Alexander disbanded his funk group and began focusing on audio engineering. After the switch, "Prince Charles Alexander" became a multi-platinum recording engineer, mixing engineer and producer for a large client base including Mary J. Blige, the Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, Usher, Boyz II Men, Jodeci, X-Clan, Brandy, Babyface, Sting, Aretha Franklin and many more.^[8] Sean "Puffy" Combs^[9] utilized the technical expertise of Alexander, Tony Maserati and Paul Logus as his first string mixing engineers, a move that helped to launch and sustain the Bad Boy record label for many years.^[10] Alexander's accolades include more than 40 Platinum and Gold certifications from the RIAA, 3 Grammy wins^[11] and 7 Grammy nominations from NARAS and a Victoire de la Musique (the French equivalent of a Grammy).^[12]

Alexander is currently an active producer/engineer^[13] as well as a Professor in the Music Production & Engineering Department^[14] at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.^[15] He simultaneously held an Adjunct Instructor position at NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music,^[16] teaching Music Production, from 2006 to 2014. In 2006, Professor Alexander also taught Audio Technology at the Institute of Audio Research in NYC. Prince Charles has lectured at the City College of New York in Manhattan and the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway. ^[17] He is a member of the Producers and Engineers Wing of the Grammy Committee Board of Governors,^[18] the Audio Engineering Society (AES) ^[19] and the Musician's Union Local 802 in NYC.^[20]

Personal life

His daughter, Katrina Jackson, is a graduate of Emmanuel College and teaches math in the Boston Public School system.

His son, Romeo Alexander, is a graduate of Harvard College and PhD candidate in applied math and oceanographic studies at NYU's Courant Institute.

Alexander currently lives with his wife Candice, and their twin children, Chloe and Aden, in Boston, Massachusetts, and New York, New York.

References

External links

• Prince Charles Alexander at AllMusic