Dot da Genius

Oladipo Omishore (born 17 July 1986), professionally known as Dot da Genius, is an American record producer and mixing engineer from Brooklyn, New York City. He is perhaps best known for producing "Day 'n' Nite", the debut single of longtime friend and collaborator, American recording artist Kid Cudi, with whom he later formed a rock band with known as WZRD.^[1] Engaged in various music production ventures, Dot da Genius has also signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Group, launched his own label HeadBanga Muzik Group and has since employed a mix engineer (Jay Powell). He has also collaborated with several prominent artists in the music industry, such as King Chip and Jhené Aiko, among others.^[2]

Life and career

1986–2005: Early life

Oladipo Omishore is from the Brooklyn borough of New York City. His parents always encouraged his interest in music, and at the age of seven, his father sent him to the Brooklyn Music School for piano lessons, where he studied with legendary teacher Tom Coote. Dot Da Genius preferred playing the guitar, but learning how to play the keyboard was very beneficial later in life when he started producing. He attended Polytechnic Institute of New York University in New York, where he studied electrical engineering and graduated in 2009.^[2]

2006–2009: Career beginnings and producing for Kid Cudi

Omishore began his career in sound-mixing in 2003 at Polytechnic University by using Image-Line's FL Studio program. In 2004, Omishore created a studio in his basement with equipment bought by his parents and would later call it "Head Banga Muzik Studios."^[3] After gaining attention for his production, he decided to change locations to the Brewery Recording Studio. In May 2009, Da Genius partnered up with Andrew Krivonos, owner of Brewery Recording Studio, and helped move the studio to North Brooklyn in a new facility.^[4]

Dot Da Genius and Kid Cudi met in 2006, and they lived together for two years. Both artists found a genuine liking for one another, and chose to work with each other on several music productions. "Day N' Nite" turned out to be the biggest hit production that both of them worked on together, with Da Genius providing the beats and CuDi rapping and singing over the music. He produced the song in Head Banga Muzik Studios, and used several different methods of mixing and synthesizing the beats on this track. The song took a total of two days to complete, from the instrumental being made to the track's final arrangements. No edits were made after that two-day process ended. It was finished in 2007 and became popular two years later, in 2009.^[2] "Day N' Nite" reached the top three in the United States and the United Kingdom.^[2] It was released under the labels GOOD Music, Fool's Gold Records, Universal Motown Records, and Data Records. It is featured on the album Man on the Moon: The End of Day.

2010–present: WZRD

WZRD is Dot Da Genius and Kid Cudi's collaboration alternative rock band. Kid Cudi focuses on the vocals, while Da Genius is responsible for the production.^[5] Together, they produced a self-made album titled WZRD. A lot of their inspiration behind the album was from their love for Nirvana, The Pixies, and Pink Floyd.^[5] They recorded much of the album in either their tour bus while they were on the road, or Cudi's basement studio in Hollywood Hills.^[6] This album contained absolutely no profanity, including the "n word" that many rappers loosely use.^[7] The album was first released on February 28, 2012. It reportedly sold 70,499 copies in its opening week.^[8] Although Cudi finds the marketing and promotion of the album weak by Universal Music Group, it landed the number three spot on the album sales chart.^[9] Universal Music Group also

allegedly under-shipped copies of the album.^[10] While "Dose of Dopeness" was released prior to the release of WZRD, it was not featured on the album.^[11]

Personal life

Omishore is of Yoruba heritage.^[12][13] He has one daughter.^[14] Among his favorite albums of all time are Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, Dr. Dre's The Chronic, Outkast's ATLiens, and Coldplay's Viva la Vida.^[15] His tools of choice include the Roland MV-8000, Korg Triton LE, Yamaha Motif ES8, and Logic Pro 8.^[16] In September 2014, American singer-songwriter Jhené Aiko, revealed she and Omishore were in a relationship. The two revealed their marriage in March 2016.^{[12][13][17][18]} On August 9, 2016, Jhené Aiko filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.^[19]

Production discography

Awards and nominations

BET Hip Hop Awards

Grammy Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

mtvU Woodie Awards

References

External links

• Dot Da Genius at AllMusic
• Dot Da Genius discography at Discogs
• Dot da Genius on Myspace
• Dot da Genius on Twitter