Charles Alexander (born April 2, 1958), known professionally as Prince Charles Alexander, is an American record producer and audio engineer. He received a Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album in 2003.
Prince Charles Alexander | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | April 2, 1958 Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer, audio engineer |
Background edit
Alexander was born in Boston and is a graduate of Boston Latin School.[1] He holds an M.S. from Northeastern University and a B.A. from Brandeis University.[2][unreliable source?]
Alexander fronted "Prince Charles and the City Beat Band"[3] as the lead singer and multi-instrumentalist, with a focus on the wind synthesizer called the "Lyricon" in recordings and in live performances. Along with manager and Executive Producer Tony Rose (Solid Platinum Records & Productions) Prince Charles recorded and co-produced three albums, "Gang War", "Stone Killers", and "Combat Zone" on Virgin Records from the early to mid-1980s.[4]
Production and engineering career edit
Alexander disbanded his funk group in the mid-1980s and began focusing on audio engineering. After the switch, he became a multi-platinum recording engineer, mixing engineer and producer for clients that include Mary J. Blige, Puff Daddy, Usher, Boyz II Men, Jodeci, X-Clan, Brandy, Babyface, Sting and Aretha Franklin.[5] He mixed and recorded the Notorious B.I.G.'s One More Chance at The Hit Factory.[6] Alexander earned more than 40 Platinum and Gold certifications from the RIAA[citation needed] and won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album in 2003.[7]
Alexander is a Professor in the Music Production & Engineering Department[8] at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.[9] He simultaneously held an Adjunct Instructor position at NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music,[10] teaching Music Production from 2006 to 2014. In 2006, Alexander also taught Audio Technology at the Institute of Audio Research in NYC.[citation needed] He has lectured at the City College of New York in Manhattan, the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway,[11] and the Cape Town Academy at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa.[12] He is a member of the Producers and Engineers Wing of the Grammy Committee Board of Governors,[13] the Audio Engineering Society (AES)[14] and the Musician's Union Local 802 in New York City.[15]
He is author[16] of Hip-Hop Production: Inside the Beats (Berklee Press, 2022), a book about the technological history of hip-hop. In November 2023, the Africana Studies Division at Berklee College of Music inducted Prince Charles Alexander into the Berklee Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.[17]
References edit
- ^ "With gift to alma mater, producer takes step to heal old wounds". Archive.boston.com.
- ^ "Full Interviews". africanamericanbls.weebly.com.
- ^ "TrouserPress.com :: Prince Charles and the City Beat Band". Trouserpress.com.
- ^ "♫ Greatest Hits 1979-1984, Vol. 1 - Prince Charles & the City Beat Band. Listen @cdbaby". Cdbaby.com.
- ^ "Charles "Prince Charles" Alexander - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ^ Henderson, Richard (October 25, 1997). "Sonic Signposts: The sound of the city by decade". Billboard. p. 30.
- ^ Prince Charles Alexander at AllMusic
- ^ "Prince Charles Alexander - Berklee College of Music". Berklee.edu.
- ^ "Become An Audio Engineer: Top Recording Schools - DJ TechTools". Djtechtools.com. October 20, 2013.
- ^ "Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music - NYU". Clivedavisdept.tisch.nyu.edu.
- ^ "Forskningsforum Hip Hop & Prince - Institutt for musikkvitenskap". Hf.uio.no.
- ^ "The Cape Town Music Academy - CTMA, SU & Berklee City Music Outreach 2017". ctma.co.za.
- ^ "Producers & Engineers Wing". Grammy.org. October 18, 2010.
- ^ "AES - Audio Engineering Society". Aes.org.
- ^ "New Members' Orientation". Associated Musicians of Greater New York.
- ^ "Prince Charles Alexander". Berklee Press. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
- ^ Schaffer, Noah (November 21, 2023). "Berklee launches its Hip-Hop Hall of Fame with a queen, a Prince, and a Bulldog". Boston Globe.