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City native and current Springfield resident John Vanore – jazz musician and record producer, current Widener University artist-in-residence and retired director of music and recording technology – is a longtime voting member of NARAS. Singer Ethel Waters, who had three recordings posthumously entered in the Grammy Hall of Fame between 1998-2007 following her 1977 death. “That record put both of us on the map.”īeats’ win marks the first competitive Grammy win for a city native since the award’s creation in 1958, though several Chester musicians have been recognized by NARAS in other capacities. “I played it for Meek Mill by mistake,” Beats said, as he intended to give the track to another rapper. That was my first start.”Īfter garnering national attention for work with singer Chris Brown, Beats’ breakthrough success came in 2011 with Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill’s “Ima Boss,” which spent 17 weeks on the Billboard Hot Rap chart. I was making mix tapes recording all the best artists in the city of Chester. “I was recording on his mixer in my bedroom, selling (recordings) in (Chester) high school. “My dad gave me an old mixer… and mic,” Beats said. “At the age of 10 or 11 got me into production.” “I was born into it,” he said, noting his father, also a producer, earned his Certified Audio Engineer credential in 1988, Beats’ birth year. For genre-specific awards, members of the Recording Academy (formerly the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, or NARAS) are directed to vote only in their areas of expertise.īeats, born Orlando Tucker, learned audio production in his father’s home studio. The award means recognition of “ artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry” by his industry peers. It means the world to me, my team and my family – we work hard for this.” “It’s my first nomination, so I’m one-for-one. “It’s a dream we worked for this,” Beats said of the win.