2006-present
2007 was a breakthrough year for Stewart and RedZone Entertainment. Rihanna's single "Umbrella", co-written with The-Dream and Kuk Harrell, garnered two Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and a Grammy for "Best Rap/Song Collaboration. Originally penned with Britney Spears in mind, then on hold for Mary J. Blige who was unable to approve it in time, Stewart initially had doubts about whether or not Rihanna was the right choice for the song. That was until he heard her on the record. In an interview with MTV, Stewart said
| “ | When she recorded the 'ellas' you knew it was about to be the jump-off, and your life was about to change if you had anything to do with that record. | ” |
Released in late March, 2007, "Umbrella" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart by May, rising 40 spots in one week to land and stay seven straight weeks at number one. The song also broke the iTunes music store's record for biggest debut ever. The success brought Rihanna to a new level of fame, co-writer "The-Dream" went on to debut his own hit record"Love Hate" (executive produced by Stewart), and Stewart finished out the year working with such notable artists as Janet Jackson, Celine Dion (Skies of L.A. off her new album "Taking Chances"), and Usher ("Moving Mountains" and "This Ain't Sex" of his new album Here I Stand).
| “ | It's crazy, just being a part of that, I've seen a lot of things in my time in the music business, but to see a record take off like that, it's just amazing. | ” |
Stewart was also nominated in 2007 for a Grammy for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" on Mary J. Blige's "Just Fine"; that same year, Stewart also co-wrote and produced on the album Growing Pains, as well as the vocals were produced by his production and writing partner Kuk Harrell. This writing and production team, composed of Tricky, The-Dream, and Kuk Harrell, proved to be a winning combination.
Stewart executive produced The-Dream's debut album Love Hate, which included the hit single "Shawty Is a 10", peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Stewart also co-wrote and produced Dream's, "Falsetto" and "I Luv Your Girl".
The single "Touch My Body" off of Mariah Carey's album E=MC², produced by Stewart and Carey was described as "...a No. 1 just waiting to pounce the Billboard Hot 100" by Chuck Taylor of Billboard Magazine. On April 2, 2008 it was announced that "Touch My Body" became Carey's 18th #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, pushing her to second place among artists with the most #1 singles in the rock era and first place as a solo artist in the same category, surpassing Elvis Presley. The achievement was attributed to a record-breaking digital sales debut, as 286,000 copies were sold in its first week of availability.
During 2008 he produced the song "Single Ladies" for Beyoncé as well as the ballad "Smash Into You". The former would latter become a pop culture phenomenon due to its female empowering lyrics, catchy melody and much mocked music video.
In 2007-2008 he produced a song for Jazmine Sullivan entitled A Life Without Love.
He produced a High Price featuring Ludacris for Ciara's 2009 album, Fantasy Ride. Tricky won his first Grammy for his work on Mary J. Blige's 2007 album Growing Pains 2009. He also worked with Japanese-American singer-songwriter Utada on her third English studio album This Is The One which he produced four songs from the record.
Tricky and The-Dream almost exclusively co-wrote (with Mariah) and produced the entirety of Mariah Carey's 2009 album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel".
Tricky and The-Dream just finished working on Ciara's fourth studio album titled "'Basic Instinct'". The two executive-produced the entire album, and its slated to be released on December 14, 2010. The lead single from the album titled "Ride", was produced by the duo, the single was released in April 2010 and went on to become Ciara's twelfth top ten hit on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Stewart contributed to the Christina Aguilera album Bionic, released in June 2010, and produced the score for her debut film, Burlesque, released in November 2010.
Stewart produced the Katy Perry second studio album, named Teenage Dream and will release in 2010 August. The second promotional single, "Circle the Drain", produced by Tricky was released on iTunes on August 10, 2010.
Stewart is confirmed to be taking part in Jennifer Lopez's eighth studio album "Love?" which is looking at a Summer 2010 releasing alongside The-Dream and Tricky Stewart making it her debut release with Def Jam Records after completing her 10 year contract with Epic Records in February 2010.
Stewart and The Dream are again, teaming up to work on Kim Kardashian's debut single Jam (Turn It Up) and on Jessica Simpson's holiday album Happy Christmas and upcoming pop album.
Stewart and The Dream announced they are working on Estonian singer Kerli's second album. Her album is due to be released at the end of fall 2011.
Read more about this topic: Tricky Stewart