Michael Uzowuru was born on November 10, 1991, in Los Angeles and raised in both Cypress, California and Rancho Cucamonga, California. He went to Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga. Michael is of Igbo descent through his mother, who immigrated to the United States from Nigeria.[1]
In 2012, Uzowuru released a mixtape with the title Winter in Prague with longtime friend and collaborator Vince Staples.[2] In 2013, Uzowuru produced the opening track "Pre" for Earl Sweatshirt's debut album Doris. Later that year, he produced "Tweakin" and "Yap Yap" for Chicago rapper Vic Mensa's second mixtape Innanetape.
In addition to producing for other artists, Uzowuru released a number of instrumental and solo projects in 2014, notably Paisley Palm Trees, which was premiered by The Fader magazine[3] and Pink Orchids, released in August 2014.
2016–present
Uzowuru was named in the production credits for Frank Ocean's 2016 visual album Endless and Ocean's long-awaited second studio album Blonde. Uzowuru was credited as both a writer and a producer on the track "Nights".[4][5] He also executive produced rapper Kevin Abstract's second album American Boyfriend, which debuted in the Fall of 2016.[6][7]
In 2018, Uzowuru's work appeared on Anderson .Paak's "Til It's Over", which was used in Apple's "Welcome Home" commercial directed by Spike Jonze.
In the spring of 2019, Uzowuru composed the score for the short film Guava Island, starred and produced by Donald Glover and released by Amazon Studios. The following summer, Uzowuru was credited for writing and production on Beyoncé's compilation album The Lion King: The Gift, having worked on the tracks "Mood 4 Eva" and "Brown Skin Girl".[9][10] He also wrote and produced for artists FKA Twigs and GoldLink.[11] Later in the year, Uzowuru appeared on the production and writing credits of the Frank Ocean single "In My Room".[12]
Uzowuru collaborated with Spanish singer Rosalía through 2020 and 2021 and co-produced her album Motomami, which ended up winning the Digital Album of the Year Award in the Latin Grammy Awards of 2022.[13]
In 2023, Uzowuru composed the score and co-produced the soundtrack for the Amazon TV series Swarm created by Donald Glover and Janine Nabers,[21] which was also released as an EP.[22]
^Jesus, Ecleen Luzmila Caraballo, Jordan Rose, Eric Skelton, Brenton Blanchet, Jessica Mckinney, Stefan Breskin, edwinortiz, Angel Diaz, Alejandro De. "The Best Albums of 2022". Complex. Retrieved August 5, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)