Kenny Ortiz facts for kids

Kenneth "Kenny O" Ortiz (born November 10) is an American music expert. He works as a record executive, which means he helps guide music artists and their careers. He also works in A&R, finding new talent, and helps promote music. Kenny Ortiz is known for helping artists sell over 175 million records!

Kenny Ortiz has been a big part of the success of many famous musicians. These include Pharrell Williams and The Neptunes, Rodney Jerkins, SWV, Ne-Yo, Jazmine Sullivan, Missy Elliott, and Timbaland. He also manages Tone Capone, who produced the song "I Got 5 On It" by The Luniz. This song was even featured in the 2019 movie Us.

Discovering Music Stars

Kenny Ortiz is famous for being the person behind the music group SWV. He is also known for finding Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who later became known as The Neptunes. Kenny Ortiz helped them get their first big deal to produce and write music. It was also his idea for Pharrell and Chad to change their production name to The Neptunes.

Helping Artists Succeed

Kenny Ortiz has amazing skills in finding new artists and helping them become popular. From the 1980s to the 2010s, he helped many musicians from different music styles become very successful. Some of these artists include:

• Mellow Man Ace (the first Spanish rapper to sign with a major record label)
• Pharrell Williams
• The Neptunes
• SWV
• Destiny's Child
• The Luniz
• MC Hammer
• Brian McKnight
• Martha Wash
• Anita Baker
• Tracy Chapman
• Keith Sweat
• BeBe Winans
• CeCe Winans
• Ryan Toby of City High
• Mantronix
• Simply Red
• The Cure
• Ten Thousand Maniacs

Guiding New Talent

Kenny Ortiz has a special talent for spotting musical talent and helping artists get signed by big record labels. Here are some examples of artists he helped:

• Jazmine Sullivan: Kenny Ortiz discovered her on a TV show called Showtime at The Apollo. He brought her into a music studio for the first time. Then, he introduced her to her mentor, Missy Elliott, who later produced her hit songs.
• Brian McKnight: Kenny Ortiz discovered Brian and used his voice for demo recordings. He then introduced Brian to record labels, which led to him getting signed.
• Joe: Joe also sang demos for Kenny Ortiz. Kenny was the first to use him as a producer and writer. He taught Joe about the history of R&B music and helped him improve his skills. Kenny also introduced Joe to Pharrell Williams.
• Shaffer Smith (aka Ne-Yo): Kenny Ortiz helped Ne-Yo when he was a senior vice president at Columbia Records.
• Amerie: Kenny Ortiz helped produce her platinum-selling album All I Have.
• Ryan Toby: Kenny helped Ryan get his role in the movie Sister Act 2.
• Johnta Austin: Kenny discovered Johnta, signed him to RCA Records, and connected him with Pharrell Williams.
• Wu-Tang Clan: Kenny Ortiz gave the Wu-Tang Clan their first R&B record. He chose them to remix the song "Anything" by SWV. This helped them become very well-known.

Media Appearances

Kenny Ortiz has been featured in various media, showing his influence in the music world.

Television

• SWV Reunited: Season 2 (filmed in 2014)
• VH1's Dreamgirls: The Making and Breaking of Girl Groups (2006)
• TV One's Unsung for SWV and Martha Wash

Movies

Kenny Ortiz has worked as an executive producer for movie soundtracks:

• Tupac's Above the Rim
• Michael Jackson's Free Willy

Articles and Books

• Rolling Stone magazine: Featured in an article on February 20, 2014.
• How They Made It: True Stories of How Music's Biggest Stars Went From Start To Stardom by Dan Kimpel (2006): Kenny Ortiz is mentioned in the story of Brian McKnight.