Young Guru facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Young Guru
Young Guru at New York Comic Con, October 2014
Background information
Birth name	Gimel Androus Keaton
Born	(1974-02-27) February 27, 1974 (age 51) Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Audio engineer record producer disc jockey record executive
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Roc-A-Fella Roc Nation Def Jam Jamla Records It's a Wonderful World Music Group

Gimel Androus Keaton (born February 27, 1974), known professionally as Young Guru, is an American audio engineer, record producer, disc jockey, and music executive. He comes from Wilmington, Delaware. In 2019, Young Guru won a Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album for his work on the album Everything Is Love by The Carters (Beyoncé and Jay-Z). He has worked with many top artists, especially Jay-Z and Kanye West. In 2015, The Wall Street Journal called him "the most famous and successful engineer in the history of hip-hop."

Young Guru's Amazing Career

Young Guru got his nickname when he was a teenager. He taught African history classes at a community center. He also started working as a DJ when he was still young.

Getting Started in Music

In the early 1990s, Young Guru bought his own sound equipment. This made him very interested in music technology. While he was a student at Howard University, he saw how Bad Boy Records was starting up. He got some of his first jobs as an audio engineer there.

He began DJing in Washington, D.C., in 1996. There, he met a singer and rapper named Nonchalant. She had a song that was very popular at the time. Young Guru became her tour DJ. He had taken piano lessons when he was a child. He used the money from the tour to pay for a six-month music recording course. This course was at Omega Recording Studios in Rockville, Maryland, and it really changed his life.

After his course, Young Guru worked on Nonchalant's second album. It was never released, but the producer, Chucky Thompson, saw how talented Young Guru was. Chucky Thompson had worked with big stars like Mary J. Blige. He invited Young Guru to work with him in Washington, D.C.

Moving to New York and Big Breaks

In 1999, Young Guru decided to work for himself. He moved to New York City. There, he worked with Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie on his Madd Rapper project. He also worked with Memphis Bleek. Memphis Bleek was signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. This led to Young Guru meeting the famous rapper Jay-Z.

Over the years, Young Guru has helped many artists with their music. Besides Jay-Z, he has worked with:

• Beyoncé
• Rihanna
• Ludacris
• Ghostface Killah
• Freeway
• Cam'ron
• Redman & Method Man
• Mariah Carey
• Pete Rock
• Fabolous
• Talib Kweli
• Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
• T.I.

He was also the tour DJ for the 'Watch The Throne' world tour. This tour featured Jay-Z and Kanye West. He also DJed for JAY-Z's '4:44' Tour.

Teaching and New Roles

In August 2013, Young Guru taught an online class about mixing audio. The video lessons were filmed at SAE Institute New York. They were called "Sound Check: The Essentials of DIY Audio Mixing."

In April 2015, Young Guru became the Director of Operations. This was at 9th Wonder's record label, It's a Wonderful World Music Group.

Young Guru has also shared musical instruments for a youth-focused music program. This program uses a digital audio workstation called EarSketch.

In November 2018, Young Guru was recognized for mixing the Meek Mill album Championships.

Awards and Nominations

Young Guru has been recognized for his amazing work in music.

Grammy Awards