Nate Walka

Nate Walka
Background information
Birth name Nathan L Walker
Born (1986-06-25) June 25, 1986
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Genres Hip Hop, Pop, Electro, Rock, Alternative
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter,record producer
Years active 2007–present
Labels Versatile Music Group
Associated acts Jamie Foxx, Shwayze, Trey Songz

Nathan L. Walker better known by his stage name, Nate Walka is an American recording artist, Grammy Award winning songwriter, music producer and vocal producer based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Early life

Nathan L. Walker was born on June 25, 1986, in the community of Whitehaven in Memphis TN, with his older sister Shimura. His mother Cheri Denise Akins worked in real estate and was a professional artist specifically working in abstract portraits and photography. His father, Larry Walker worked as visual artists and drew landscape portraits. His parents divorced when he was three years old.

As a child, Walker grew up in an artistic and musical household and sang gospel songs in choir, his uncle a baritone and his sister an alto. At an early age, Walker began developing a passion for writing. His mother mistook his songs for poetry and entered him into literary competitions, winning several international poetry competitions. From very early on, Walker was showing signs of becoming a talented and multi-faceted artist.

Walker attended Whitehaven High School. He later transferred to Overton High in the middle of 10th grade before moving to Warren Township High in Illinois to complete his studies, receive his high school diploma and finish out the school year. During this time, Walker worked on his music and sold CDs in high school and other local high schools, he accumulated around $6,000 in a single semester.

College and battle rapping

In 2004 Walker found himself in Alabama. He enrolled in Alabama AM, to study business marketing with the intention of pursuing a career in marketing, however he soon realized, after his junior year at around 20 years old, that this was not for him.

In college Walker’s reputation grew in battle rapping. He won the Xbox 360 battling competition in 2006 and won the Boost Mobile battle rap competition in the same year. Walker also took part in several talent shows at school and the local surrounding areas to gain experience on stage and to increase his profile.

In 2007 in his junior year, Walker dropped out of college and moved to Carmel Indiana to live with his sister. His intention was to clear his head, map out his plan for his music career and to act on it. While figuring this out, Nate got a job in clothing retail and worked for almost a year, he soon realized that he was falling into the 9-5 trap and was getting off course, so made a conscious decision to move once again, but this time to Atlanta.

Move to Atlanta

Walker slept on the living room floor of his high school friend and current production partner David Ballard’s apartment. He spent most of his time writing to the songs Ballard produced and started selling CDs again to make a living. It was during this time where he met his current manager Askia Fountain (Timeless Entertainment). Fountain was immediately impressed with Walker’s sound and became his manager on the spot.

Music career

Mixtapes

While in Atlanta, Walker immediately began working on tracks for his first mixtape NateObama, presented by DJ Shakim (Superfriends) with production by David Ballard. NateObama showcased Walker’s free styling abilities. In Spring 2009 Walker released his follow up mixtape The Inauguration hosted by Don Cannon and DJ Knuckles. The electro hip-hop sound showcased Walker’s lyricism and sense of humor.

Touring

From the success of his two mixtapes, Walker joined MTV’s Buzzin’ reality TV star, Shwayze on tour. He was initially signed up to open for Shwayze for just one performance, however his response from the crowd was so well received, that Shwayze and his team asked him to continue on as the opener for an additional 30 cities. During this time, Walker secured his first placement with “Blame It” on Jamie Foxx’s Intuition LP.

"Blame It"

In the midst of working on his mixtapes, Walker began working on the Grammy Award winning song “Blame It”. The idea for the song came about when Walker was on the phone to his grandmother who was complaining about his uncle. “That’s when the idea of the song came to me,” said Walker, “it was so obvious, it was a cool concept. I started Googling to see if anyone had come up with a song about this, and didn’t find anything, so came up with the hook and the rest just unfolded.” For fourteen weeks, “Blame It” performed by Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain held the #1 position, and broke national records, replacing Beyoncé's “Single Ladies”. It was also awarded ASCAP's Rhythm & Soul Music Award for Best Song.[1]

Grammy win

The success of “Blame It”, and the “Blame It” sample on Kid Cudi’s “Make Her Say”, garnered Walker 4 Grammy nominations including: Best Contemporary R&B Album (Intuition, Jamie Foxx), Best R&B Song ("Blame It", Jamie Foxx), Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals ("Blame It", Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain) and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group ("Make Her Say", Kid Cudi featuring Kanye West & Common).

Walker continued to chart singles landing another placement, penning, “Say Aah” for R&B artist, Trey Songz’s Ready LP. “Say Aah” peaked at #3 on the Billboard Charts and reached Gold Status, becoming Songz’s first ever single to do so. He also received his fifth Grammy Nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album ("Ready", Trey Songz).

Present

Nate is currently co-writing Far East Movement's 2nd studio album under Interscope due for release May 8, 2012. He can also be seen on the WE television show, "Pregnant & Dating."

Discography

Awards and nominations

Year Award Result
2010 Best Collaboration with T-Pain: BET Awards. “Blame It” Won
2010 2010 Best R&B Performance by Duo/Group: Grammy Awards. “Blame It” Won
2009 Record of the Year: Soul Train Music Awards. “Blame It” Won
2010 Best R&B Song: Grammy Awards “Blame It” Nominated
2010 Best Contemporary R&B Album (Intuition) Nominated
2009 Video of the Year: BET Awards. “Blame It” Nominated
2009 Album of the Year: Soul Train Music Awards (Intuition) Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "ASCAP honors top R&B, hip-hop artists". UPI. 27 June 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.