Ezekiel Lewis | |
---|---|
Born | |
Education | Morehouse College |
Occupation(s) | Record executive, songwriter, producer |
Ezekiel “Zeke” Lewis is an American record executive, songwriter, and producer. He is the current President of Epic Records and previously served as the Senior VP of A&R at Motown Records. [1] [2] [3]He is also the founder of the music publishing company Bar Music Group and the songwriting and producing collective The Clutch. [1]
Lewis grew up in Montgomery, Alabama. [4] Lewis graduated from Morehouse College. [1]
Lewis signed with David Foster’s 143 Records as a musician after graduating from college. [1] [2] He served as a composer for Luther Vandross’s Grammy-winning album Dance with My Father, which was released in 2003. [1] [5]
In 2004, Lewis co-founded songwriting and production collective The Clutch, crafting songs for artists such as Mary J. Blige, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Omarion, Fantasia, Jennifer Lopez, Ciara, and Timbaland. [3] [6] Notable credits from this period include Mary J. Blige’s Grammy-winning 2005 classic The Breakthrough,. [1] [5] " Freakshow" and “Radar” from Britney Spears' 2007 opus Blackout, [7] and Justin Bieber's 2009 triple-platinum hit “One Less Lonely Girl.” [8]
He worked closely with R&B singer Trey Songz, contributing to his first album I Gotta Make It in 2005. [3] [5] [9]
Lewis founded the music publishing company Bar Music Group in 2010. [1]
The company represents a number of artists, songwriters and producers including John “SK” McGee (Future, Trey Songz, Pusha T, Kevin Gates) and Najja McDowell (Trey Songz’ “2 Reasons” featuring T.I., “ Simply Amazing” and “ Dive In”). He started to climb the label ranks in 2011, when he was named Senior Vice President of A&R at Motown Records in 2011. [1] [10] While at Motown Records, he worked on music by artists such as Ne-Yo, Lil Yachty, and T.I. [1] [5]
With a knack for sniffing out hits and lifting great artists to new heights, in 2017, Lewis was appointed Executive Vice President of A&R at Epic Records. [11] [12] In this capacity, he worked on music with artists such as 21 Savage, the Black Eyed Peas, Future, and Meghan Trainor. [1] [11] He also contributed to Mariah Carey’s 2018 album Caution. [5] [13] He did production work on Kevin Hart’s Grammy-nominated 2018 comedy album What Now? [2] [14]
Lewis also spearheaded major comebacks for the Black Eyed Peas and Meghan Trainor. The exec helped guide Black Eyed Peas on their 2020 album Translation, which included the smash hits “ Ritmo (Bad Boys for Life)” and “Mamacita.” which were included in Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart. [15]
Additionally, he shaped Meghan Trainor’s 2022 album Takin’ It Back, which produced the viral smash " Made You Look." [16] During this period, he also A&R'd Giveon’s 2022 album Give or Take. [16]
In 2023, Lewis was appointed President of Epic Records, shepherding the likes of rising pop stars Madison Beer and Zara Larsson to massive success. [17] [3] [18] He was also named to Billboard’s Power 100 List [11] and was honored at the Creative Community for Peace’s fifth annual Ambassadors for Peace event. [19] The accolades continued in 2024, Lewis being named Billboard Executive of the Week for his work on Tyla’s song “ Water.” [20]
Year | Artist | Work | Credits |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | Luther Vandross | Dance With My Father | Composer |
2005 | Trey Songz | I Gotta Make It | Composer |
2005 | Mary J. Blige | Take Me As I Am | Composer |
2006 | Jagged Edge | Jagged Edge | Composer |
2006 | The Isley Brothers / Ronald Isley | Baby Makin' Music | Producer, Vocal (Background), Voice Arrangement, Vocal Producer, Composer |
2006 | Omarion | 21 | Composer |
2007 | Kevin Michael | Kevin Michael | Composer |
2007 | Mario | Go | Composer |
2007 | Omarion | Ice Box | Composer |
2007 | Britney Spears | Freakshow | Co-writer |
2007 | Britney Spears | Radar | Co-writer |
2007 | Keke Palmer | So Uncool | Composer |
2008 | Amerie | Because I love You | Composer |
2008 | Danity Kane | Anonymous Hit Pack | Composer |
2008 | Danity Kane | Welcome to the Dollhouse | Composer |
2008 | Donnie Klang | Just A Rolling Stone | Composer |
2008 | The Pussy Cat Dolls | Doll Domination | Composer |
2008 | Tiffany Evans | Tiffany Evans | Composer |
2008 | Britney Spears | Circus | Composer |
2008 | Jesse McCartney | Departure | Drum Programming, Vocals (Background), Songwriter, Composer |
2009 | Ginuwine | A Man'sThoughts | Vocal Producer |
2009 | Keril Hilson | In a Perfect World | Composer |
2009 | Justin Bieber | My World | Composer, Producer |
2009 | Chris Cornell | Part of Me | Composer |
2009 | Various Artists | Punk Goes Pop,Vol. 2 | Composer |
2009 | Chris Cornell | Scream | Vocals (Background), Composer |
2009 | Noel Gourdin | After My Time | Composer |
2009 | Britney Spears | Circus | Composer |
2009 | Justin Bieber | One Less Lonely Girl | Composer |
2010 | Justin Bieber | My Worlds Acoustic | Composer |
2010 | Justin Bieber | My Worlds | Composer |
2010 | Trey Songz | Passion, Pain & Pleasure | Composer |
2010 | Piano Tribute Players | Piano Tribute to Justin Bieber | Composer |
2010 | Jaheim | Another Round | Composer |
2010 | Ronald Isley | Mr. I | Composer |
2011 | Britney Spears | B in the Mix: The Remixes, Vol. 2 | Composer |
2011 | Justin Bieber | Chartbuster Karaoke Gold : Justin Bieber | Composer |
2011 | Various Artists | Clubbers Guide 2011 | Vocal Producer |
2011 | Various Artists | Ibiza Annual 2011 | Vocal Producer |
2012 | Trey Songz | Chapter V | Composer |
2012 | The OMG Girlz | Where the boys At | Composer |
2012 | Britney Spears | Femme Fatale/Circus | Composer |
2013 | Britney Spears | In the Zone/ Circus | Composer |
2013 | Tyler Perry's A Madea Chrismas Album | The Florida Files | A & R composer, Producer |
2013 | B. Smith | The Florida Files | Composer |
2014 | Trey Songz | Trigga | Composer |
2015 | Kevin Ross | Dream | Composer |
2016 | Kevin Ross | Push It On Me | Composer |
2017 | Kevin Ross | Look Up | Composer |
2018 | Chris Cornell | Chris Cornell | Composer, Backing Vocals |
2020 | Black Eyed Peas | Translations | Composer |