| Birth name | Warren Felder III |
|---|---|
| Alias | Oakwud |
| Birth date | November 9, 1980 (age 45) |
| Birth place | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Origin | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Genre | R&B · pop · hip hop |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Current member of | Pop & Oak |
Warren "Oak" Felder (born November 9, 1980)[1] is a Turkish songwriter and record producer based in Atlanta and Los Angeles. He is known for his work as part of the production duo Pop & Oak, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2015.
Early life
Felder was born in Istanbul and grew up there.[1][2] After studying network technologies and artificial intelligence at Istanbul Technical University in Istanbul,[3] he moved to the United States in 2001 to attend Georgia Tech in Atlanta.[1][4] His nickname comes from his Turkish name, Okay.[5]
Career
While a student at Georgia Tech, Felder recorded a demo with the singer/songwriter Sterling Simms, which led to a meeting with L.A. Reid and resulted in Felder writing and producing a track on a Mariah Carey album in 2005.[1]
Around 2009, Felder became production partners with Pop Wansel as the production duo Pop & Oak.[6] Their first big hit was "Your Love", the lead single on Nicki Minaj's 2010 debut studio album Pink Friday.[1][2] Other notable songs they have written and produced include six tracks on Elle Varner's 2012 album Perfectly Imperfect (two of the singles are "Only Wanna Give It to You" and "I Don't Care"),[6] nine songs on Kehlani's debut album SweetSexySavage,[1] and six tracks on Alessia Cara's 2015 debut album Know-It-All, including the singles "Here" and "Scars to Your Beautiful",[7] which both went to number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 charts.[8]
Felder was nominated for a 2015 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for writing Usher's single "Good Kisser";[9][10] produced two songs on the Alicia Keys album Girl on Fire, which won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album;[11] wrote and produced "Invincible", the lead single from Kelly Clarkson's 2015 album Piece by Piece;[11] wrote and produced "Clumsy", the second single from the 2016 Britney Spears album Glory;[7] and wrote and produced five tracks on Demi Lovato's 2017 album Tell Me You Love Me, including the lead single "Sorry Not Sorry",[1][12] winning a 2019 BMI Pop Award for the single.[13] Felder has also written and produced songs for artists including Trey Songz, Rihanna, Miguel, Kehlani, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez, Mario, Tamia, ZZ Ward, and Sabrina Carpenter.[2][7][11][5][14] Felder was named as a top producer by BMI in 2012 and 2013,[15][16] and won a 2017 BMI Pop Award for co-writing Alessia Cara's "Here",[17] and a 2018 BMI Pop Award for co-writing her single "Scars to Your Beautiful".[18] He also wrote and produced three tracks on Lizzo's 2019 major label debut Cuz I Love You,[19] wrote and produced the top 40 single "Who Do You Love" by The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds of Summer, and working on music with Kehlani, Demi Lovato, and Alessia Cara in 2019.[20]
Felder is published by Reservoir and managed by Lucas Keller and Peter Coquillard at Milk & Honey.[21][22] Felder is on the board of directors of the Mechanical Licensing Collective, which works to increase the royalty money from streaming companies to songwriters.[20]
Personal life
Felder is married and lives in Atlanta and has a studio in Los Angeles.[11]
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Grammy Award | Best R&B Song | "Good Kisser" by Usher | [9] |
| 2017 | BMI Pop Award | Songs | "Here" by Alessia Cara | [17] |
| 2018 | BMI Pop Award | Songs | "Scars to Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara | [18] |
| 2018 | BMI Pop Award | Songs | "Sorry Not Sorry" by Demi Lovato | [13] |
| 2022 | Children's and Family Emmy Award | Outstanding Short Form Program | We the People |
Discography
Writing and producing credits
References
- ^ Dale Kawashima, "Interview with Oak Felder, Hit Writer/Producer for Alessia Cara, Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj And Other Artists," Songwriter Universe, September 7, 2017.
- ^ DeVon Hyman, "Pop and Oak – Get Familiar With the Production Duo," Parle, April 29, 2012.
- ^ "GRAMMY-Nominated Oak Felder Gets and Gives Advice". BMI.com. July 19, 2018.
- ^ "Producers: A Q&A with Oak Felder". American Songwriter. June 18, 2018.
- ^ "How 'Oak' Felder Quietly Became One of R&B's Most Important Producers". Rolling Stone. October 17, 2018.
- ^ "Producer Duo Pop and Oak Talk Sparkle, Elle Varner and Alicia Keys," Singersroom, February 1, 2012.
- ^ Nolan Feeney, "Britney Spears' 'Glory': Inside the making of her ninth album," Entertainment Weekly, August 11, 2016.
- ^ Gary Trust, "Alessia Cara Scores Second Pop Songs No. 1 With 'Scars to Your Beautiful'," Billboard, January 23, 2017.
- ^ "Warren 'Oak' Felder," grammy.com. Accessed October 20, 2017.
- ^ "Grammys 2015: Complete list of nominees," Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2015.
- ^ Gail Mitchell, "Producer Oak Felder Talks Kelly Clarkson, Khalid and More: 'I Love That I Can Fly Under the Radar'," Billboard, May 23, 2017.
- ^ Nolan Feeney, "Demi Lovato: Fans will know 'exactly what I'm talking about' on my new album," Entertainment Weekly, September 12, 2017.
- ^ "Sting, Imagine Dragons and Martin Bandier Honored at BMI's 67th Annual Pop Awards". BMI.com. May 15, 2019.
- ^ "Sabrina Carpenter New Single "Pushing 20"". 360 Magazine. March 8, 2019.
- ^ "Mariah Carey, Drake, Lil Wayne, EMI Music Publishing & More Honored at BMI Urban Awards," BMI, September 8, 2012.
- ^ "Just In: Pop Wansel & Oak Felder Recognized At BMI Awards As Top Producers In 2013," uwishunu.com, August 23, 2013.
- ^ "Barry Manilow Honored as BMI Icon at 65th Annual BMI Pop Awards," BMI, May 10, 2017.
- ^ "Mark Ronson Receives the BMI Champion Award at the 66th BMI Pop Awards". BMI.com. May 8, 2018.
- ^ "REVIEW: Lizzo showcases vocal prowess on debut album". Daily Trojan. April 21, 2019.
- ^ "Producer Oak Felder Talks Lizzo, Demi Lovato and Need for More Female Producers: 'Music Can't Be One-Dimensional'". Billboard.com. September 13, 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ "Reservoir inks JV with Grammy-winning songwriter Warren 'Oak' Felder". Music Business Worldwide. 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
- ^ "Reservoir inks global publishing deal with songwriter and producer Warren 'Oak' Felder". Music Business Worldwide. 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-02-22.