Random J playlist: Produced by Danja

Despite Danja producing for some of the biggest names in Pop music and introducing himself formerly on a Britney Spears song, there are still many who don't really know Danja. And he hasn't quite become as widely known as a producer by name as say Max Martin, Pharrell Williams, Timbaland (Danja's mentor) or Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins.

But I get why.

Danja's name became known through his affiliation with Timbaland, who enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in 2005 following a drastic loss of weight, a new physique and a presence on the Pop charts that he'd never had before. A presence of which he owes in part to Danja, who added a Pop and EDM sensibility to Timbaland's sound which helped it crossover in ways that Timbaland's solo sound hadn't done before; even through Justin Timberlake and his debut solo album in 2002. Danja was the secret weapon behind Nelly Furtado's Loose and Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds - two of the most influential albums to release in 2005 / 2006. Following their releases, everybody was putting out something that had a sound like "Maneater", "Say It Right", "SexyBack" and "My Love".

The success of these albums and the testing of mettle he'd undergone working on them would lead Danja to start branching off on his own.

During this period, Danja's production CV quickly filled up with big name after big name, project after project. He wound up working with more popular artists in the space of a couple of years than Timbaland had done across his entire career up until that point. Some of whom had surprisingly never even worked with Timbaland before - Britney Spears, Ciara, Mariah Carey and M.I.A to name a few.

But part of the problem was that Danja was doing so much so fast. And whilst his output was genuinely great and consistent, there weren't a great number of hits that came out of any of it. And it seemed that every project Danja was involved in ended up either flopping or getting lost in whatever mess that artist was caught up in at the time.

One of Danja's best known productions, Britney's "Gimme More", took a backseat to the circus that had become Britney's life at the time, and was nailed into a coffin as the result of a disastrous performance at the MTV VMA's. Ciara's 3rd studio album was constantly being pushed back, with various versions of the Danja produced "Work" leaking long before the song officially released, making it old by the time it hit. "Migrate", the originally planned lead single from Mariah Carey's follow up to The Emancipation of Mimi was bumped from being a single in favour of the The-Dream penned "Touch My Body". American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee's debut album was plagued by bad lead single choices, when they had chart ready Danja productions sat RIGHT there. Duran Duran's Red Carpet Massacre released to whom!? Nobody even knew they were still a thing and releasing music. Danja's work with Nikki Flores fell to the wayside as her album got shelved, but thankfully a couple of the songs leaked. Danja worked on Joe Jonas' album, just for the whole thing to flop.

But Danja would go on to be best known for his work on Britney Spears' fifth studio album Blackout. An album that many cite as one of her best albums, released in the midst of her highly publicised breakdown. Danja produced Britney's comeback single "Gimme more", but also produced the majority of the album, effectively shaping its entire sound. A sound of which would go on to be popularised and mimicked by numerous other artists globally.

During this period, Danja's CV was quickly filling up with big name after big name, project after project. He wound up working with more Popular artists in the space of a couple of years than Timbaland had done across his entire career up until that point. Some of whom had surprisingly never even worked with Timbaland before. Britney Spears. Ciara. P. Diddy. Mariah Carey. M.I.A. But part of the problem was that Danja was doing so much so fast. And whilst his output was genuinely great and consistent, there weren't a great number of hits. And it seemed that every project Danja was involved in ended up either flopping or got lost in whatever mess that artist was caught up in at the time. Britney's "Gimme More" took a back seat to what was happening to Britney at the time. Ciara's 3rd studio album was constantly being pushed back, with various versions of "Work" leaking long before the song officially released, making it old by the time it hit. Mariah Carey's "Migrate" was bumped from being a single in favour of "Touch My Body". Katharine McPhee's album was plagued by bad lead single choices, when they had chart ready Danja productions sat RIGHT there. Duran Duran's Red Carpet Massacre released to who!? Nobody even knew they were still a thing and releasing music. Danja's work with Nikki Flores fell to the wayside as her album got shelved, but thankfully a couple of the songs leaked. Danja worked on Joe Jonas' album, just for the whole thing to flop.

And then slowly but surely, Danja's name just turned up less and less in liner notes.

Danja isn't as prolific as he once was, but he still produces. Even though the projects he ends up on still end up slighted. He produced two cuts for Whitney Houston's final album I Look To You, just for it to not blow up, for neither of his cuts to be singles and for the album to get lost in the drama surrounded questions of Whitney's sobriety, the deterioration of her vocals and her unfortunate passing. He produced cuts for Justin Timberlake's Man of the Woods, just for the album to flop. He produced Jay-Z & Beyonce's "Shining", just for it to come and go. How you gon' produced a whole song for Jay-Z and Beyonce under DJ Khaled and not pop all the way off!?

None of the above is a reflection of Danja's work. It's just unfortunate. He is still an amazingly talented producer with his ride or die that is The Incredible Lago, and his productions still slap. And the work he did during his most active period is still amazing.

🎧 Listen on Spotify: Produced by Danja