caption years_active label article_title name background birth_date origin birth_name occupation
kenny ortiz 1989 - present rca epic records -lrb- current -rrb- records , arista records , columbia records , kenny ortiz
 kenny ortiz non_performing_personnel november 10 new york , ny , united states kenneth ortiz record r executive , producer , songwriter , a &
kenny ortiz

kenneth `` kenny o '' ortiz -lrb- born november 10 -rrb- is an american record executive , songwriter , record producer , and is currently the ceo of world trade entertainment .
widely known as the driving force behind swv , because he signed the group , picked their hits , got heavily involved in their creative process for original songs , remixes , mixes , collaborations , and last but not least established their vibe and brand .
ortiz is also known for discovering pharrell williams and chad hugo also known as the neptunes , whom ortiz signed to emi to their first production and writing deal .
ortiz would a&r the unreleased compilation album which featured charlie wilson and joe stonestreet -lrb- the first member of blackstreet -rrb- which subsequently led to kelis 's signing and recording .
it was kenny ortiz 's idea to make pharrell and chad to change their production name to the neptunes -lrb- the name they went by as a group , which was later changed to n.e.r.d -rrb- .
ortiz 's a&r and promotion skills have been instrumental in bringing numerous music figures across multiple genres to multi-platinum sales , including but not limited to swv , anita baker , keith sweat , neptunes , bebe winans , cece winans , ryan toby , mantronix , simply red , the cure , ten thousand maniacs , tracy chapman , martha wash , and mc hammer .
ortiz is responsible for helping acts to get signed by major labels .
artists that benefited from kenny 's musical ear include : jazmine sullivan -lrb- whom ortiz discovered on showtime of the apollo , brought her into the studio for the first time , and then introduced to her to her mentor missy elliott who would eventually produce her # 1 singles nearly a decade later -rrb- , brian mcknight -lrb- whom ortiz discovered utilizing his vocals for demos and eventually brought him in front of labels who signed him -rrb- , `` joe '' -lrb- also demo vocalist for ortiz and was first to use him as a producer and writer as well as introduced him to the history of the r & b world , and nurtured his craft .
ortiz introduced him to pharrell williams -rrb- .
ortiz also helped in the development of acts like : shaffer smith -lrb- whom ortiz a&r 'd as a senior vice president at columbia records before his career was reborn under his new name ne-yo -rrb- , amerie -lrb- a&r 'd her platinum album -rrb- , ryan toby -lrb- helped him land his position in the movie sister act 2 -rrb- , johnta austin -lrb- discovered him , signed him to rca records and put him together with pharrell williams and introduced him to troy taylor who took him under his wing and then molded him into a very successful songwriter , and last but not least , the wu-tang clan received their first r&b record from ortiz , who handpicked them to remix `` anything '' by swv which catapulted them from underground to household name .
kenny ortiz a&r 'd for huge executives and moguls like : quincy jones , la reid , pharrell williams -lrb- startrak entertainment -rrb- , skip miller , bruce lundvall -lrb- of blue note records -rrb- , tom whalley .
