Rodney Jerkins: music maestro on a mission - Interview

Ebony, June, 2002 by Lynn Norment

DARKCHILD. Over thumping, pumping, techno-funk riffs, that name is lovingly or respectfully uttered by some of the biggest and sexiest voices in the music industry.

Whitney Houston sings it. Toni Braxton purrs it. The name rolls off Brandy's talented tongue like lyrics of a great song. Michael Jackson, in his distinctive style, whispers it. Darkchild.

At first many did not know what this phrase meant, this "darkchild" that so many singers are whispering during the intro to their hit songs. Sometimes it even comes in the form of a little rap. But now, the word is out--and spreading far beyond the music industry--that "darkchild" refers to Rodney (Darkchild) Jerkins, the hot young music producer who is the mastermind behind many of today's greatest hits.

Jerkins is pop music's newest and youngest hit-making wiz. At age 24, the Pleasantville, N.J., native is a fascinating coming-of-age success story and stands out among hundreds of rags-to-riches tales. The Grammy-winning producer and songwriter has created hits for some of today's biggest artists, including Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Brandy, Destiny's Child, Monica, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton, Jennifer Lopez, Brian McKnight, Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary, Joe, Deborah Cox, Britney Spears, N'Sync--and the list goes on and on. In great demand, he practically works around the clock and around the country, alternating between his Darkchild Productions & Recording Studio in New Jersey to various facilities in New York, California, Orlando, Miami, Houston, Atlanta and elsewhere to service his eager, high-profile clientele.

Jerkins is also the youngest person to secure a label deal with a major record company. His Darkchild music label is distributed by Sony Music.

The youngest of four children of the Rev. Fred Jerkins Jr. (now also his manager) and Sylvia Jerkins, a choir director, Rodney grew up in an environment rich in music. Everyone in his family was--and still is--involved in music. As a toddler, he broke away from his parents and drew quite a crowd by dancing to the music of street musicians at Disney World. When Rodney was 5, his father told him that if he wanted to "live in this house," he had to take piano lessons, as had his two sisters and older brother.

Rodney excelled at classical piano, and before long the outgoing kid was singing and playing piano and drums at his father's Evangelical Fellowship Church in Pleasantville. His brother, Fred III, seven years older, played instruments and even put together a gospel group. Fred also had keyboards and a drum machine, which increasingly fascinated his little brother.

"Funny how it happened," Rodney says of the point when he knew unequivocally that music would be his life. "When I was 10, 11, every day after school, a lot of kids would come over to the house and play basketball. From 2:30 p.m. 'til 4:30 p.m., we'd be playing ball. Then I just stopped going out to play. I wanted to be in the house with my music, creating music, writing songs, just trying to make good music."

When Rodney was 14, with Fred (now his writing/producing partner) he produced, packaged and sold his first album, on which he performed gospel rap. (He says he is not a performer, but his rap can be heard on several tunes he has produced for artists.) "It was rehearsal for how to be a producer," he says.

During that time, Rodney asked his father to drive him to Teddy Riley's recording studio in Virginia, and waited in the parking lot for Riley to show up. After convincing Riley to invite him in, the teen bedazzled the renowned producer with his work. Later, he turned down an offer to join Riley's production team.

"Everything in my life revolved around music," he says of that period, which seems to extend on through today. "All night long I was working with music. My music room was located under my parents' bedroom. Dad would stomp on the floor to tell me to go to bed. He has a good ear. If he liked what he heard, he'd let me keep going. If he didn't, he'd stomp. Sometimes he'd let me stay up until 12:30 or 1 o'clock. But I always had to get up and go to school the next day."

Rodney says the family was experiencing lean times during this period. "My father had to borrow money on his life insurance policy to get my recording equipment," he says. His father wanted to file bankruptcy, says Rodney, but he begged him not to, assuring him that "we will get out of this." And they did.

At 16, Rodney began professionally producing records alongside Sean (P. Diddy) Combs at Andre Harrell's Uptown Records. "People around the company would look at me and say, `Who's that little kid?' But I was working," Jerkins recalls. "I was doing my thing." When he made $30,000 to $35,000 in his first month, he realized that his love of music could indeed be financially rewarding. "With my first paycheck I bought my mom a Mercedes, and then I bought my parents a new house," he says.

These days, Jerkins is cashing much larger checks and has acquired quite a bit of real estate as well as a fleet of pricey cars. He bought himself a house in New Jersey that has a swimming pool, basketball court, volleyball court and miniature golf course. In Orlando, he has a 12,000-square-foot home with five bedrooms, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, 12-seat theater and 48-track studio. (He purchased the Orlando home with royalties for work on one song on Britney Spears' Satisfaction CD.) When in Miami (where Whitney likes to record), Jerkins retreats to his penthouse condo with rooftop basketball court.