Oji Pierce

Phillip "Oji" Primes Pierce was an American record producer, composer, keyboardist, and engineer who had collaborated with a number of music artists in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Early life

Pierce, the only son of Henry Primes Pierce and Rosella Harris Vaughn, was born in Statesville, North Carolina. He had two sisters, Dyrel and Ledra. Pierce received his primary and secondary education in the District of Columbia school system.

Career

Musically shaped by the church, Pierce's career as a songwriter, producer and arranger took off when he produced singer Montell Jordan's debut album This Is How We Do It, along with its number-one title track. While the song earned Jordan a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards, it won him and Pierce Best R&B 12-inch at the International Dance Music Awards in Miami. Following the success with Jordan, Pierce became a sought-after producer in the R&B and hip hop scene, working with artists such as Kenny Lattimore, Norman Brown, CeCe Peniston, and Coolio, for whose album My Soul he contributed the single "Ooh La La." In the late 1990s, he became instrumental in securing R&B duo Ruff Endz a recording deal with Epic Records.

Death

Pierce died on August 21, 2006, at the age of 46, in Gallup, New Mexico after a battle with sarcoidosis.