Rory William Quigley (born January 26, 1987), known professionally as Harry Fraud, is an American record producer. Primarily a hip hop producer, Fraud began producing at an early age and began interning at a recording studio after graduating high school. First discovered by French Montana during a recording session in Chinatown in early 2009, Fraud has gone on to become a fixture in the New York underground and mixtape scene. He gained mainstream attention when his song with French Montana "Shot Caller" became one of the most added tracks on urban contemporary radio during 2011–2012.
Fraud has produced collaborative records with various rappers, such as Wiz Khalifa before projects such as Flight 2011 (2011) with Chinx Drugz; Rugby Thompson (2012) with Smoke DZA; Cigarette Boats (2012) with Currensy, which was awarded XXL's "2012 EP of the Year"; Saaab Stories (2013) with Action Bronson, which served as the latter's major-label debut, and The Appetizer (2014) with French Montana. On March 8, 2013, he released his debut mixtape Adrift. That same year, Fraud teamed up with car-maker Scion to produce the compilation EP Scion A/V Presents: High Tide released on May 7, and on May 10 released his instrumental EP Royal Palm. In April 2014, he released his instrumental EP Blue/Green. Fraud has done production for various high-profile artists such as Rick Ross, Prodigy, Pusha T, Playboi Carti and Talib Kweli, among others. He has also worked on production for the International Emmy Awards.
Career
Early life and career
Harry Fraud comes from a musical family background, where his parents performed in a band together. His father is a guitar player, while his mother is a singer. His father was in the concert business, which gave Fraud access to instruments and recording equipment at an early age. He received his first turntables on Christmas, and the next year had gotten what he describes as a "piece of shit sampler". It's after acquiring his first MPC that he began seriously working on beat production.
Upon graduating high school, Fraud began interning at a recording studio, which became his first exposure to Pro Tools. He was also influenced by Fafu of BlesteNation, who was a producer at the same building. After getting into college, he acquired Pro Tools for himself, quickly immersing himself in front of the computer and becoming his main distraction, "I didn't do any [school] work. I wouldn't even go to class. It was terrible," claimed Fraud in an interview with Nah Right. During his time in college, he met his friend Red Walrus – now the musical director of the band which Fraud works with – where the two bonded over digging through crates and buying vinyl records from places such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army. His musical composition has been used by the International Emmy Awards, which Fraud credits his father for getting through to its producers. Fraud's composition work would go on to be praised by Simon Cowell, who, at the 2010 Emmy Awards ceremony took notice of Fraud's walk up music, even requesting it be replayed briefly during his speech.
French Montana and the Coke Boys
Harry Fraud rose to prominence through his collaboration with French Montana on the song "New York Minute", featuring Jadakiss, off of French's fifth mixtape Mac Wit Da Cheese released on April 19, 2009. In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Harry Fraud revealed first meeting close friend and artist French Montana during a recording session at a studio in Chinatown. Fraud recalls recording a song for someone which French happened to have a guest feature on. In an unusual turn of events, the building was raided by police after a tip-off that there were counterfeit Gucci and Louis Vuitton purses being manufactured at the same building. Having lost his studio spot, Fraud went on to form his own studio in Brooklyn, where the two "met and formed a bond".