Dave Tozer is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, songwriter, and musician. He has worked with several R&B, hip-hop, rock and pop artists including John Legend, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, John Mayer, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Kimbra, Natasha Bedingfield, Needtobreathe, Three 6 Mafia, Musiq Soulchild, Emeli Sande, Craig David, Chrisette Michele, Mayer Hawthorne, James Bay, Estelle, DEV and Jazmine Sullivan.
Early life
Hailing from Bridgeton, New Jersey, Tozer taught himself guitar, bass and keyboard. After moving to Philadelphia in the late 1990s, Tozer honed his production skills at various Philadelphia-area studios, such as the legendary Sigma Sound Studios and began working as a freelance musician playing everything from Hip-Hop and Rock to R&B and Pop. Through Max Blumenthal, a mutual friend, Tozer met University of Pennsylvania student John Stephens (later John Legend) and began a fruitful, professional relationship. In addition to developing creatively with Legend, Tozer produced his three independently released albums: John Stephens (2000), Live at Jimmy‘s Uptown (2001) and Live at SOB's (2003).
Musical career
2004–2007
In 2004, Tozer contributed to eight tracks on Legend‘s Grammy Award-winning major label debut Get Lifted, and his writing skills garnered him a publishing deal with Viacom-owned Famous Music Publishing. 2005 proved to be an important year for Tozer with the success of Get Lifted, which earned eight Grammy nominations and reached multi-platinum status. Legend won three awards including Best New Artist and Best R&B Album. Tozer was a producer on Get Lifted] and the track "Stay With You," which Tozer co-wrote and produced, was also nominated for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
In 2005, soon after the success of Get Lifted, Tozer was crafting songs for artists such as Heather Headley and Natasha Bedingfield. He also contributed to Kanye West's Grammy-winning single "Diamonds From Sierra Leone," and produced another Legend track for the Luther Vandross tribute album, So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross. For Tozer, the year culminated in a deal with Sony Music as an in-house producer and a renewal of his Famous Music Publishing contract.
In 2006, Tozer worked on the track "Do U Wanna Ride" from Jay-Z's comeback album Kingdom Come. Tozer also reunited with his old friend Legend and produced three songs from his acclaimed second album Once Again, including the iTunes single "On Top Of The World."
In 2007, Tozer continued to work with several different artists, including J Records recording artist Jazmine Sullivan and Mercury Records recording artist George Stanford. Along with contributing to the development of the Philadelphia-based artist, Tozer worked to get Stanford signed to Epic Records before he subsequently moved to Mercury Records.
2008–2010
In 2008, Tozer reunited with longtime collaborator, John Legend to co-write and produce "This Time" on Legend’s third album, Evolver. In 2009, Tozer worked with American Idol Elliott Yamin to co-write and produce the record "Someday" on Yamin's second album, Fight for Love.
In 2010, Tozer wrote and produced "Find Me" for Musiq Soulchild and Jazmine Sullivan for Soulchild’s upcoming album. He also went on to collaborate with Justin Timberlake, co-writing and producing three songs for Timberlake's signees, Free Sol, released on their debut album, No Rules, on Timberlake’s imprint Tennman Records.
2011–2015
In 2011, Tozer and Legend began working together on what would become Legend's fourth studio album, Love in the Future. Tozer co-executive produced the album with Kanye West. Recording sessions for the album took place over the next two-and-a-half years. The album was released on September 3, 2013, to widespread critical acclaim, and was Grammy-nominated for R&B album of year in 2014. In addition to being one of the album's two executive producers, Tozer produced fifteen tracks, mixed twelve, and co-wrote ten songs for the album.
In 2012, Tozer teamed up with Michael Bolton to co-write and produce the Motown-inspired track, "Gotta Keep Dreamin," for Bolton's, Ain't No Mountain High Enough: A Tribute to Hitsville. Later that year, Tozer worked with Mayer Hawthorne, co-writing and producing "The Valley."