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Gordon "Commissioner Gordon" Williams is an American record producer, audio engineer, and mixer. Dubbed the "Commissioner" by rapper KRS-One, his resume includes multiple Grammy Awards and numerous Gold and Platinum albums.[citation needed]
Williams' musical roots can be traced back to the Bronx. As a teenager, he experienced the advent of hip hop[citation needed] as a breakthrough musical genre and culture. He started out as a DJ,[citation needed] and from there delved into song production.[citation needed] He left Rutgers University,[citation needed] and attended New York's Center for Media Arts.[citation needed] After graduating, Williams was signed by an independent record label[which?] as a producer[citation needed] and member of a group,[which?] which scored a top-five dance record.[citation needed] He then earned a production deal with Motown Records,[citation needed] which led to Williams' emergence as a programmer[clarification needed] and re-mixer.
Soon, his credits included projects with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Teddy Riley, Babyface, Stacy Lattisaw, Diana Ross, New Edition, Nile Rodgers and Quincy Jones.[citation needed] In 1998, Williams further extended his creative reach and became Senior Director of A&R at Sony Music Entertainment.[citation needed] During this time, he worked on Lauryn Hill's solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill [1] and Will Smith's movie and soundtrack Men in Black.[citation needed] His label duties involved looking after the likes of[clarification needed] Alicia Keys, Wyclef Jean and 50 Cent.[citation needed]
On The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Williams tied the vocals, music and effects together to help create one of the biggest-selling albums of 1998–1999.[citation needed] The album, which was described by Mary J. Blige as "one of the most incredible albums ever made" won five Grammys, two of which were awarded to Williams for his work on what was hailed as the Album of the Year. During those years, he was also the live sound mixer for Hill's world tour.[2][3]
In 2000, Williams won another Grammy Award[citation needed] for participating in the mixing of Carlos Santana's multi-platinum Supernatural (Arista) which also won for Album of the Year. His credits include Joss Stone's multi-platinum Mind Body & Soul,[citation needed] Damian Marley's Grammy Award-winning Welcome to Jamrock,[citation needed] as well as Amy Winehouse's critically acclaimed debut album entitled Frank.[4]
In 2007, Williams received an honorary degree from Gibbs College[citation needed] for writing the curriculum for their first audio engineering program. The program was accredited by the state of New Jersey and is currently an accredited associate degree course.[citation needed]
In 2010, Williams was introduced to Bill Strickland of the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, and agreed to implement his first program at one of Strickland's replication sites, NewBridge Center for Art and Technology in Cleveland. He has since set up programs in Ohio, New York and New Jersey.[citation needed] Williams is also a professor at Long Island University.[citation needed]
Williams is the founder of the Lalabela Alliance, a multi-faceted collective of companies with various specialties in the development of content, marketing, distribution and education.[citation needed] The Alliance strives to appeal to a wide and culturally diverse demographic producing, marketing and distributing music, film, television, gaming and multimedia content.[5]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill | Grammy Award for Best R&B Album | Won | [6] |
| Grammy Award for Album of the Year | Won | |||
| 2000 | Supernatural | Won |
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