Jake and the Phatman are Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

-winning, multi-platinum producers, songwriters, DJ's and Multi-Instrumentalists.

Both were born in the mid 70s in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their early work included the Luniz

Luniz

The Luniz were an American platinum-selling rap duo from Oakland, California, formed by the rappers Yukmouth and Numskull. They released an internationally successful hit in 1995 entitled "I Got 5 on It", two versions of which appeared on their album Operation Stackola...

, 3X Krazy, Keak da Sneak

Keak da Sneak

Charles Toby Bowens , commonly known by his stage name Keak da Sneak, is a rapper from Oakland, California . At the age of 16 he was known as Z-Kush but became known as "Keak da Sneak" at 17, best known for his scratchy, gruff rapping voice and coining the term "hyphy" in 1994.-Career:Keak da Sneak...

, Dawn Robinson

Dawn Robinson

Dawn Robinson is an American R&B/soul/Dance-pop singer best known for her work as a member of hit Urban/Dance-pop group, En Vogue....

 (Formally of En Vogue

En Vogue

En Vogue is an American female R&B vocal group from Oakland, California assembled by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy.The group has won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group in MTV history, a total of seven, along with four Soul Train Awards, six American Music...

 and Lucy Pearl

Lucy Pearl

Lucy Pearl was an R&B supergroup formed in 1999, as the brainchild of former Tony! Toni! Toné! member Raphael Saadiq and D'Angelo. However, D'Angelo backed out of the group due to scheduling conflicts. The other members of Lucy Pearl were Dawn Robinson and Ali Shaheed Muhammad...

) and Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre

Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...

. In 1997 they started work on what was to become the supergroup Lucy Pearl's debut album, featuring Raphael Saadiq

Raphael Saadiq

Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He also produced songs of such artists as TLC, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, Mary J...

 (Tony! Toni! Toné!), Dawn Robinson

Dawn Robinson

Dawn Robinson is an American R&B/soul/Dance-pop singer best known for her work as a member of hit Urban/Dance-pop group, En Vogue....

, and Ali Shaheed (A Tribe Called Quest

A Tribe Called Quest

A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...

). It was during this time they developed their working relationship with Raphael Saadiq. After the success of the Lucy Pearl

Lucy Pearl

Lucy Pearl was an R&B supergroup formed in 1999, as the brainchild of former Tony! Toni! Toné! member Raphael Saadiq and D'Angelo. However, D'Angelo backed out of the group due to scheduling conflicts. The other members of Lucy Pearl were Dawn Robinson and Ali Shaheed Muhammad...

 album Raphael Saadiq began to use them exclusively as his production partners. Their production work on Saadiq's debut album Instant Vintage

Instant Vintage

Instant Vintage is the debut solo album of American R&B and neo soul musician Raphael Saadiq. It serves as Saadiq's first full-length solo album after spending much of his post-Tony! Toni! Toné! career as session player and producer. Primarily a neo soul album, it also exhibits musical styles such...

included pressing the vocals onto acetate and then "scratching them into the tracks".

As producers Jake and the Phatman have racked up a long list of credits including Dawn Robinson

Dawn Robinson

Dawn Robinson is an American R&B/soul/Dance-pop singer best known for her work as a member of hit Urban/Dance-pop group, En Vogue....

, Kelis

Kelis

Kelis Rogers Kelis Rogers Kelis Rogers (born August 21, 1971 is an American musical artist. She is a BRIT Award, Q Award and NME Award winner and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. She has had nine top 10 singles on the UK Singles Chart...

, Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige

Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...

, TLC

TLC (band)

TLC is an American musical trio whose repertoire spanned R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and new jack swing. Originally consisting of singer Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, rapper-singer Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas it found success in the 1990s while also enduring a series of spats...

, Musiq Soulchild, Anthony Hamilton

Anthony Hamilton (musician)

Anthony Hamilton is an American R&B, and soul singer-songwriter, and record producer who rose to fame with his platinum-selling second studio album Comin' from Where I'm From , which featured the singles "Comin' from Where I'm From" and "Charlene."-Life and career:Hamilton was born in Charlotte,...

, Ginuwine

Ginuwine

Elgin Baylor Lumpkin , better known by his stage name Ginuwine is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Signed to Epic Records since the mid-1990s, Ginuwine had released a number of multi-platinum and platinum-selling albums and singles, becoming one of R&B's top artists during the late 1990's...

, Dwele

Dwele

Andwele Gardner , better known by his stage name Dwele is a soul singer, songwriter and record producer from Detroit, Michigan.-Biography:...

, Angie Stone

Angie Stone

Angie Stone is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She has been nominated for three Grammy Award. She is more successful on the charts R&B charts, with four Top 10 albums, forms including a number one album and 10 singles on the R&B chart,...

, Common, and John Legend

John Legend

John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...

.