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Laney Stewart (born January 10, 1966) is an American songwriter, music producer, musician, music publisher, music executive, manager and youth mentor. He has written, produced and published hits for some of the biggest names inR&B,hip hop andpop music over the past three decades.^[1]

Philip Lane Stewart II was born in 1966 in theSouth Side suburbs ofChicago,Illinois. His mother, Mary Ann Stewart, was a singer who had sungbackgrounds for theOhio Players,Curtis Mayfield andAretha Franklin. His uncle, Morris "Butch" Stewart, was a musician and producer.

By age nine, Stewart had taught himself to play piano and drums. In Chicago's booming advertising industry he started singing on jingles at the age of 12, and began writing and composing jingles as a teenager. By age 15 he had his first commercially released songs on CBS Records withRamsey Lewis's "This Ain't No Fantasy." At the age of 16 he became a regular in the burgeoning Chicago undergroundhouse music scene, and was one of the early house producers, producing songs for Arrogance such as "Crazy,"^[2] which was released onDJ International Records in 1986.

He began working as asession musician with his uncle, Wayne Stewart (drummer), Tony Brown (bassist), and withPatrick Leonard, known for his work withMadonna, who became his most significant keyboard influence. At age 18, Stewart and partner Kenneth Hale formed their own jingle company, Minute Men, composing popular spots forBud Light,McDonald's andCoca-Cola.^[1] They became the "go to" guys for urban-based spots for advertising companies such as the Burrell ad agency and DDB Needham, and they won an award for their work on the California Lottery ad campaign. Stewart was working House clubs at night and jingle sessions and meetings with ad executives by day.

In 1988, with help from ad executive and author Michelle McKinney Hammond, Stewart signed his first publishing deal withFamous Music (nowSony/ATV Music Publishing). He worked with songwriting partnerTony Haynes on a string of placements and upgraded his deal to joint venture withFamous Music. He decided to focus his career on working with recording artists instead of jingles. In 1990, he and Haynes formed The Groove Asylum,^[1] and worked in the studio withJimmy Jam and Terry Lewis,^[1] who influenced Stewart's songwriting and production style. Stewart co-produced songs withJimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and worked with well-known recording artists. He signed a group of young writers, his younger brother,Tricky Stewart, cousinKuk Harrell and Sean Hall, to his production company. His other younger brother, Mark E. Stewart, joined the company on the business side.

Stewart's next influence wasMCA Records executive,Louil Silas Jr. Stewart worked with executives likeSylvia Rhone,Benny Medina andQuincy Jones on a run of successful songs, including "Never Let Them See You Sweat" byGo West, which was featured inWhite Men Can't Jump, and "Candlelight and You" byKeith Washington featuringChante Moore, which was featured inHouse Party 2.

In 1992, Stewart relocated his company from Chicago to Los Angeles, CA. He and his brothers Tricky and Mark become founding partners inRedZone Entertainment in 1994.

In 1996, Stewart entered into a publishing deal and writing/production relationship withKenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and his Edmonds Music Publishing company.^[1] This relationship led to him working withMadonna,Shanice, andTony! Toni! Toné! He wrote and produced songs for the feature film Soul Food, and wrote and produced the top 10 hit "Last Nights Letter" forK-Ci & JoJo’s Quadruple platinum albumLove Always.

In 1999 Stewart moved to Atlanta GA and joined his brothers as a partner inRedZone Entertainment and Triangle Sound Studios.^[1] RedZone helped to put Atlanta on the map as a music city, with hits likeBlu Cantrell's "Hit ‘Em Up Style,"^[3]Sole's "4,5,6",TLC's "No Scrubs",Toni Braxton's "Love Me Some Him," andDestiny's Child's "Bills, Bills, Bills." Stewart took over as president of RedZone, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company and keeping it active. Hit songwriterEster Dean joined Redzone's publishing side. Stewart continued to write and produce hit songs, including, # 1 A.C. smash "Without You" byCharlie Wilson, and "Everything", which appears on multi-platinum sellingB2K’s Pandemonium and Greatest Hits albums.

In his role as publisher Stewart worked with the writers, developing their skills and building an extensive catalog. He mentored"Tricky" Stewart,Kuk Harrell and Sean Hall, passing on the secrets of consistent hitmaking that he had learned from Jam & Lewis and Babyface and others. He published songs byBritney Spears,Usher,Pink,Sisqo,Toni Braxton,Tyrese,^{[citation needed]} and the 1999 ASCAP Rap song of the year, "Who Dat" byJT Money, which reached #5 on the Billboard pop charts. One of the biggest R&B tracks in the catalog was "I Love Me Some Him" from Toni Braxton's "Secrets" album, which went 8 x Platinum. "Me Against The Music", a duet ofBritney Spears andMadonna, peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, was featured in an episode of Fox's "Glee." Pink's "Can't Take Me Home", and added a double platinum plaque to Stewart's collection.

Other pop hits included "Case of the Ex" byMýa, which peaked at number 2 in its 16th week on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and at #1 on Billboard's R&B chart. It spent three weeks at number 2 and 29 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was an international success. In 1999 there was3LW’s "No More"; in 2001B2K’s premier smash "Uh-Huh," the number 1 selling single in the US that year.

Stewart entered into another publishing joint venture with Peer Music,^[4] forming Morningside Trail Music in 2003. He discovered and signed writer/producer Terius "The-Dream" Nash,^[5]and Nash and Stewart's first studio work resulted in the song "Everything," which appeared onB2K's album. Under Stewart's tutelage, Nash developed into an award-winning writer/producer and recording artist, with hits like "Shawty is the S*^!" and "Falsetto." Stewart introduced Nash to his brother Tricky and they wrote hits which includedRihanna's "Umbrella,"J. Holiday's "Bed" and "Suffocate,"Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body,"Usher's "Moving Mountains,"Mary J. Blige's "Just Fine,"Justin Bieber's "Baby," andBeyoncé's "Single Ladies."^{[citation needed][clarification needed]}

In 2005, Stewart took a break after learning that he was suffering from kidney cancer. In 2009, he and his wife formed Stewart Music Group, which combined publishing, production and management. In 2010 he received a transplant kidney from his wife. While still in hospital recovering from surgery, he finalized a deal for a joint venture withUniversal Music Publishing Group, the largest music publishing company in the world. He developed a new publishing catalog under Music Gallery. A new writing/production team, "The SharpShootaz", was his first signing. Each writer in The Sharpshootaz was chosen by Stewart, includingAlex Jacke,^[6] Romika Faniel, Derek Yopp, Andrew Kim andSidney Miller. In late 2011 The Sharpshootaz produced several songs forJesse McCartney, including "Out Of Words," which was leaked to the internet in July 2012.^[7] On July 9, 2012, Stewart and The Sharpshootaz released anAlex Jacke EP called "D.F.M." Stewart Music Group consisted of Music Gallery/UMPG Publishing, "The System" Management and Consulting, and LS Productions.

Stewart lives inLos Angeles,California, and is married to Khaila Stewart. They have three children: Jordan, Clarke and Christopher. Stewart and his wife are involved in research atUCLA for kidney disease and living donor transplants.

This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(October 2023)

• http://www.discogs.com/artist/Laney+Stewart
• http://www.discogs.com/artist/Chant%C3%A9+Moore
• http://www.discogs.com/Aaron-Hall-The-Truth/master/192361

• 1966 births
• Living people
• Musicians from Chicago
• Record producers from Illinois
• African-American record producers
• Songwriters from Illinois
• 21st-century African-American musicians
• 20th-century African-American musicians

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