As initially reported by Okayplayer, Dominique Trenier, D'Angelo's former manager and producer, was found dead in his Los Angeles home on Friday, August 5. Known for his work with D'Angelo on the R&B singer’s 2000 magnum opus, Voodoo,Trenier was listed as an executive producer for the album. He also directed the music video for “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)” alongside Paul Hunter. Other credits include executive producer on the soundtrack for Space Jam and Mark Ronson's debut album, 2003’s Here Comes the Fuzz.
In 2000, Trenier famously co-created the unforgettable video for D’Angelo’s “How Does It Feel” however, his accomplishments reached beyond coaxing D’Angelo to undress. Trenier helped propel the “neo-soul” movement to the forefront and had the ability to pull several brilliant musical minds together over the past 20 years. Trenier also signed Nikka Costa and briefly had his own record label, Cheeba Records.
According to Okayplayer, during his role as a manager, he never minded helping his friends and clients enjoy their own successes. Ronson shared a three part heartfelt tribute to Trenier on his Instagram, calling the late producer "my musical mentor, my most trusted set of ears, and my earliest champion.”
The caption from Ronson’s first Instagram post read in part, “Words for Dom Part 1 For a good chunk of my life, Dominique Trenier was one of my very closest friends. He was also my musical mentor, my most trusted set of ears and my earliest champion. At 24 years old, I was just a downtown kid playing records at trendy hip hop clubs. One Friday night, he came up to my booth in the VIP room at Life and said, “Yo, I got this girl. She’s got an incredible voice…really incredible. Anyway, I don’t know what the album’s supposed to sound like exactly, but I want it to feel like one of your [DJ] sets. You know, EPMD, AC/DC, Chaka Khan…Biggie, all that shit”. I was both psyched and incredibly flattered. Dom was a already a bit of a downtown icon. His music cred was nuts. He worked with D’Angelo & rolled with Puffy, Russell and Andre. His charisma was off the chain, all types of people were drawn to him.”
The Roots' Questlove remembered his friend and colleague via Instagram, as well, with a caption that read: “Trenier. So Much Wisdom. So Little Time.”
By Kyle Eustice for RAPstation.com
