Departments
Music
Education
- Northeastern University MS ’14 Music Industry Leadership: Entrepreneurship Track
- Center for the Media Arts Certificate ’86 Audio Engineering
- Brandeis University BA ’75 African and African American Studies/Music Technology Minor
Awards
- GRAMMY Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album ’03 “Again” by Donnie McClurkin
- GRAMMY Best Rap Album ’97 “No Way Out” by Puff Daddy and the Family
- VICTOIRE DE LA MUSIQUE Album De L’année ’97 “L’école Du Micro D’argent by IAM
Past Clients
Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Donnie McClurkin, Brandy, Faith Evans, SWV, R. Kelly, Brian McKnight, Usher, Jodeci, Uptown MTV Unplugged, LL Cool J, Johnny Gill, CeCe Winans, Tevin Campbell, Raven Symone, Harold Travis, Born Jamericans, Little Shawn, Casserine, Porche, Emage, Deborah Cox, Subway, Tasha Scott, Soul For Real, Christopher Williams, Terri & Monica, Big Bub, Kansas City Original Sound, M&M, Melvin Van Peebles, Yo-Yo, X-Clan, Maxi Priest, Mike Davis, Martha Wash, Doug E. Fresh, Freddie Jackson, Kashif, Melba Moore, Living Color, Sarah Dash, Eddie Palmieri, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Big Black Cat, Kiichi Yokoyama, Gerald Levert, Dana Dawson, Michel Pascal, Les Rita Mitsouko, David Sanborn, Lennie Pickett, Mike Stern, Lisa Fischer, Janice Dempsey, Paul Lawrence, Audrey Wheeler, Tamika Patton, Redhead Kingpin, Bruce Purse, Anthony Jackson, Omar Hakim, Aaron Hall, Eric Gable, CeCe Rogers, Gina Go-Go, Alex Bugnon, Lazet Michaels, Chubb Rock, Chris Rock, Lillo Thomas, YZ, Hen-Gee & Evil E Sharisse Arrington, Wild Life Society, Elements of Life, Tanya Blount, Keystone, Calvin Richardson -w- Monifah, Ronnie Henderson, Three From The Soul, Patti LaBelle, Monifah, Horace Brown, Silk, Sounds of Blackness, Jemecia Bennett, Power Of Three, Lo-Key?, Pebbles, Spearhead, Bizzi, Kim Summerson, Element of Life, Nicole Ray, Veronica, Cassie, Toshinori Yonekura, Misia, Vlidge, New African Poets, Vox IV, Deja, Yuki Koyanagi, Ee-De, Thalia f. Fat Joe, Will Downing, Stephanie Mills, G-Dep, Mario, Salt (of Salt ‘N’ Pepa), Toya
Research Focus
- Hip-Hop Technology
- Commercial Music
- Commercial Music Distribution
“Prince Charles and the City Beat Band” recorded three albums on Virgin Records from the early to mid 80’s, and achieved their biggest successes on the European charts. Charles fronted the group as the lead singer and multi instrumentalist. The futuristic wind synthesizer called the “Lyricon” was the instrument that made his brand of next generation p-funk unique, and the group’s sound incorporated many of the devices that would propel rap music to the forefront of the American music scene.
With the emergence of rap as the dominant reflection of street culture, Prince Charles disbanded his funk group and began focusing on audio engineering. After the switch, “Prince Charles Alexander” became a multi-platinum producer, mixing engineer and recording engineer for a large client base including Mary J. Blige, the Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, Usher, Boyz II Men, Brandy, Babyface, Sting, Aretha Franklin and many more. Sean “Puffy” Combs utilized Prince Charles’ technical expertise to launch and sustain the Bad Boy record label throughout the 90’s. Charles’ accolades include more than 40 Platinum and Gold certifications from the RIAA, 3 Grammy wins and 7 Grammy nominations from NARAS, and a Victoire de la Musique (the French equivalent of a Grammy).
Prince Charles is currently an active producer/engineer as well as a Professor of Music Production & Engineering. He created Berklee College of Music’s Commercial Record Production curriculum and Berklee Online’s Vocal Production undergraduate and graduate courses. For a decade, he held an Adjunct Instructor position at NYU’s Clive Davis Dept. of Recorded Music, teaching Music Production. He has also taught at the Institute of Audio Research, in NYC, currently teaches online curriculum with Berklee Online, offers free MOOC instruction through EdX.org and Coursera.org., has lectured at the City College of New York, Pace University, the School of Audio Engineering, the University of Oslo (Sweden), Cape Town Academy at Stellenbosch University (South Africa), local Boston high schools and grammar schools, and is the subject of Sennheiser and Izotope video interviews. He is a member of the Producers and Engineers Wing of the Grammy Committee Board of Governors, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) and the Musician’s Union Local 802 in NYC as well as managing up and coming talent through his production company Ark Angel Music, Inc. Plans to release new music as an artist are in the works as well as book and film projects.
Current member of the Grammy Producers and Engineers Wing
Former member of the Grammy Committee Board of Governors
Professional Affiliations
The Grammy Committee Producer’s and Engineer’s Wing
Audio Engineering Society
Musician’s Union Local 802