THE WRITE STUFF
Detroit is no stranger to Grammy Awards honors and has birthed a few prolific winners, including Aretha Franklin, Eminem and gospel’s Winans family.
A couple of others are hoping to add to the metro area’s Grammy tally this year — from behind the scenes.
Kaine (real name Randall Hammers) and Gino “the Ghost” Borri, both raised in Farmington Hills and now based in Los Angeles, are among the nominees at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, taking place Sunday, April 3, in Las Vegas (rescheduled from Jan. 31). Kaine is up for Best Rap Song as a cowriter on Saweetie’s double-platinum Top 20 hit “Best Friend,” while Gino has a pair of nods — Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album as part of the team behind Nathy Peluso’s “Calambre” (which won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album in November) and Best Electronic Album for his role in Illenium’s “Fallen Embers.”
“It’s cool, man,” Gino, 30, says. “You grow up just seeing and watching (the Grammys). And being a music fan first, obviously, you always look to the Grammys to see who’s killing it. It’s very surreal to be (nominated). I’m kinda like, ‘Cool…now back to work,’ but it’s tight. I definitely take a deep (breath) to appreciate it and take it in.”
Kaine, 29, calls his nomination “a blessing.”
“A few years ago, I didn’t think that was a possibility. It wasn’t even on my radar. So it’s definitely a blessing. It feels good to kind of be making my mark and making a legacy.”
The two writers took similar paths to their current careers.
Both started as high school athletes — Kaine at Farmington North, Gino at Farmington Harrison — and had ambitions to be artists themselves, as rappers. They each did some recording around the Detroit area, then moved west (Gino after graduating from Western Michigan University, Kaine, aka Superkaine, in 2019) to advance their careers. Under the guidance of Birminghamraised manager Adam Small, found their way into the writing world.
“I was like, ‘I want to be the artist! I’m the star!,’ so writing was a tough pill to swallow, initially, being in the background,” Gino acknowledges. “But I loved it instantly.” He too worked with Saweetie on her hits “My Type” and “Back to the Streets” as well as her debut album “High Maintenance” and the EP “ICY.” He’s also racked up credits with the Chainsmokers and collaborates regularly with Timbaland, Scott Storch, Jean Baptiste, Stargate and others in addition to Peluso and Illenium.
Because the latter’s album was recorded during quarantine, Gino didn’t necessarily have a sense it would be Grammy material. But “Calambre” was another matter, especially after it won the Latin Grammy. “We did three (songs) in two days, and they felt pretty big, I’d say,” he recalls. “The other guys working on it and people at the label were like: ‘Yo, this girl is special,’ and they were right. They felt like this had a shot to do something, so I guess I kind of had inkling.”
For Kaine, meanwhile, “Best Friend” was “just another day” of recording at producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald’s studio for Saweetie’s “Pretty Bitch Music” album. “It was just an idea that Luke had,” Kaine remembers. “There were a few people in the room, and the song just came together from there. Music is such a collaborative process, and I think we just try to make sure we do everything to make sure the artists sound the best they can. At the end of the day, whoever is singing the song has to live it. So we try to make the artist as comfortable as possible.”
Neither Kaine nor Gino have taken much time to rest on their Grammy-nominated laurels. Both have more writing projects in the works, and as Kaine — currently working with Megan Thee Stallion, Latto, G-Eazy and others — says, “we just try to work with all kinds of artists, new artists, just everything that’s out there.”
Gino says he still harbors some artist ambitions of his own — he recently released a single, “Quarantine” — but adds that, “I think what I thought that would look like has changed…It doesn’t need to be, ‘Hey, I’m touring the world and rocking it!’ I don’t necessarily want to do that.” Instead he, like Kaine, is immersing himself in developing technologies and business opportunities. “There’s this duality of being the creative — an artist, writer, producer — and also being a business guy in the same field,” Gino notes.
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah, take place at 8 p.m. Sunday, April 3 in Las Vegas and will be broadcast on CBS (WWJ-TV, Channel 62). Performers include BTS, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Brothers Osborne, Brandi Carlile, Lil Nas X with Jack Harlow and more. The pre-show Premiere Ceremony takes place at 3 p.m. via Grammy.com and the Recording Academy YouTube channel.