Prince Charles Alexander

Alexander was born in Boston and is a graduate of Boston Latin School.^[1] He holds an M.S. from Northeastern University^[2] and a B.A. from Brandeis University.^[3][4]

Alexander fronted "Prince Charles and the City Beat Band"^[5] as the lead singer and multi-instrumentalist, with a focus on the wind synthesizer called the "Lyricon" in recordings and in live performances. Along with manager and Executive Producer Tony Rose (Solid Platinum Records & Productions) Prince Charles recorded and co-produced three albums, "Gang War", "Stone Killers", and "Combat Zone" on Virgin Records from the early to mid-1980s.^[6]

Alexander disbanded his funk group in the mid-1980s and began focusing on audio engineering. After the switch, he became a multi-platinum recording engineer, mixing engineer and producer for clients that include Mary J. Blige, Puff Daddy, Usher, Boyz II Men, Jodeci, X-Clan, Brandy, Babyface, Sting and Aretha Franklin.^[7] He mixed and recorded the Notorious B.I.G.'s One More Chance at The Hit Factory.^[8] Alexander earned more than 40 Platinum and Gold certifications from the RIAA^[2] and won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album in 2003.^[9]

Alexander is a Professor in the Music Production & Engineering Department^[10] at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.^[11] He simultaneously held an Adjunct Instructor position at NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music,^[12] teaching Music Production from 2006 to 2014. In 2006, Alexander also taught Audio Technology at the Institute of Audio Research in NYC.^[13] He has lectured at the City College of New York in Manhattan, the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway,^[14] and the Cape Town Academy at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa.^[15] He is a member of the Producers and Engineers Wing of the Grammy Committee Board of Governors,^[16] the Audio Engineering Society (AES)^[17] and the Musician's Union Local 802 in New York City.^[18]

He is author^[19] of Hip-Hop Production: Inside the Beats (Berklee Press, 2022), a book about the technological history of hip-hop. In November 2023, the Africana Studies Division at Berklee College of Music inducted Prince Charles Alexander into the Berklee Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.^[20]

Alexander was raised Catholic.^[21]

• Prince Charles Alexander at AllMusic