With credits spanning Mary J. Blige, the Notorious B.I.G., and Destiny’s Child, Prince Charles Alexander has left his imprint on some of the most iconic records of the past few decades. A multi-Grammy-winning producer, engineer, and artist, his work has earned more than 40 platinum and gold certifications. But his influence doesn’t stop at the console—through his teaching at Berklee Online (as well as the Boston campus of Berklee College of Music), he’s shaping the next generation of producers and engineers. In this Q&A, he opens up about studio life, the future of AI in music, and the fine art of keeping your name in the credits.

What type of food do you eat the most?

Prince Charles Alexander: The food I eat the most is not really good for me, but I love spaghetti and meatballs.

What’s your go-to karaoke song?

Prince Charles Alexander: My go-to karaoke song is probably “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley.

Who or what is your most reliable source for music?

Prince Charles Alexander: My most reliable source for music is TIDAL, because TIDAL gives me the credits for audio engineers and music producers.

Have you checked all of your own credits to make sure you’re there?

Prince Charles Alexander: Do I check my own credits? Of course I do! And they are wrong probably 40 percent of the time. I’ve done records I haven’t done and then on some of the records I have done, I’m not listed! It’s all over the place. I’ve heard things that I know I worked on, and I went and dug for the credits and didn’t see my name. So a lot of calls and conversations had to ensue after that.

Give me an example of a track you didn’t work on—that you wished you had worked on—that you’re excited to have false credit for.

Prince Charles Alexander: The things that I’ve been credited for are listed at allmusic.com, and it’s a lot of materials. Some of them are songs I don’t remember doing, but the ones that are successful? I will take the credit for!

Is there anybody that you haven’t worked with that you wish you had?

Prince Charles Alexander: I [worked with] Beyoncé when she was part of Destiny’s Child, but haven’t since she’s gone solo and I probably wish that I could work on some of her projects.

Was there any temptation to assume the name of “King Charles” when your counterpart across the sea was coronated?

Prince Charles Alexander: When Prince Charles was coronated, people called me up and said, “Now you can call yourself King Charles.” Why would I want to do that? I’ve been waiting 40 years to have the name to myself. So I love being Prince Charles and let him be the king.

When was the last time you were in the studio? Do you still go in regularly to record and engineer?

Prince Charles Alexander: Every year that I’ve been at Berklee, I’ve been recording, producing, and/or mixing a project. I’ve got international clients from France, Japan, and South America in Brazil. I’m currently working with a faculty member named Debo Ray, and working on her new project, which is a neo-soul project with an excellent vocalist.

What is your process when you begin a recording session?

Prince Charles Alexander: The process always begins with just listening to good music and then listening to the song that I’m getting ready to work on and formulating a plan. So that’s kind of my pre-work routine: to immerse myself in really good music and then to move very quickly to the project that I’m working on. … I used to put pictures around the studio of the artist that I would be working on. Also pictures of family, of course, a little caricature or a doll. I think we’ve got some Star Trek stuff hanging out. We’ve got this Grogu kind of hanging out on the console. Visualization helps me to become one with the audience, to enjoy the things that the audience enjoys. Makes me feel like I’m connecting now to the projects that I’m working on.

What do you think is the most promising development for the future of music?

Prince Charles Alexander: The most promising development for the future of music is one that people are having qualms about right now, and that would probably be artificial intelligence. I know it sounds like a cheesy quote, but in my lifetime, I’ve seen the drum machine introduced. I’ve seen the synthesizer attack the horn players and string players in bands. I’ve seen the sampler attack the entire band. I’ve seen the digital audio workstation, then I’ve seen the digital audio workstation change the environment of recording. I’ve seen autotune challenge singers to their pitch. And it seems kind of a matter of fact in a historical trajectory. AI is another matter of fact of what is going to be the future of music. How it will be applied is up to the next generation to really work at it, figure it out, come to terms with it, and eventually, with the politicians involved, come to some legislation around AI.

Describe your teaching philosophy.

Prince Charles Alexander: My teaching philosophy is very similar to the five Cs of marketing. You’re already a company; you’re already creating intellectual property. You’re trying to make a connection to the consumer, because without the consumer, you’re kind of doing a hobby. In order to really reach the consumer, one would need collaborators (record companies, production companies, and publishing companies). You also need to monitor your competition in the marketplace. If you’re not listening to other great artists who are in your specific field, you could be missing some important innovations that are occurring within your field. Finally, the last C is, we’re doing this so that we can control a narrative. We want to be able to control something that we have to say to our audience. My sixth C is connectivity: We want to make connections with our audience. We don’t want to tell our audience what is good and bad. I know we all do that. But the truth of it is when you get behind production, it’s about being able to connect.

Okay, now how about your production philosophy?

Prince Charles Alexander: My production philosophy is to make a connection with an audience. How one does that is where the complexity comes in. Production is like a circle. It begins at a very simple point. It ends at a simple point, and it goes through all kinds of levels of complexity to get back to that simplicity. Simplicity is paramount. There can be very complex information within simplicity. Digging for that complexity, within simplicity is what my production concept is all about.

What is the most unconventional sound you’ve recorded that made it onto a commercial release?

Prince Charles Alexander: The most unconventional sound that I’ve ever recorded is actually a mistake, where I erased a vocal and we actually had a previous recording of that vocal. A rough take. So I took the rough take and put it into a sampler, then triggered it with a synchronization concept, and synced it to the point where the vocals should have been. Now remember, it had all the music with it. So I had to blend the new music with the old music and it came in and then came out of this punching spot. For some reason, I listen to that record now and I can’t even hear it myself. I have no idea how I did it, but it was at that moment where I wanted to keep my job, so I had to figure something out.

Did anybody else have any idea?

Prince Charles Alexander: Nobody had any idea.

What song was it?

Prince Charles Alexander: It’s “If You Think You’re Lonely Now,” which is a remake by K-Ci Hailey of K-Ci & JoJo of a composition by Bobby Womack.

When you’re producing or engineering vocals and sense that the singer’s emotions aren’t coming through, what kinds of tricks do you use to guide them toward a more authentic performance?

Prince Charles Alexander: When I’m working with a vocalist and they’re not in that emotional place, I have figured out over the years a few sounds that feel emotional to our ears when we hear them, and I start to offer those sounds to my vocalists. Groans, moans, cries, and whines. Those types of things, give us a little bit more of a peering into the character of the vocalist and usually feel like the vocalist is emoting a lot.

One of the times we spoke before, you discussed how Nile Rodgers helped you on your career path. ​​What is your advice for students on reaching out to people that you admire?

Prince Charles Alexander: Reaching out to people is really important in a career. There’s a story that I tell about Nile Rodgers where I do reach out and get some guidance from him, but that also extends to the idea that I have that if I don’t know something, that I can get it from other places. I remember when I heard T-Pain stutter on a chopped and screwed record, and I reached out to Jimmy Douglass and said, “do you know how they’re doing that?” and he said, “It’s probably Vari-Fi in ProTools.” And then I went and used Vari-Fi, and it didn’t stutter the correct way. So I called a bunch of other people, and having these conversations first of all, opened up an understanding to me that I did have a network of people that I could call—without that network, I probably would have had to search and search—and as it turned out, somebody in my network did answer me and the device is called Effectrix.

If you were to make an album now, as a recording artist, who would you want as your producer and who would you want as an engineer?

Prince Charles Alexander: If I were to make an album now, I would probably want Pharrell as my producer and most of the engineers that I know are not recording engineers: They’re mixing engineers. But I would love to have Neal Pogue as my recording engineer. For anybody who has looked at the credits for mixing engineers, I would probably want to have my mixing engineer be Serban Ghenea, who has mixed everything under the sun since 2001.

TAKE PRINCE CHARLES ALEXANDER’S VOCAL PRODUCTION COURSE AT BERKLEE ONLINE.

You succeeded in a tough industry, why do you now encourage others to pursue it?

Prince Charles Alexander:I don’t think I encourage people to pursue music. It has to be within you. If it’s not within you, you won’t do it. It’s that simple. And if it is within you, then you will make this happen by hook or crook. I firmly believe that I’m where I’m at because I was totally out of my mind. … To do this as a business, put your helmet on because it’s rough. If you want to pursue this career, you’ve got to be very, very brave.

What do you believe sets you apart from others in the industry?

Prince Charles Alexander: What sets me apart from others in the industry is that I have been an artist. I have been a producer. I have been an engineer. I have been an educator. I have an affinity group, which is a marginalized group that affects me and affects my creative flow. I don’t think that there are many people that have done each one of those things at the level that I’ve done them. At the same time, I need to have humility that I don’t have all the answers. So I always think of John Coltrane learning the altissimo register by listening to one of his students squeak, and then taking that squeak and then turning it into something. But the humility of not belittling that student because that student made the squeak with the horn, but taking it as a part of their student’s expression is something that always resonates with me.

What was the first project that you worked on that made you feel like you’d really arrived?

Prince Charles Alexander: The first project I worked on that made me feel like I really arrived was the group Jodeci and the album was Diary of a Mad Band, and I knew that I was working with a very successful group. They had already had one hit. I was working with a group that was being catered to by a label, Uptown Records, which was like the New York version of Motown. Once the album came out and I think it went platinum, I knew that I was kind of in the industry and that people were aware of my work. It was a good feeling.

Is there a single day in your career that you would ever want to go and relive?

Prince Charles Alexander: The honest answer is I have the best job in the world. I have the best career in the world, and each day is thrilling and amazing. I know this is a cheesy answer, but honestly, I don’t know that there’s one day that’s better than another.

 Published February 9, 2025

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