Dawaun Wesley Parker (born May 9, 1983) is a multi-platinum musician and record producer. Dawaun Parker is a staff songwriter and producer for Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment label. After receiving his first formal credit on 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ soundtrack Parker contributed to several songs on Busta Rhymes #1 album, The Big Bang, as well as Jay-Z’s return record, Kingdom Come.

Parker was born in Providence, Rhode Island and grew up between there and Newport, Rhode Island, where he attended Rogers High School. Dabbling a bit on trumpet in the 4th grade, Parker’s musical journey really began in middle school, playing drums in church and in the school marching and jazz bands, before switching to piano in high school. During his sophomore year, Parker met a local rap crew, Ground Floor, which had some indie success and had their own studio. One of the members approached Parker about adding keyboard parts to some of their recorded material. It was there that Parker learned the art of beatmaking, spending long hours in the makeshift studio known as “the Basement”.

During his senior year, he met an A&R from Warner Music Group that selected one of his tracks for the R&B duo Zhane. Parker traveled to New York City to cut the track, though it never materialized. Zhane did not release another album.

In 2002 he moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music. After auditioning for the chair of the piano department, he received a full scholarship, where he majored in music business. He quickly made a strong presence at Berklee, playing in various high profile shows and studio sessions, and building the brand of his hip-hop group, The GodBody (in which Parker produces and rhymes as MostArt) that was birthed in 2001.

Just a day after graduating Berklee in 2005, Dawaun’s manager, got a call from the old Warner A&R telling him that Dr. Dre needed a writer/keyboard player to help make tracks for his forthcoming album as well as other artists on Dre’s label. Shortly after arriving, Dawaun was offered a production deal with Aftermath/Interscope records.

Parker has been hard at work building his imprint High Renaissance. In addition to The GodBody, its list of artists includes Britten Newbill, a blue-eyed soul singer. In the meanwhile, he’s worked on or is working on projects for artists such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Nas, Stevie Wonder, Stat Quo, Dave Matthews Band and the much anticipated, rumored to be final, album Detox by Dr. Dre.