PINE BLUFF, Ark. (KATV) \u2014 A Pine Bluff High School graduate is celebrating one of the biggest achievements in the music industry after earning his first Grammy Award.<\/p>\n
Frank Moka, a producer, songwriter and musician with more than 25 years of experience, won a Grammy last Sunday for his work on an album by R&B and soul artist Durand Bernarr. The win marks a major milestone in a career that began with percussion at a young age and grew into decades of performing and producing music around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, music was never a phase,\u201d Moka said. \u201cIt was a calling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moka began playing percussion as a child and later studied music theory in college after graduating from Pine Bluff High School. Over the years, his dedication led to touring as a drummer with acclaimed artist Erykah Badu and expanding his work into writing and producing.<\/p>\n
He credits support from his hometown for helping him through the journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody from Pine Bluff has really made me feel supported and loved,\u201d Moka said. \u201cThey\u2019re proud, man.\u201d<\/p>\n
As his career evolved, Moka said building trust and chemistry in the studio became a key part of his work as a producer and songwriter.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou develop a relationship between artist, producer and songwriter,\u201d he said. \u201cThat trust makes all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moka\u2019s Grammy win came in the category of Best Progressive R&B Album. He said his role on the project went beyond what he typically does, ultimately qualifying him for the award.<\/p>\n
The moment he learned about the win was unexpected. Moka said he was in his hotel room when a friend attending the Grammy Awards called him with the news.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just called your name,\u201d Moka recalled. \u201cYou won a Grammy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the recognition, Moka said the honor hasn\u2019t changed his mindset, only sharpened it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d love to sit and celebrate, but I\u2019ve got to get back to it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Moka said new music is already in progress as he continues working on future projects, focused on what comes next after a career decades in the making.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PINE BLUFF, Ark. (KATV) \u2014 A Pine Bluff High School graduate is celebrating one of the biggest achievements…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":["post-452085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}