From LA To 30A

Kuk Harrell and his wife Stevie sat on the couch in front of a box that was delivered to their Atlanta home. Unsure what it could be, he carefully cut the seal, pulled open the carton’s lid, and reached inside.

“This is a Grammy,” Harrell recalls saying that day in 2009 as he lifted a gilded gramophone from the shipment box.

“For what?” Stevie had questioned in reply.

Harrell, a vocal and record producer and songwriter, had no idea he’d won a Grammy for his work on Mary J. Blige’s album Growing Pains. The award, regarded by many as the most prestigious and significant in the music industry, was an unexpected honor.

Photo by Boo Media

Blige’s Growing Pains album released in December 2007. Earlier that year, Harrell saw his first major success with Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad album hit, “Umbrella,” which earned Harrell two Grammy nominations for his co-writing and production.

“I didn’t write my first hit record that changed my life until I was 40,” Harrell says.

The recognition was a symbolic testament to his work ethic. Many years were spent working alongside his cousins Tricky Stewart and Mark Stewart and other collaborators trying to produce a hit record. But it was also a testament to his faith, which grew in stride with his professional success, ultimately enabling him to realize a dream.

“Bottom line, I know how all this happened,” Harrell says. “It wasn’t me. It was all God. Period. Of course, he gave me the gifts.” 

Harrell went on to earn four more Grammys for his work on Beyonce’s track “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)” and Rihanna’s song “Only Girl (In the World)” and album Unapologetic. Over the years, he’s worked with a slew of big-name artists, including Cardi B, Cher, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Lorde, Sting, Lionel Richie, and Shakira, to name a few.

Photo by Boo Media

Fast forward a decade. The Harrells vacationed on the Emerald Coast and decided to move here in 2018. By January 2025, he had fully relocated his Los Angeles studio to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, calling it Paradise Sound.

The move from LA to 30A breaks from industry norms. But life on the Emerald Coast has proved fruitful. Most importantly, it affords Harrell balance. He works, as he always has, as a songwriter and vocal and record producer to the stars. But he’s also making family time a priority. 

“I don’t have to do this all day long to make it happen,” he says. “If it doesn’t happen between 9-5 or 9-8, it ain’t happening.”

While continuing his work with singers and songwriters, Harrell is working through plans for a new nonprofit venture. The program, called The Bridge, will blend community and industry to bring mentorship to local youth.

“We’ll bring music in and connect the youth of the Emerald Coast to this profession,” he says. “Discovering the raw talent that is possibly here, mentoring them, and ultimately giving them access to the entertainment industry—hence, The Bridge.”

Long before Rihanna sang Umbrella and the Grammy wins rolled in, Harrell was just another creative working to make it in the entertainment capital of the world. Here along the Emerald Coast, Harrell aims to help young hopefuls cross the bridge to realize their dreams, too.