The Cataracs are an American hip hop indie-pop duo formed in Berkeley, California, consisting of David “Campa” Benjamin Singer-Vine, a songwriter and vocalist and Niles “Cyrano” Hollowell-Dhar, a songwriter, vocalist, and producer. The duo started out as an independent group, during their years at Berkeley High School. The two were first signed to the label Indie-Pop. They are currently based in Los Angeles, California.

Biography [link]

Early days [link]

The duo met in their sophomore year while attending Berkeley High School. Singer-Vine was featured in a rap CD that was being passed around campus. When Dhar eventually heard the CD, he subsequently created a response. However, the “diss” response brought the two together and they soon became friends. In 2003, the two joined together to create what is now The Cataracs (named after the phrase “Who smoke ‘til your eyes get cataracts” from Snoop Dogg's song “What's my name Pt. 2”).^[1] In the summer of 2006, they released their first album, Technohop Vol. 1. In August 2006, the group joined with The Pack to make the single “Blueberry Afghani”. The song soon became a hit and was chosen as a “Download of the Week” by 106 KMEL and many music sites such as The Fader, UK’s Hip Hop Connection and XLR8R praised it.^[2]

Dhar went on to attend Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Singer-Vine attended Columbia College Chicago, in Chicago, Illinois.^[3] Niles Dhar is also a member of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. But in order to pursue their dreams and career in music, they both decided that they would have to leave school. The duo then packed their bags and moved to Los Angeles, CA, where they began working on their music full-time, creating songs like "Club Love" and “Baby Baby", the latter which went on to be featured on the hit reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians in early 2010.^[4] By 2007, they released their second album, Technohop Vol. 2, and in 2008 they released their third album The 13th Grade.^[5]

Rise to fame [link]

In their new stage, they discovered Manteca, California native, Dev, a singer who posted much of her work on MySpace. Dhar asked if she would like to sing for them, which led to the song "2Nite." The Cataracs, along with Dev, signed to the Indie-Pop Label, which also features musicians such as Young L.^[6] They were later signed to a major label, Universal Records.^[7] Through Universal, they began producing music for artists such as Far East Movement and Glasses Malone. As artists, The Cataracs received recognition through their 2010 single "Club Love", which received air play at clubs and on many different radio stations. Despite such accomplishments, the Cataracs have had their most mainstream success with the song "Like a G6" which was written by Singer-Vine/Dhar and produced by Dhar.^[8] and also went on to peak at #1 on the Billboard charts.^[9] The chorus for the song is sampled from lyrics in the song "Booty Bounce" by Dev, which they also produced. They were featured on two of Shwayze's songs on his 2010 mixtape Love Stoned. The duo also produced songs for albums such as The Pack new album, Wolfpack Party. In early December 2010, a collaboration with Snoop Dogg, the inspiration behind the group's name, had leaked and is rumored to become Snoop Dogg's second single for his upcoming album Doggumentary. Produced "Kick Us Out" for pop trio Hyper Crush. On July 17, 2011 Campa released a free album on his website, campaiscold.com titled Would You Hate Me If I Took a Sip? along with 3 music videos to go along with it.

Discography [link]

Studio albums

• Technohop Vol. 1 (2006)
• Technohop Vol. 2 (2007)
• The 13th Grade (2008)
• Songs We Sung in Showers (2009)
• 12 (TBA)

Extended plays

• Lingerie (2008)

Mixtapes

• Kids - Presented by DJ Eleven (2008)
• Yeah Buddy! - Mixed by DJ Excel (2009)
• The Stimulating Package (2009)
• I Thought They Were Black?! - Presented by DJ Greg Street (2010)

Singles [link]

As featured artist [link]

Guest appearances [link]

Production credits [link]

• 2009: " Back It Up" Colette Carr
• 2010: "Fireball" (Dev)
• 2010: "Wet" (Snoop Dogg)
• 2010: "Booty Bounce" (Dev)
• 2010: "Bass Down Low" (Dev feat. The Cataracs)
• 2010: "Like a G6" (Far East Movement feat. The Cataracs and Dev)
• 2010: "Kick Us Out" (Hyper Crush)
• 2010: "Backseat" (New Boyz)
• 2010: "Malibu Is Poppin'" Colette Carr
• 2011: "Better with the Lights Off" (New Boyz feat. Chris Brown)
• 2011: "Love Letter" (Shwayze feat. The Cataracs and Dev)
• 2011: "In the Dark" (Dev)
• 2011: "I'm On It" (50 Cent)
• 2011: "City Nights" (Mistah F.A.B. feat. T-Pain)
• 2011: "Whiplash" ([Lisa D'Amato feat. Loco Ninja])
• 2012: "Naked" (Dev feat. Enrique Iglesias)

Music videos [link]

References [link]

External links [link]

• The Cataracs

References [link]