Irko
Musical artist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maurizio Sera (born September 30, 1981),[1][2][3] known professionally as Irko (stylized in all caps) is an Italian audio engineer currently based in Los Angeles, California.[1]
September 30, 1981
IRKO | |
|---|---|
| |
| Background information | |
| Born | Maurizio Sera September 30, 1981 |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupations | Mix Engineer, Engineer |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Website | irko |
Career
Irko was born and raised in Conegliano, getting his start in music producing beats and working as a DJ.[1] He gravitated towards hip hop because of the "heavy hitting" boom bap drums and bass.[4][5] Irko enrolled in computer science in Venice, which he described as "the most boring thing I could imagine".[2] He started studying audio engineering after finding himself "explaining to the actual engineer how to do his job"[1] and coming across a poster asking "Do you want to learn how to work in a recording studio?"[2] He opened his first studio in his dad's garage, having people stationed in a nearby American Air-Force base join recording sessions.[1][6]
In the early 2000s, Irko was getting recognition and building connections on MySpace.[7] In 2006, Irko was invited to New York by Tokyo-based producer B-Money, whom he had met on MySpace. Despite not having much money, he convinced himself to travel so that he could learn how a bigger recording studio works. When arriving there, Irko was invited to work on Jay-Z's Kingdom Come album with B-Money, which led to him landing a recording credit for the song "The Prelude".[2][5][8] He later moved to Los Angeles, where he has been living and working for 10 years.
Irko has since worked with artists such as 88-Keys and Kanye West, mixing the song "Stay Up! (Viagra)", and later mixing West's album Donda in 2021.[9][10] In 2024, he did updated mixes for West and Ty Dolla Sign's collaborative album Vultures 2.[11]