DeVon "Devo" Harris (born December 9, 1977), also known as Devo Springsteen, is an American record producer, songwriter, and DJ.[1] The cousin of American rapper Kanye West, Harris discovered and led American singer John Legend to sign with West's label, GOOD Music in 2003. Harris extensively contributed to Legend's debut Get Lifted (2004) and subsequent albums, along with releases for other artists including Nas, Britney Spears, Aretha Franklin, Ol' Dirty Bastard, and the Last Poets. For his production on West's 2005 single "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", Harris won the Best Rap Song honor at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.
After earning his a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia Business School in 2011, Harris has since shifted focus onto technology and media proprietorship.
Harris grew up in the U.S. and Germany. Both of his parents were in the U.S. Army. He graduated high school from The Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City, Missouri, and then attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, he wrestled, played football, and DJed at local radio stations WPPR and WQHS FM. After graduating with degrees in Economics and Strategic Management, he moved to New York City in 2000 with college roommate John Legend. While working in venture capital, he began working part-time assisting and serving as A&R at the production company G.O.O.D. Music (then called Konman Productions). Harris eventually signed Legend to the label in 2003 and managed his project. Harris then earned an MBA degree from Columbia Business School.
Harris's influences include Stevie Wonder, The Doors, Michael Jackson, Rick Rubin, Timbaland, and Dr. Dre. Harris has appeared on MTV Base, BET Style, and VH1 and was a featured guest DJ on BET's Rap City.
Harris also co-wrote the tracks "Lullaby" and "Let's Go" with Britney Spears and Tom Craskey. The song appeared on the demo version of Britney's album Blackout.
In 2008, Harris collaborated with John Legend on "If You're Out There" which appears in John Legend's third studio album Evolver. The song was used as Barack Obama's campaign theme song and was performed at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
In 2010, Harris created an interactive music video, "Attack of the 5 foot Hipster",[2] by U.S. band Riot In Paris, which debuted on UniverseCity blog and was noted as the first interactive choose-your-own-adventure music video in the U.S. After graduating from Columbia Business School in 2011, Harris started his career in technology by teaching himself to code and launched Red Ochre Inc. in 2014. Soon after, he would become a Senior Product Manager at Vimeo.
In 2020, Harris launched Adventr, an interactive streaming platform.[3] In September 2021, Adventr became a finalist in the 2021 TechCrunch Disrupt Conference and announced its patent on voice-controlled interactive media.[4]