Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins (born July 29, 1977) is a Grammy Award-winning songwriter, record producer, and musician. Working largely with his brother Fred Jerkins III & writer LaShawn Daniels. He has been requested by such artists as Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Pussycat Dolls, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige and Lionel Richie. The words “Darkchild” appear in some form in many of his tracks. He is currently working on forthcoming albums from Ciara, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Cassie, Anastacia, Melanie Brown, Se7en, and Natasha, and Britney Spears.

Born the youngest son of a minister and choir director mother in a small town in New Jersey, Jerkins began taking classical music lessons on the piano as a small child and combining that with the gospel music that he heard in church. As he grew, he added R&B and jazz to his repertoire. He worked obsessively on music, recording rap demos for local talent. By his teens, he wanted to become a record producer and began making demos, one of which caught the attention of Teddy Riley. His first professional writing and producing job came in 1994 for an artist named Casserine, and at 15, he wrote and produced his own gospel rap album, On the Move, with his brother Fred Jerkins III.

Jerkins released his wife Joy Enriquez’ second album Atmosphere Of Heaven, which features a religious direction, on his independent gospel imprint JoyFul Child Records. The album is available to purchase through Joy’s Official Website although she was formerly featured on the Darkchild Records Site with its other artists. The Darkchild name has also been lent to a record company run by Jerkins brother Fred Jerkins III, Darkchild Gospel. which released the latest album from Virtue – Testimony.

In late 2008, Jerkins joined Nicholas Longano, Ray Brown and Jonathan E. Eubanks in creating Music Mogul, Inc.  MusicMogul.com, the world’s first online music world with real rewards, represents an entirely browser-based online destination where celebrity artists can unite with their fans and aspiring artists have a chance for discovery to become the next superstars. Every quarter members vote for the best video performances.  The top performers are then flown to Los Angeles to compete in front of a panel of celebrity judges. The winner gets a demo deal with Darkchild Productions