Rodney Roy Jerkins[3] (born July 29, 1977), better known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter.

[10] At age 14, Jerkins was mentored by his idol, Teddy Riley, but he did not accept a contract offer to work with the producer due to an aspiration to build an "empire" without such support.

The producer then proceeded to establish a commercial music career, initially working with artists such as Joe, Mary J. Blige and Brandy.

[11] Jerkins' stated his first big projects were Blige's Share My World, Whitney Houston's It's Not Right but It's Okay, and Brandy and Monica's The Boy Is Mine.

[10] Over the course of his career, Jerkins has developed a "camp" of successful topline writers, including LaShawn Daniels, Kenisha Pratt, Toni Estes, Anesha & Antea Birchett, Jordan Omley, Jon Jon Traxx, Tommy Brown, Delisha Thomas, Marvin Hemmings, Michael Mani, Kalenna Harper, Keli Nicole Price, Nora Payne, Michaela Shiloh, Isaac Phillips, Japhe Tejeda, LeToya Duggan, Mischke Butler, Andre Lindal, and Victoria Monét, among others.

[12] Jerkins has produced and written for Brandy, Patti LaBelle, Joe, The Saturdays, Toni Braxton, Vanessa Williams, Will Smith, Keyshia Cole, Monica, Michael Jackson, Ayumi Hamasaki, Cher, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, Ashanti, Aaliyah, Amerie, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Mary Mary, Kirk Franklin, Kierra Sheard, The Black Eyed Peas, Destiny's Child, Spice Girls, TLC, Janet Jackson, Danity Kane, Beyoncé, Linda Király, Lady Gaga, Cascada, Tamia, Pussycat Dolls, Whitney Houston, Natasha Bedingfield, Mary J. Blige, B5, Lionel Richie, Tiffany Evans, JYJ, Wonder Girls, Austin Brown, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Hikaru Utada, Keke Palmer, Hala Al Turk, Nelly Furtado, Justin Bieber, Brian McKnight and LMFAO.

"[15] In preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony, Jerkins produced a song featuring the Palestinian 2013 Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf.

Fats appeared on two tracks on which Jerkins produced for Michael Jackson's album Invincible, and So Plush released the single "Things I've Heard Before".

Subsequently, So Plush's singles, "Damn" and "Things I've Heard Before", were pressed and made available as promos, and Rhona's album was released in Japan.

[16] In late 2008, Jerkins joined Nicholas Longano, Ray Brown, and Jonathan E. Eubanks in creating Music Mogul, Inc.[17] MusicMogul.com was an online portal where artists can communicate with their fans.