Summer Sensation

By Diana DeLuca ’23, December 14, 2021

Rob Grimaldi ’11 pens the hit song “Butter.”

Rob Grimaldi '11. (Photo submitted)

If you listened to music last summer, you almost certainly heard the work of Ithaca College alumnus Rob Grimaldi ’11 — even if you didn’t know it at the time.

Grimaldi co-wrote and produced the song of the summer, “Butter” by the popular South Korean boy band, BTS. In May of 2021, Butter debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for nine weeks.

Grimaldi wrote the song over a year ago, and he worked on it every night for two months straight to fine-tune it.

As an audio production minor at IC, Grimaldi spent plenty of time in the Roy H. Park School of Communications, but he also spent a lot of time in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. The skills he learned in those two buildings have set the tone for his career.

“I'm not at all surprised to see someone as talented as Rob succeed in music across multiple genres because, like many Park School alumni, he has eclectic tastes across media and music, K-Pop, hip-hop, country—he's done it all!”

Jack Powers, interim dean of the Park School.

“It was perfect for me because I was able to learn the technical side of production in Park and, in my music courses, I could learn how to put those skills into practice,” Grimaldi said. “Now I’m working with the biggest artists in the world and I’m doing it using the same techniques that I used when I was a student at IC.”

His time in Park also helped Grimaldi learn how to navigate the business side of the music industry and to effectively communicate and maintain professional relationships.

During his time at IC Grimaldi was a staff member for IC’s award-winning radio stations, WICB and VIC. He also performed as a DJ in downtown Ithaca, something that helped shape him, he said.

“I was really immersed in music,” Grimaldi said. “It allowed me the opportunity to learn what works with what audience and what doesn’t. I use that even working with records today.”

Jack Powers, interim dean of the Park School, said that he is proud to call Grimaldi an alum.

“I'm not at all surprised to see someone as talented as Rob succeed in music across multiple genres because, like many Park School alumni, he has eclectic tastes across media and music, K-Pop, hip-hop, country—he's done it all!”