Beatmaker Harry Fraud toiled long in the background before his productions began reaching their audience. The first major music industry figure to speak highly of him was Simon Cowell, but it wasn't in response to an American Idol performance. Instead, Cowell heard the rap producer's work as he walked up to accept a 2010 International Emmy Award. The Idol judge and label executive was so impressed that he stopped his speech to have the music replayed and proclaimed, "That's a hit record." It wouldn't be long before he broke through with production on a hit song for French Montana and the floodgates opened. Fraud would go on to work with many rap and hip-hop luminaries, including names as well known as Pusha T, Rick Ross, the Weeknd, Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Dave East, and many others.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Fraud (real name Rory William Quigley) began making beats right out of high school and worked in a recording studio for years. He started composing music for the International Emmy Awards in the late 2000s, and in 2009 and 2010, his original production work began to get national attention, largely from hit songs he constructed the instrumentals for from French Montana and Lil' Cease. French Montana's "Shot Caller," released in 2011, exemplified the young beatmaker's combination of hard-hitting and lackadaisical qualities and displayed his knowledge of hip-hop history. Over the course of the next few years, his profile increased through wide-ranging collaborations with Curren$y, Fat Trel, Prodigy, Wiz Khalifa, and Ab-Soul.

He was especially prolific in 2013, a year in which releases from Funkmaster Flex, the Weeknd, and Talib Kweli featured his work. Additionally, he set up his Surf School label (aka SRFSCHL), remixed Sam Smith's "Nirvana," produced the entirety of Action Bronson's Saaab Stories EP, collaborated with Eddie B on the Horsepower EP, and released Royal Palm (a set of instrumentals), Adrift (a mixtape), and High Tide (for Scion A/V). The following year brought tracks for Fat Trel, Styles P, and Riff Raff, among others. In 2018, Fraud released the highly collaborative Marina EP, which found him flexing his production skills on beats that hosted rhymes from Curren$y, Wiz Khalifa, and Smoke DZA. His work with Curren$y continued with a flurry of releases in 2020, when the pair issued The OutRunners, The Director's Cut, and Bonus Footage. In 2021, Fraud teamed with Jim Jones for The Fraud Department, Benny the Butcher for his sequel EP The Plugs I Met 2, and Dave East for Hoffa. The next year, he joined old friend French Montana for their joint set Montega. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi