So, you're the Memphis mack, but how did you end up in Atlanta? My dad used to bring me to Attanta back in the days for the Jack the Rapper conventions. He was a big wig, so I got the best of it. My dad
ImPene
was a musician, and my mom was a background singer for a tot of big names Uke Barbara Strei-
sand. I started off singing and then rapping. been rapping since like '89.
I
When did you start getting into production? I actualty Learned how to produce when peopte
were late for sessions. I was sitting there with att this equipment waiting for them to come, and realLy I was just tetting them what to ptay. What project are you working on now? I'm working on my atbum, Ihe 8ig Love atbum. It's stated for a retease sometime next year.
Didn't you sign a deal with Cash Money? I did a fifty song production deat with them, which is stitt going on. But as an artist I'm actuatty signed to Attantic Records, As far as my other artists, l've got Jody Breeze at Warner, Young Jeezy is a joint venture with his tabel and my tabel Sho-Nuff through Def Jam, and Ciara is on Jive, L,A. lReid] actuatty gets the praise for discovering Ciara on a major levet. He was tike, "She's the one," but then the labets merged and he went to Def Jam so we had to hand her proiect over to Jive. But it turned out to be a good thing because Jive was abLe to take her through the same channets as Britney and Christina and att them. They got [Ciara'5 record "Goodies"l up to tike 10,000 spjns a week.
Are you sick of hearing it? Never. I'lt never get sick of hearing it. You always think you're gonna get sick of hearing your own stuff, but you never do. You might get tired of it, but not sick. There's a difference. When did you sign Ciara? About three years ago. She was in a group, and a friend totd me about her. When we met, I hadn't even heard her voice and I didn't even know she was the one in the group he had been talking about. I was Uke, "She's the one," and they were tike, "Yeah, she is the one." 50 we just hit it off from there. We've been tatking every day since then. What about Young Jeezy and Jody Breeze? Jeezy atready had records out in Attanta and I had kjnda caught wind of him and met him in the streets. I ain't know who he was at first, I was tatking to him and he toLd me he rapped, and I wa5 tike, Yeah, right. You know, he's a hustter type. He knows how to get money. So we just got together and recorded, and I totd him if he wanted to take it major to let me know One stop and we got a deaL. With Jody, my manager was at a car show and Jody was in a battte. He's tive on the mic, takin'dudes out teft and right. [My manager] brought him out to a concert and that's how we met, People 5ay Jody kinda sounds like T.l.
Yeah, l've heard that. I thjnk they tatk about some of the same things cause they're from the same lifestyte. And with Jody and T.l. it's just the tone of their voices. But, T.l. is a
littte more mature with his tyrics.
Jody's young and he's stitt tatkin' about headbussin' and that kinda stuff.
Jazze, Jeezy, Jody? ls that just a coincidence? (ioughing) Yeah, we thought about that
too. lt just happened that way.
you're findlng artists that just have raw potential and developing them. What's the most challenging part of that process? So
Making them understand that everybody's deal is not gonna flow perfectty [ike, for example,
Ciara's did. Ciara is a special situation, it's probably not going to happen tjke that even for me and l've been around for years. Sometimes the gates just open for you. When it's your turn, it's your turn. Sometimes you might have a record done and the worLd just ain't ready for you, At first the onty buzz [Ciara] had was inside the industry because everybody wanted to sign her. I reatty didn't give a tot of peopLe the chance to hear the record in advance, because I atready knew L.A. Reid's competence for music wjth femaLes. You've gotta took at Toni Braxton and all the other femates he's heLped devetop. Why do you think Atlanta ha5 developed into such a huge force in the music world? I think Attanta has always been a huge force. Right now it's just swetled up, because just Like everything eLse it retracts and it btows again. I think some of the best producers are based here in Attanta, and that has a lot to do with it: Organized Noize, Daltas Austin, Jermaine Dupri, 0J Toomp, Lit Jon, Outkast, and mysetf, for exampLe. For a record labet, the ideat ptace to create something massive is here. There's no ptace on earth that you coutd reatLy go and top Atlanta when it comes to production. Since the game is so production-driven, with a hot track like "Goodies," do you think anybody could haYe made that song a hit? No. There's a few peopte coulda done it, but I don't think nobody etse coutda putLed it off,
the whote picture, the way [Ciara] did. That was a crunk & B singte, of course, that's Jon
siqnature. But her styte is definitety not crunk & B,
it's just fly and sexy. She's got a smooth side
to her, Her record is very smooth, metodic, and captivating. People love her project. Since Ciara blew up so quick, have you seen
her go through a lot of stress and changes? Ithink stress and changes just come with the game. lt's new to her, of course, but the best thing is that l've seen her go through teis stress with great success than a lot of peopte go through with minor success. Some peopte can't handte even minor success. So I think she's a speciat, speciaL person. lt's not an act. If she walks in this room, she's gonna hug him, him, me, and you, and she ain't never met y'alt. That's just how she is. she'tI make you warm up to her, and I think that's the ingredients of a superstar. She's not a star, she's a superstar. Besides Ciara, what other artistr have you been working with lately? Murphy Lee, Ruben Studdard. ljust mixed Fantasia today, and I'm doing Mary J Btige soon. Like, ever
since the Ciara thing, every female artist under the sun has catted me. she's the hottest femate in the game right now. lt's crazy. And you're on the radio too, right? Yeah, lAttanta's WHTA] 107.9 every Saturday 6-10 PM. lt's The Penthouse, with Mami Chula and DJ Hershey. We've been doing that for two and a hatf years now. I've atso got a syndicated show that's in forty different stations. That starts next month, How did you get the radio gig? Just doing radio interviews and putting my personatity in there and taking over. When I put the headphones on, it'5 just tjke l'm in the studio. You've got your own separate votume, and I turn mine att the way up. The louder it is, the crazjer I might get. I take off tike I'm in another wortd.
you've got a split personality? l've got, titeraLly, a bunch of personatities. lcan't
So
name 'em atl, though, I'm gonna save them for my album. lwanna surprise everyone. ls it gonna be like Cassidy's album, where each personality gets half ol the CD? (loughing) Nah, it's gonna be everybody invotved. lt just depends on what the song catls for.
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lnterview and photo by Julia Beverly OZONE IIAAGAZINE DEOJAN 2M5