- Jan 3, 2008
- 12,094
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If it seems like a lot of producers are fleeing rap for the greenerpastures of the pop world, it's probably due in part to Memphis nativeChristopher "Drumma Boy"Gholson taking all the work. Now 26, he started off moving bass tapesas a 14-year-old high schooler, he was working with Southern legendslike Yo Gotti and Bun B by college. Since then, he's become one of thefew surefire places to go for hits, with a track record that includeschart-toppers like Young Jeezy's "Put On," the Drake/Birdman/Lil Waynecollabo "Money To Blow," Plies' "Shawty," and Rocko's "Umma Do Me"—notto mention producing a majority of Gucci Mane's The Burrprint 2 HD and Jeezy and Plies'smash "Lose My Mind." Which is all well and good, but we're aboutgetting behind the music, word to VH1 (and pre-emptive just-in-caseayo!), so we sat down with the superproducer to talk about kicking itwith a robe-and-slipper-wearing T.I., getting heartfelt lyrics from Gucci Mane, and more...
Young Jeezy "Standing Ovation" (2005)
"Our relationship picked up before Boyz N Da Hood. We'd been seeingeach other in the club. He'd been seeing me in the streets bumpingaround with different artists. He'd been hearing about me fromMemphis—a lot of cats who listen to Yo Gotti know about me. He heardabout me through Block, Jazze Pha. Now he's seeing me. I did 'Trap#+$#% and 'Look' off Boyz N Da Hood. Me and Jeezydid a song with Jody Breeze called 'Get Your Gangsta On' that they werepumping hard in the streets. I had a couple of street singles with bothJody and Jeezy. Jeezy calls me like two weeks before the deadline for Thug Motivation 101.He's like, 'I found this track. It's going to be the intro for thealbum.' He plays the track for me and I felt sick, because I hadalready sold that beat.
USDA "White Girl" (2007)
"I made that beat at the crib in '07. I don't think I had anything onthe album, but then they called me saying they were wrapping up theUSDA album, and they needed me on there. I came through the studio, andthey picked out four beats, and three out of four made the album.'White Girl,' 'Quickie,' and the 'Go Getta (Remix).'"
Rocko "Umma Do Me" (2009) wrong date
"I didn't know who Rocko was or that he was Monica's baby daddy. I gota phone call, he introduced himself, and said he needed some beats. (this dude must have had game out the a...
"I ain't talk to him for a week, and next thing you know I hear it onthe radio. He went and got it mixed, mastered, and went on a weeklongcampaign where he went to seven, eight clubs a night, hollering at theDJ to play it. Everyone in Atlanta asked me about it: Jermaine Dupri,Jazze Pha. We've been getting down since then. That's like a brother.We clicked from the jump."
Plies f/ T-Pain "Shawty" (2007)
"I was !#++#%@ with him six, seven months before we ever did therecord. Bumped into him a couple times in the studio in Atlanta, and heheard my name through the streets. He was like, 'You a real dude. Iwant to make sure I #%++ with you, when my album come around we gonnaget it in.' I politicked with him, and I told him, 'Man, you got thestreets, you killing the block, you got the city behind you. #%++ withthese +%$+!%*.'After that, we got up in Atlanta to do 'Shawty.' He cut the vocals inFlorida. It sold four million ringtones. Gold album from a new artist.People didn't even know Plies. Brought him out. BAM!"
Scarface "Never" (2007)
"Shout out to Redboy, he made that happen. Shouts to J. Prince,another good friend. They hit me like, 'Yo, we got this Face album weworking.' I spoke to Face on the phone a couple times, he was like, 'Isee you young dude, you doing your thing.' I sent him an e-mail with acouple beats, then the rest is history."
Rick Ross f/ Nelly and Avery Storm "Here I Am" (200
"It was at Patchwork Studios. Julia Beverly from Ozone, Cool and Dre, Tha Bizness, and a couple other cats were there. Rosssaid he needed something street and something classy and fly. I camedown with six beats on my CD like, 'I got something different for you,Ross.' Out of the six beats, he kept two. One was 'Here I Am,' theother was 'Money Make Me Come.' He said Nelly had this writer that wasdope, so he sent the 'Here I Am' beat to Nelly. That writer was AveryStorm who also hopped on the track. I dropped off the beat and a weekor two later it was mixed."
Young Jeezy f/ Kanye West "Put On" (200
"I've never worked in the studio with Jeezy. It's crazy all of the hitswe got, that that's the formula. I'm whipping up crack in my kitchen,and he's like the fiend and calls me when he's ready for it. He'll callme and tell me when to meet him, and I'm ready with a CD. I made thatat the house. I made that specifically for Jeezy, literally in mykitchen.
"Jeezy kept telling me he had a surprise for me. I didn't hear that@++# until it hit radio. I didn't even hear the mix. I knew it was awrap, the way the boom drops. It's like a movie as soon as you pushplay. Just hearing Kanyeon it through the radio, my whole body had goosebumps. That's a "wow"moment. I remember Mizz Shyneka of Hot 107.9 was the first to play it.Shout outs to her."
T.I. "What Up, What's Haapnin'" (200
"That was a couple months after I did 'Umma Do Me.' Him and Rocko weregood friends. When he first got out, I was one of the first to visithim at the crib. I had to put my name on a waiting list, then finallygot approved. That was probably my fifth or sixth time meeting him, butour first time having a meeting. He came to the door in a robe and someslippers. He toured me through his house, his mom and his kids allthere. I'm thinking, 'Damn, I'm walking around with The King,' I stayedon some cool @++#, but was really excited to walk through his crib.
"We walk into the studio and he tells me, 'Man, you the king. Youblessing everybody. A man who's given many people blessings is King.' Iended up playing like 30 beats, and he picked out like 24. For him tokeep that many beats is what gave me such a wide spread on the album, Ihad four tracks on Paper Trail.He cut like seven or eight songs. It was a blessing. 'What Up, What'sHaapnin'' was the jam, but the first song he ever did to my track was'Ready for Whatever.' You can tell, as soon as he got out, that was thefirst song he cut. He just had so much to get off his chest. Just likenow, right back again, a new story to tell, plenty to get off hischest."
Gorilla Zoe "Lost" (200
"I was playing beats for Gorilla Zoe at Block's studio. They picked outlike four or five beats. I was just trying to play him some different@++#, because he had gotten more into singing hooks. He was trying tomake sure he was on the hook, because he was understanding a littlemore about publishing. He was trying different elements with his voice.I wanted to give him something that people could sing and put melodyon. The beats were hard, but had melody on them.
"I left the studio after I played the beats for them. I think Ihad another session, and came back. I thought, 'Damn, that's the beaty'all picked?' That's how it always goes. You think they going to picknumber one, but they pick number four. Gorilla Zoe represented the waythe music made him feel. It's a zoned out, ride-out track. A lot of myslow stuff become very big singles. I keep telling people it's not allabout tempo. Everyone thinks they need something to play in the club.The number one club record doesn't always equal the number one radio orchart record."
Plies "Plenty Money" (200
"I just e-mailed that to him. He was like 'Yo, I gotta have this,' butI had someone else trying to buy that beat. I sent it to three otherpeople, and got a call back from Plies and somebody else the samenight. Plies was like, 'I need this one, DB.' I told him I got him. I'mreal loyal. If it's a #+$#% that I #%++ with, I'm going to make surethere ain't no business that ain't handled. I'm gonna give you that,and get them cool with another one."
Birdman f/ Drake, Lil Wayne "Money To Blow" (2009)
"Drakereached out to me around '07. A couple cats, I can't remember whoplugged me with him, were like, 'I want to hook you up with this artistfrom Canada. He's been acting and doing his thing. He's about to getinto rapping, and he sings on the side.' He called me and put Drake onthe phone. I never watched the show, so I didn't know who he was.People kept telling me he's an actor. I'm like, 'Cool, I'll work withanybody.' We go to Hot Beats, a real popular studio here in Atlanta. Wemeet in the A room for the first time, and he's a real cool,down-to-Earth dude. A couple of his people are from Memphis. He findsout I'm from Memphis, and we go back and forth.
"I played like seven or eight beats and he picked out like three orfour. 'Money To Blow' was the first one. He's like, 'I'm gonna go in onthis @++#,' and he did the hook first. That was crazy. He did the hookright there on the spot, he did the verse right there in front of me,and we were jamming. He was like, 'This is all we're gonna do.' I thinkhe had another session to go to. We took each other's number and stayedin contact.
"Six or seven months later, his buzz picked up like crazy, and the nextthing you know I hear the record on the internet. One of the engineersmust have gone through the computer and leaked that @++#. There wereseveral versions of the song with different rappers on there, all onthe internet. A good year from there, Birdman hit me up saying theywanted it. When I heard it next, it had Wayne and Birdman on there. Itold Drake he should have finished it for himself, but the record cameout crazy. If that was Drake's first single, his album would've been crazy. For real, a lot of people were like 'I thought that was Drake's single.'
"I was supposed to be on Thank Me Later, but I don'tthink I made the album. I talked to Drake the other day and he said hehad to turn in it in, but he said he got about five or six tracks withme on it that are crazy. I told him they should be on the album, but Ithink he got something else up his sleeve. We've been talking aboutdoing some projects together, some mixtapes and whatnot. That was analbum I planned on being on. It'll be interesting to see how the albumgoes and how we'll pick up from where we left off."
Gucci Mane "Worst Enemy" (2009)
"When you can bring the truth out the best, that's when it'sundeniable. We did that probably two or three months before he went in,at Stankonia Studios in Atlanta. That's why he hit so many people sohard. I know there were at least two, three DJs who hit me like, 'Man,whatever you got Guccion, I #%++ with that Gucci. That's that Gucci with substance.' It wasone of those records that really had a message. It's always a blessingto deliver those type of records. I'm mentally a part of these dudes'situation. I'm trying to decrease the violence. I'm trying to bring usall together, and rep something positive. Because us and our music iswhat keeps us alive."
Young Jeezy f/ Plies "Lose My Mind" (2010)
"There's a studio I like to lock myself in and work out of called MusicHouse [in Atlanta]. I locked myself out there and made some music. Ididn't know I was making a particular beat for Jeezy. A lot of times Ilock myself in the studio and just make as many beats as I can. Thatwas one week where I made about 30 or 40 in a couple days, just stackedup on beats. I think I had sold like five or six beats in one day, to acouple different cats, and I was like, 'Damn, I need more beats.' Everytime I sell beats, I try and replace them. If I sell five, I make ten.A lot of times after I leave studios and I do a lot of beats, Icategorize them—the next day I spend the day listening to beats anddecide who I think they're for."
"I shot some @++# to my manager for Kanye, Lupe, and Jeezy. I wasshooting it out to everybody who I thought needed to be on what beat.That was January, Jeezy didn't hit me back until March. I think wemixed 'Lose My Mind' in March. He hit me like, 'Yo, I got one.' I heardit and was I like, 'Damn, you picked that beat?' It surprised me. Iremember he called me and asked me, 'Why you ask me that? If I usedthat beat or not? You didn't expect me to #%++ with that beat, #+$#%?You didn't think I was gonna kill that beat?' I was like, 'That @++#just different. I didn't know you could rock it like that.' On thatparticular beat I was trying something different. I was trying toswitch my @++# up since there's so many beat-biting-$%+ +!@*%! outhere.
"I put a little West Coast flavor, a little New York flavor, a littledown South. That synth, there's no holds in the beat. Just the bells, areal Space Age, losing my mind, psychiatric-type of feel. The way I didthat synth, no quantizations and I played it live, kind of slidingacross the keyboard. Real deranged-type @++#. Take the club over. It'shypnotizing."
SICK article. I love reading about how the music comes together. The story about him and Jeezy never being in the studio are
This article doesn't even touch on ANYTHING on his mixtape side. Drumma is that DUDE.
