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By: Jay Williams
Producers are generally individuals who stay out of the limelight and behind the boards. In rare cases, we see trackmasters that step outside of the studio and into the stardom that the music industry can woo them with. But, in many cases, one might not know what their favorite producer looks like or ever hear a word from him or her.
Such may be the case with Mr. DJ. Long time OutKast fans definitely know of Andre 3000 and Big Boi, and maybe even Organized noise. However, Mr. DJ has flown under the radar despite serving as one third of OutKast's production team EarthTones III and providing countless hits to the Atlanta duo's catalog.
If you are an OutKast fan you must read this interview to discover the funk behind the fire of arguably the greatest group in Hip-Hop history. Mr. DJ took time out to talk about working with OutKast and staying true to his style in an ever changing industry.
BeatDynasty.com: What's funny is when I first saw your name I had no
idea who you were, but when I saw your bio, I was like "Damn" you got a
whole lot of work put in.
Mr. DJ: Oh yeah it's been about fourteen years now.
BeatDynasty.com: Then I went on to your Myspace page and the caption said "Often heard but rarely seen."
Mr. DJ: That's kinda me all the way. Just being in the background and
under the OutKast umbrella, people just assumed everything was done by
OutKast. People never really knew who I was until the last two or three
years when I decided to step outside the umbrella and make a name for
myself.
BeatDynasty.com: So briefly explain who you are to people.
Mr. DJ: Well I am Mr. DJ. I am one third of Earthtones III production
group which included Andre 3000, Big Boi, and myself. We collectively
produced 90 percent of all the OutKast albums. The first album was
produced more by Organized Noise. I started out as a DJ for OutKast and
I was a DJ for [them] for all of the albums except for the last one. I
did pretty much most of the production on that. I'm responsible for
all of the scratches and wheels of steel. I also produced "Bombs Over
Bagdad," " The Art Of Storytelling," and "Ms. Jackson."
BeatDynasty.com: That's crazy man.
Mr. DJ: Yes. I started as a DJ. The Deejaying evolved into the
production thing. After we went on the road for the first year or so we
bought equipment and started tinkering with the production side of it.
Eventually we ended up producing the rest of the album.
BeatDynasty.com: How does that feel to know that you were part of that
raw foundation that really got Big Boi and Andre 3000 to where they are
now?
Mr. DJ: It's a self gratifying thing. I don't look for praise from
other people for it. It's an accomplishment that I'm comfortable with
and knowing that I had a hand in making it successful. Not to mention
it feeds my family and takes care of me. Just that alone makes me feel
pretty good. Some people do it more so for the fame, but that's not
really my thing. Longevity is a lot better than just being famous.
BeatDynasty.com: You're obviously comfortable with being behind the
scenes. What is your impression of producers who are more flashy in the
camera and what not?
Mr. DJ: I think it's a good thing. Everything has it's good and bad
sides to it. The thing about being high up and being in the spotlight
is that you stand the bigger chance of coming down and being taken out
of the spotlight. Once the spotlight is not on you anymore then you
don't know how to act or get people to receive you. If you're behind
the scenes and you just keep producing and keep the quality of music
going, it just last longer. I've been producing for fourteen years now
and I'm still going strong. Whereas most people in the music industry
have a good five or maybe six years.
BeatDynasty.com: Let's talk about Atlanta's music. I'm a huge OutKast
fan and and when they first came out, Atlanta's music was more soulful
than it is now. What's your impression on how the music in Atlanta
changed?
Mr. DJ: You got to credit some of that to technology. Ten years ago
technology wasn't what it is now. Now you have computers that have all
of the keyboards, all of the different sounds, and everything is inside
of the computer. So somebody that's not so musically inclined and is
technically inclined can go on the computer and compose music. But you
don't have the real feel of live musicians being there, and the sounds,
and the squeaks, and the cracks of real instrumentation. We lost that
part along with the digital world. So I think that played a part in
how music made the turn that it made. It's a lot quicker and a lot
easier, you can make a beat real quick. Back in the day you had two
inch reels. It took maybe 30 or 45 seconds for each reel to rewind. If
you think about that, that's time and time is money.
BeatDynasty.com: Does that make it harder for you to get in because of all these dudes making beats in two minutes?
Mr. DJ: There is room for everybody. If it wasn't for them making
those kind of beats, then it wouldn't make my beats as valuable as they
are. There are people around that still seek good music, not to say
that that's not good music. But they would rather hear my kind of music
than the ready made beats. So I think it just makes room for
everybody. Not to mention, when I make beats, I don't sit down and say
I'm going to make a beat for this person or that person. When I go to
play a track for somebody, I don't them for them to like any of them. I
do music that I like in hopes that one of the beats maybe somebody
will like. If they don't that's fine because I like it. If you go and
try to make a beat for somebody else, then if you don't like it and you
were making it for them, then it's all a lost cause. I do the music
out of love and just happen to get paid for it. I was at home making
beats and somebody said "Hey that sounds good, we'll give you some
money for it."
BeatDynasty.com: How would you describe your style because OutKast, musically, was all over the place in a good way?
Mr. DJ: That's my style. I do everything. I always use live
instruments. I do sample sometimes but only for inspiration, I don't
use loops. If you have records that are playing and say a whole band
is playing. The drummer hits the snare at the same time that the guitar
player hit's a lick and the bass player might be sliding down the bass.
Those three different sounds hit at the same time make a [separate]
sound. I make take that half second of a sound and put it with another
sound and put it on a 16 bar and make music from it. I'd then take live
instruments and play what those [original] sounds are suggesting.
BeatDynasty.com: You've worked beyond Hip-Hop with artist like Lenny
Kravitz, Dallas Austin, and Me'shell Ndgeocello. Is that how it always
was with you or did that develop later on?
Mr. DJ: That's how it's always been. It just so happened that OutKast
is more of an eclectic type of rap group that was able to rap over a
different kind of music. If you listen to OutKast music it's not just
your typical Hip-Hop rap music. You could very well take OutKast off
the track and put Lenny Kravitz on the track or whoever, because that's
the kind of music it is. I have done some all hip hp Hip-Hop too like
8Ball & MJG. I produced half of one of their albums and Goodie Mob
like "Black Ice" and "They Don't Dance No More."
BeatDynasty.com: Explain your Camp David movement.
Mr. DJ: Camp David is a lot of things. It's a label and it's a
lifestyle. In the Dungeon Family we all had different names for our
houses. Big Boi's house was the "Boom Boom Room" because he had the
poles in his house and strippers would come over and we'd have parties.
"The Dungeon" was called "The Dungeon" because down in the basement was
real dirt and a dug out crawl space where we had all the equipment. My
house was called "Camp David" because I had this gate around my house
that you can't see over. We would all go over to my house and miss
flights and party all night. Nobody's telephone would work at my house
and people would come over and be there for days on end. That's like
the president when he goes to Camp David, so that's how we got that
name.
BeatDynasty.com: So do you have other artists coming out under that?
Mr. DJ: Oh definitely. Jeff B. is my first artist I'm working on ,
he's also one of my partners. He was actually the lead singer in a
group called "Co-ed," from Atlanta that did pretty good back in their
day. We're working on his album right now. I have a few more in
development.
BeatDynasty.com: Do you foresee yourself in the future working with OutKast?
Mr. DJ: I have three [songs] that I just got done for the OutKast
album and I'm still working on more. Me and the guys we still
communicate, we all just grew in the game. Everybody has their own
production companies now. 'Dre still produces for his company, Big for
his, and me for mine. But we collaboratively still get together and
work on stuff.
BeatDynasty.com: What do you use equipment wise?
Mr. DJ: Of course a turntable, a Phantom, a Motif, lot's of live instruments, and a MPC 3000.
BeatDynasty.com: Do you feel it necessary to keep up with the latest technology?
Mr. DJ: You got to keep up. It's kind of like a computer itself, you
have to keep the software upgraded in order to keep up with
everything. I think you would be a fool, and a disadvantage to
yourself, because it can only help you. After I'm done doing a track, I
go back and use Reason for it's clarity. The drums and hi-hats that you
get out of Reason are a little less gritty than what comes from the MPC
or off a record. [I use Reason] to polish it and make it sound as
sonically similar to music that you hear on the radio. Part of a song
or a track is the sonics of it. Back in the day we would listen to some
of our old OutKast stuff next to something on the radio and our stuff
used to sound a lot lower in volume and brightness. That makes a big
difference in the clubs and wherever you play it.
BeatDynasty.com: You've won two Grammy Awards, how does that feel?
Mr. DJ: That question I've never been able to answer to my
satisfaction. I don't know how to feel about that. It's like winning
the SuperBowl. It's the highest honor you can get in the music
industry. It's a blessing and it definitely created more opportunities.
It symbolizes these twelve or fourteen years worth of work. Whether
anybody knows me or knows what I've done, that speaks for it.
BeatDynasty.com: You have anything you want to add in before we close it out?
Mr. DJ: Just be on the lookout. We have the new OutKast stuff coming
out. I'm working on some stuff for Ciara's album now. I just got done
working with a new artists called Chinkie Brown, she's on Warner
Brothers. I just got done with a few of them on Shawty Red's album.
Be on the look out for Camp David, we'll be around for a while.
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