Drumma Boy :: Drum Majors :: Red Bull Music Academy in NY

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Drumma Boy

There's something about the way he composes a song, arranges a melody, works with instruments, showcases an artist's vocal talent and adds that final detail that even those who share his profession are forced to admire his innate gift. Christopher "Drumma Boy" Gholson is a musician's producer- a skill that was designed by destiny. Born and bred in Memphis, Tennessee, Drumma Boy discovered his passion for music before he could barely walk. The byproduct of a mother who was an opera singer and a father who was a professional clarinetist and music professor at the University of Memphis, the first African-American man to hold the 1st chair position in the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Drumma Boy was a child prodigy. "My dad taught me everything I know about traditional music and had me playing the clarinet at age 5 but it was my mom that introduced me to Curtis Mayfied and 70s oldie, so my style now is a reflection of all of that- classical, soul and street music." Now in his mid-twenties, Drumma Boy merges his unique musical influences ranging from German composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach to Jazz icons Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, all the way to Academy Award winning Three 6 Mafia and Scarface, combining classical chords with urban street sounds to create an ingenuity worthy enough of receiving a nomination for "Producer of the Year" at the 2008 Ozone Awards. After becoming one of the most sought after beat bangers in Tennessee, he followed in the footsteps of Memphis native and super-producer Jazze Pha (Ciara, Nelly, Ludacris, T.I) by relocating to Atlanta in 2003. The musical mastermind who sites producers Quincy Jones, Raphael Saadiq and The Funk Brothers as his inspirations, skillfully adds crispy, hard-hitting 808 bass lines with gentle touches of rhythmic change and chord progression to each crafted beat. He composes thick and textured sounds that take some producers years to perfect. It takes a special kind of artist to rock with him, which explains his impressive roster of Hip-Hop acts that include Young Jeezy, T.I, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Nelly, Gorilla Zoe, Ludacris, Plies, Young Joc, Rick Ross, E-40, Rocko, Paul Wall and Lil Jon. Drumma Boy is fresh, as in innovative and expressive but more importantly, he's admirably great at pushing boundaries; taking the art form into new realms of abstraction. Drumma Boy's discography reads like a Who's Who list in music. He has been at the helm of the most buzzed-about songs from the most buzzed about artists within the past two years including Young Jeezy ("Put On" f/Kanye West), Rocko ("Umma Do Me", "Tomorrow"), Plies ("Shawty", "Plenty Money"), T.I. ("What Up"), Rick Ross ("Here I Am") and Gorilla Zoe ("Lost" f/Lil Wayne), to name just a few. With his name attached to the current radio mainstay "Money To Blow" (Birdman f/Drake and Lil Wayne) and more in the pipeline from artists such as Gucci Mane, Kandi Burruss, Sean Garrett, Usher, Plies, Lupe Fiasco, Young Jeezy, Juelz Santana and DJ Khaled, Drumma Boy has built his brand on anticipating trends while staying true to the bare bones of quality music. Drumma Boy's venture into new territory is an important theme in his life, as he's stepped out of his comfort zone of being a producer to a CEO. His first foray into unfamiliar business, such as founding Drum Squad, an umbrella company that encompasses Drum Squad Records and Entertainment, whet his appetite for television. The astute musician-turned-businessman-turned-media personality starred in the highly-rated CW reality show Welcome to Dreamland, which lead to guest stints on The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo) and Monica (BET), as well as being a celebrity judge on BET's 106 & Park. His musicianship is incredible, having the ability to pour passion and conviction into whatever he does. And part of that passion is giving back to his community. Drumma Boy provided the team uniforms for the basketball players at Cordova High, his former high school in Memphis. Additionally, he participated in Atlanta Stand Up, a celebrity bowling tournament hosted by Jermaine Dupri and Nelly that helped to aid victims affected by the September 2009 Atlanta flood. His combination of multi-talent is one of many factors that separate him from the mainstream. His soul is soaked in the eccentricity of vintage Rhythm & Blues and P-Funk. He plays with this dichotomy of yesteryear classics and current trends to concoct sophisticated arrangements that fuse the arrogance of Hip-Hop with the slickness of R&B. Drumma Boy is well-known for making diverse beats that range from Rap, Rock, Classical and Pop to soulful R&B ballads and Gospel-inspired jams. The talented musician and businessman on the rise has not only fostered relationships with top notch artists but understands the importance of connecting with equally gifted writers, instrumentalists and producers like Johnta Austin, Bryan Michael-Cox and Jazze Pha. He is as authentic as a creative artist can be, reading music with an educated ear while possessing the ability to instantly recognize the correct key. In addition to a learned knowledge, there is that burning desire he inherently possesses to win and maintain respect. http://twitter.com/DrummaBoyFRESH http://www.itsbeenofficial.com/ http://www.myspace.com/drummaboyfresh http://www.ustream.tv/user/dboyfresh http://drum-squad.com/go/ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Drumma-Boy/

J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League

J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, which stands for Just Undeniably Some of The Illest Composers Ever, are a Grammy winning group of producers and instrumentalists from Tampa, Florida. The group consists of members Rook, Colione, and Kenny "Barto" Bartolomei. Most recently, they have been producing for Drake, Young Jeezy, Keyshia Cole, Mary J. Blige, Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Lloyd Banks, 50 Cent, Tech N9ne, Jay Rock, and many other artists. The group takes their name from the DC Comics superhero team the Justice League. from wikipedia http://twitter.com/JusticeLeague http://twitter.com/kennybarto http://twitter.com/colionejl

Mannie Fresh

Mannie Fresh is known to fans and throughout the music industry as an amazing producer, artist, and entertainer but he started out as one of the best DJs in New Orleans and he is now returning to his musical roots. The multiplatinum, Grammy nominated producer responsible for creating hits (for UGK, Trina, Gucci Man, The Notorious B.I.G. and of course Cash Money) is now back to spinning full time, moving the crowd and DJing in clubs across the country. In between his DJing duties he is still making it happen in studios with Kanye, Bun B. Drake and the iconic Dr. Dre. Mannie’s first exposure to the entertainment business was over a decade ago in 1984. As a member of New York Incorporated, Mannie and his rap crew were responsible for some of the best parties in the city. As their fame grew Mannie caught the attention of rapper Gregory D and they formed a rap duo. They were quickly signed to RCA and released an album in 1992 entitled The Real Deal. Rap fans in the Big Easy fell in love with the album but it didn’t make much noise on a national level. Even though the group didn’t work out Mannie and Gregory D split but remained friends and soon another opportunity came along. Brian “Baby” Williams offered Mannie a chance to join his fledging crew Cash Money. Working with Baby, and other Cash Money members Lil Wayne, Juvenille and BG they created an impressive discography of hits and rode a wave of success straight to the top of the charts. Fueled by Mannie’s quirky, inspiring production in the late nineties Cash Money became the preeminent, southern, rap label. Mannie Fresh’s beats defined the sound of Cash Money, with Juvenille’s megahits, “Ha,” “Back That Azz Up,” Lil Wayne’s “Go D.J.,” and the crew’s “Cash Money Is An Army,” “Bling Bling,” etc. Mannie has cemented his place in hip hop history as one of the most talented producers ever. Baby and Mannie also formed their own group, Big Tymers and released a slew of great singles and albums, “Still Fly,” “Get Your Roll On,” and “#1 Stunna.” Mannie also released his own solo album, The Mind of Mannie Fresh. Mannie has always pushed the envelope, mixing layers of hip hop, funk and southern bounce with his sense of humor and warm personality proving that he is a force to be reckoned with. Mannie split with Cash Money in 2005 and later signed with Def Jam Records. He continues to work with some of today’s biggest stars producing bangers for T.I., Bun B., Young Jeezy and Rick Ross. He’s now focusing on launching the careers of his own artist with his own imprint, Chubby Boy Productions. As Mannie Fresh pursues his new passions he remains grounded by DJing and interacting on a personal level with all his fans. source:djmanniefresh.com http://www.djmanniefresh.com http://twitter.com/manniefresh https://www.facebook.com/djmanniefresh

Bangladesh

BANGLADESH, the name that starts the hits. Whether it was Lil Wayne’s mega hit “A Milli”, the infectious Gucci Mane homerun single “Lemonade”, or the female club favorite “Bossy” by Kelis, this is the sound that lets you know that you’re listening to something special. It is also the name of the Grammy-award winning producer who creates the sounds that make you fall in love with the songs. One of the reasons he chose the name Bangladesh was because his trademark sound was “foreign to the ears”. Well prepare for the journey. Bangladesh was born Shondrae Crawford in Des Moines, Iowa. Coming from a musical family it was somewhat ironic that he didn’t really sing or play any instruments himself. But the fact that he didn’t play the instruments didn’t affect his love for the sounds that they made. And he took that love to Atlanta, Georgia moving to the city where he felt his dreams could actually turn into a reality. This happened in 1998 when he met Ludacris, who back then was a popular radio personality, and went on to produce a good portion of his first two multi-platinum albums. Since that time he’s made the transition to super-producer manufacturing hits for some of the hottest artists in the music industry such as Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, Ciara, M.I.A, and the list goes on. He’s also delivered two smash singles for the incomparable Beyonce. One being the edgy women’s anthem “Diva”; the other was Beyonce’s collaboration with fellow Grammy-award winner, Lady Gaga on the knockout single “Video Phone”. One could argue that Bangladesh is the man who can deliver to an artist their biggest hit like he did with Eightball and MJG on their Southern anthem “You Don’t Want Drama”, and Mario’s summer smash “Break Up” featuring Gucci Mane and Sean Garrett. Lately, Mr. Bangladesh has been producing musical gems for the likes of Usher as well as Jamie Foxx but what’s most important to the man who crafted the most free-styled beat of all-time is the future. When he got into the game by producing the hit single “What’s Your Fantasy” for Ludacris it wasn’t just to get into the music business, it was to influence the music business. To not only go to the biggest artists in the game and let them hear his music and pick what they like but to give one artist one beat and say, “Now go put out a hit.” He’s also hard at work with his record label, Bangladesh Records. He’s now not only crafting hits for your favorite stars of today but he’s also now crafting mega hits for his own artist turning them into the stars of tomorrow. Producing the smash single "Sleazy", which is also the name of the headlining tour for pop star Ke$ha to the club banger "Did It On Em" by female rap phenomenon Nicki Minaj Mr. Bangladesh is showing no sign of slowing down .You better keep your ears to your speakers because you will be hearing the name Bangladesh for many years to come. Bangladesh, Bangs the Best!! https://twitter.com/mrbangladesh http://www.facebook.com/BangladeshProductions http://www.youtube.com/user/BANGLADESHTV

Boi-1da

Matthew Samuels (born on October 16, 1986), better known as Boi-1da , is a Canadian hip-hop producer from Toronto, Ontario. He has produced for artists and groups such as Kardinal Offishall, Clipse, Drake, Eminem, Saukrates, k-os, G-Unit, and The Diplomats among others. Early life and career Born in Jamaica, Samuels moved to Canada when he was five, and grew up in the Silver Springs area of Scarborough, Toronto. He was also raised in Ajax, Ontario, where he currently resides. At the age of eight, his mother bought him a Casio keyboard. At the age of 15, a friend had introduced him to FL Studio. Without any formal musical training, he started using the FL Studio (formerly Fruity Loops) beat-making program. A few years later, he won three consecutive Battle of the Beatmakers championships; because of this accomplishment, he was given a spot in the Battle of the Beatmakers judging panel. While Boi-1da is known to use samples in his productions, he often incorporates live instrumentation and an air horn sound effect (more commonly used in dancehall and reggae). He currently uses FL Studio 9 to make beats, previously, he used Fruity Loops 3.56 and 7 XL. Boi-1da was influenced by producers such as Dr. Dre, Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, and The Neptunes. Dr. Dre appeared on the remix of "Set It Off" by Kardinal Offishall, produced by Boi-1da.In an interview with FLOW 93.5, Boi-1da revealed that he was working on beats for Dr. Dre's highly-anticipated album, Detox, which was to be released in 2011.However, the album has yet to be released, and none of the released or leaked tracks by Dr. Dre feature Boi-1da's production. He's currently working with songwriter Sean Garrett, has submitted tracks for Usher, and worked with the Jonas Brothers in studio.[6] He's also working on Busta Rhymes' upcoming album, Extinction Level Event 2. Boi-1da produced the hit song, "Not Afraid", by Eminem, which premiered April 29, 2010. Boi-1da was credited for producing "hahahaha jk?" from Das Racist's debut album Sit Down, Man, which was released September 2010. In April 2011, Boi-1da was confirmed to be working on Drake's second album, Take Care, which was released November 15, 2011. Boi-1da has recently worked with the rapper Lecrae on his song "Gimme a Second" from his mixtape "Church Clothes". from Wikipedia http://boi-1da.net/ http://twitter.com/Boi1da https://www.facebook.com/Boi1daNET http://www.myspace.com/nofreebeats http://www.youtube.com/user/boi1daworld

Young Chop

Credits:Soulja boy x 8TMG x chief keef xYOUNG L x shawnna x Cold Hard Of Crucial Conflict http://www.youngchopbeatz.com http://www.youtube.com/user/youngchopbeatz http://www.facebook.com/youngchopbeatz http://youngchopbeatzbk.tumblr.com/ http://twitter.com/youngchopbeatz

DJ Mustard

Dijon McFarlane, better known as DJ Mustard, has produced several hits including Tyga's "Rack City", which peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. (I am not affiliated with DJ Mustard in any way.) MUSTARD ON THE BEAT HOE! https://twitter.com/DJmustard https://www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-Mustard http://www.youtube.com/user/DJMUSTARD2 http://musiccentro.com/tour/producer/?producer_id=1664 http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/dj-mustard http://myspace.com/djmustard2

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