EditedOIMagPremierIssue.qxd
6/25/03
9:08 AM
Page 62
Platt with EMI/Universal Publishing will finance the venture. His deal included an immediate $600,000 advance on a $1.5 million deal. In order to get the balance of his money, he said: "I need like four beats on Cris' next album … then I need to do my single." Shondrea's deal with EMI/Universal is for the administration of his publishing for which EMI receives 25%, which is pretty impressive. Shondrea charges $15,000 to $20,000 per track and in the past three years has produced tracks on Ludacris' multi-platinum Albums and on a gold album recorded by "Disturbing the Peace." He says that he gets paid half of the money for his tracks up front and then gets the balance after the track is recorded to the satisfaction of the label and artist. He utilizes a manager to shop his beats and advises up coming producers to do the same. In his words, "You might wanna get a manager that believes in you….. Make sure he get no more than 20% of the track cost, nothing else…if you ain't got money to travel to New York and L.A to labels and stay in hotel rooms and whatever, just get a manager…get a (expletive) that believes in you." Aside from producing tracks for Ludacris and shopping some of his other tracks, Shondrea's strategy is to produce an album (ala Dr Dre's "The Chronic") and feature his artists and his diverse musical sound. His current artists include Shemere who is "on like a harder R&B tip, just like a Mary J. Blige", Brock Landers a.k.a. D.O. Deville, himself (he and Brock Landers are forming a yet to be named group), and Misha who "raps like Boss but more feminine" he said. As we concluded, he advised other producers to "Do it for the music, not the money. Money'll come if you do it just out of passion and love, man. Don't do it cause you think that it'll come in quick...everybody can't produce. Everybody can't rap. Everybody can't sing...Make s**t better than me. Make s**t better than him." Wise words from a young producer bound to be a force in the future that has come a long way from Des Moines, Iowa. $
"Do it for the music, not the money. Money'll come if you do it just out of passion and love, man. Don't do it cause you think that it'll come in quick...everybody can't produce. Everybody can't rap. Everybody can't sing... Make s*#t better than me. Make s@*t better than him." – Shondrae’
DJ Whoo Kid continuedfrom page 51 How did you get involved with the Jadakiss Iverson commercial? I was working with Trackmasters , of course they did the track for it. I went in the studio and worked out a little deal with them. Allen Iverson is doing the next mixtape. Its all in the relationship and how you market. Me and Little X are doing a DVD album. I’m just like cut in pieces right now. I got an arm here, a leg there.. (laughs). Which artists are your mixtape listeners demanding to hear right now? 50 Cent, Jadakiss, 50 Cent, 50 Cent, 50 Cent, G-Unit which is Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. Tell me about your beef tapes and the impact they’ve had on your career The impact. I went through hell! Shootings, kidnappings… So how did you handle that? I did beef CDs just to get my name out there. Thank God nothing ever happened to me. A lot of stuff I can’t talk about. Me and these artists have sworn not to talk about it. You have to really think before you talk. I know DJs that got beat up all the time for trying to do stuff like that. How did you get involved with Mike Lighty and what kind of deal do you have with Violator? Mike.. He’s like my manager. He books all of my shows. Violator’s Chris Lighty handles my deal situations. I have a lot of label deals on the table so he handles all of that. They handle my television appearances, my interviews...They handle a lot of my situations, and if everything goes well they just run my life. That’s why they’re called Violator. Because they’re gonna violate me and take 20% of my money (laughs). They also help me a lot when I need an artist. They damn near manage all of the artists in the industry anyway. Its been good talking to you. You are a very funny person Well I got a lot of checks to get this week and the more I blab, the more the checks come! Any final words? Everybody make money!!
“I did beef CDs just to get my name out there. Thank God nothing ever happened to me. A lot of stuff I can’t talk about. Me and these artists have sworn not to talk about it. You have to really think before you take. I know DJs that got beat up all the time for trying to do stuff like that.” — DJ Whoo Kid