Drumma Boy: Continuing The Legacy of Memphis Music

……. And then there was Christopher Gholson, but you know him as DRUMMA BOY. Ok, if you still don’t recognize … how about Put On by Jeezy? What Up by T.I.? NO? Well, how about…Here I Am by the boss Rick Ross? Lost by Gorilla Zoe? Or Umma Do Me by Rocko? If you have heard any of these or just pick any other hit, and 9 times out of 10 this 25 year old talented producer is the driving force behind its success…and a force to be reckoned with! If your game is not tight then you better step it up or move out of the way because this musical genius is on the historical trail of success straight out of the legendary River City, Memphis, TN. A businessman who loves music, Drumma Boy is “continuing the legacy of Memphis music” with his own unique flare.

Shea: Being that you’re a rising star, in your words, who is “Drumma Boy”?

Drumma Boy: Drumma Boy is, of course you already know, like a young black entrepreneur, young hustler, that pretty much… I pretty much work off of what I love to do, which is music. I make all genres of music. I try to motivate, stimulate, encourage, enhance and be as beneficial to others as I possibly can. Meaning to hip hop, to families, to the street, to the hood; I mean all of the above. To sum it all up in one sentence… Drumma Boy is basically a life changer. Anybody who I come in contact with I’mma change their life in some way, form or fashion.

Shea: Considering your history and knowing your musical background…. What was it like growing up having both of your parents being very musically inclined?

Drumma Boy: It was fun. On my momma side, she was in the church too, so it wasn’t like she was just doing all opera. So growing up on my momma side, Saturdays and Sundays were like waking up to Aretha Franklin, incense and she’s cleaning the house and things like that. But, I grew to like oldies but goodies like James Hyter or Isaac Hayes might be in my living room. She was cool with Johnny Cash and Rufus Thomas, a lot of people back in the days – these were all her friends. So she was in the opera and the church.

On my daddy’s side…growing on that side, at his crib I would wake up to scales. He would get up at like 7 in the morning and be playing duuuuuun nuun nuun nuun, nuun nuun nuh nuuuuun, duun nuh nuun nuun, nuun nuun nuun ….(laughs) and playing scales cause he was in the orchestra playing clarinet and teaching clarinet at the University of Memphis.

I played clarinet, made a lot of all west Tennessee bands; could have been in the orchestra, followed in his footsteps and all that, but, when I was younger it was something they were making me do, then I kinda grew to love it. I was still being the typical young dude who don’t want to be like his daddy, don’t want to follow in his footsteps, I just wanted to be my own self. I was kinda being a little rebel, focusing on the streets, focusing on…listening to Three 6 Mafia every chance I could get, Balling G, just anything to do with some “hood”.

That’s what it was like….Going to the Nutcraker. I could name plenty of operas, performances, ballets, all of that.

Shea: How has that background helped you in your journey to musical success thus far?

Drumma Boy: Being able to read music, understanding how to put music together, understanding how to mix music …understanding how to identify instruments. I can have my eyes closed and just listen to somebody play any instrument almost and know what it is. Just little stuff that you learn on the technical side and the fundamental side. Then my mom, being a business major, I learned a lot of business tactics from her.

Shea: You have cited inspirations such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, etc…..is there any other inner inspiration that fosters your creativity?

Drumma Boy: I grew up solo, but, I grew up watching my older brother – he was making beats and doing his thing, I grew up watching Jazze Pha, Carlos Broady, a lot of known producers out of the local area of Memphis … but my biggest inspiration honestly was the crowd feed back.

I remember one party I threw – I started throwing parties back when I was 14 – I threw a party at this spot called Wimbledon SportsPlex which is off of Sycamore View out in the suburbs of Memphis. We threw this party out there and it was crazy because I had put out this album in the streets called Trill. It was a group called Trill, they performed and man when I seen the crowd like almost recite every word for word and moving to the beat…I’m like 14 years old…I made every beat, produced this group and just to see somebody appreciate your music I think that can be your biggest motivation inspiration slash hope!

When you see that somebody really believes in what you got going, especially after you have put all of your efforts into it…that’s priceless! You get a feeling that … “Man, I can do this sh**… I’m rocking the crowd”. So it was just a blessing!

Shea: Do you aspire to get into any other genres of music?

Drumma Boy: Ah man… any and every! I am trying to be one of the first producers to have a number 1 in every category. We are working on jazz, we are working on rock, country, pretty much everything. It’s all about having the motivation to do particular songs and knowing exactly what to talk about. Even with me rapping; you haven’t heard me rap thus far, seriously, because everything to me is about timing. People who move too quick or try to entertain too many careers at one time, they crash dummy themselves.

You just elevate into certain positions and now it is time for me to elevate into a position of speaking to the world. That’s what I call it. I don’t really call it rapping I call it speaking to the world. You got something to say and you got a message behind it, put it out.

Shea: Any other hidden talents that you plan on bringing to the forefront?

Drumma Boy: Definitely rapping. I’m on the singing tip, but I ain’t really singing like no Luther Vandross or nothing. I’m more like, just on a harmony tip more like on some Bilal type or more like Marvin Gaye, you know what I’m saying…on just that … (crooning) “hustling got me feeling fine”, you know what I’m saying. Just that smooth pimp, p.i.m.p., straight out of Memphis, TN type….

Shea: You have Drum Squad Productions/Records…What efforts are you currently making to increase your brand’s appeal?

Drumma Boy: We are doing that on a daily basis. We have an entertainment company, we got the management company – which is Inner Sound. We’re doing films.

We did one movie that already got picked up through Warner Brothers, it’s called Chapters; which is a little independent film that we did based out of Memphis. A story of a young dude growing up in Memphis, raised by his grandmother, not really having the direction that I had, but having a different direction. A low budget film, just really showing how we live in Memphis.

The voice over game along with the sound scores…we’ve been doing a lot of sound scores and sound tracks. So I mean branding is essential!

I just did a big deal with ClearChannel as well back home in Memphis. We got 3 billboards going up, kinda like how JD did here with the SoSo Def billboards.

Shea: In your your eyes, what sets you apart or makes your different from other producers – what’s your niche?

Drumma Boy: Number one is the work ethic. This is something I love to do. This is something I would do if it wasn’t for the money. Also, I try to encourage. I keep stressing I encourage, motivate and stimulate. When working with me, you’re getting a franchise. It’s like buying Nike or Michael Jordan. We’re going to work for you. We’re giving advice to our clients….so its like when you come to me, you’re coming to get a brand, or you’re coming to get a particular look.

A lot of people go to producers to get that one hit or that one sound. But, just like Rocko or just like Plies…like when we brought Rocko out with Imma Do Me that was like a brand. Imma Do Me was a brand. Shawty, Plies, and T-Pain was a brand.

It’s longevity in the game. So you can be around for however long you need to be or want to be. It’s all about how you present yourself. That’s what we do best, polish a diamond in the rough into the best VVS diamond you’ve seen. We’re trying to give you that glare and be a part of history.

Another thing that’s one of the biggest differences between me and other producers…I know my business. Even if you’re a producer, man, 90% of the music industry is business. 10% of the game is music. So making beats and making the placements and doing what you heard me do with Rick Ross is easy. To me, what makes me most successful is that I am a business man. I know how to handle my business. I know how to take my success in 09 and turn it into better success in 010; as opposed to a producer who had a hit in 09 and got real comfortable. To me, that’s what makes me different.

Shea: You spoke about longevity…what are you doing financially to ensure the longevity of your success in the industry?

Drumma Boy: It’s a lot of things, but I can’t tell ya’ll too much (laughs) on how many accounts we got going on (laughs). I’m doing a lot of things as far as investments….Roth IRA’s and just certain investments. A lot of people don’t understand, when you get your money, the first thing you need to do is make sure you are straight with the IRS. Because if you ain’t straight with them, regardless of how much money you get or how many investments you get they can come lock all that down.

First and foremost for me, is having that good, positive relationship with the IRS. Understanding what you owe, understanding your budget, understanding your expenses or what you got going on monthly; and understanding what it take for you to live in certain circumstances and still do the things that you need to do.

All of that is different for me because I am an independent producer. I own 100% of my company. I run everything, I don’t have a boss. So any clients I want to work with I have a relationship with them.

Being independent you can move a little bit differently and with that being said … you got to make the right investments, you got to have your accountant lined up, your management lined up, your expenses and your budget all the way mapped out. Like I said, investments don’t mean anything unless you got that IRS straight and your team is running. You got to have a team. A lot of people don’t understand the importance of a team. I could go into so many different things that are essential…

Shea: What advice would you give to any newcomers?

Drumma Boy: Invest in yourself! A lot of dudes make money and then they invest in diamonds, jewelry, cars, houses. There’s a lot of dudes out here who look like they are millionaires or look like billionaires and their car ain’t even paid for. They got this, this and this going on …spending $5000 a month in the mall but ain’t got other things lined up. You don’t even know what an IRA is or 401K is or what you’re going to do when you retire. You got to slow down and focus on what’s priority.

Shea: Is there anything significant that stands out in your mind, good, bad, or indifferent that you have learned thus far?

Drumma Boy: The biggest thing I’ve learned is the importance of relationships. That’s pretty much what has held me and gotten me this far. Money runs out and money spends quick. It spends quicker than it comes. But what lasts through it all is relationship.

A lot of these projects are already solidified as far as the producers they’re going to use because of their relationships. So if you got 3 producers that you trust….If Mary J Blige got 3 producers that she been using all her life, then you’re a new producer…you got some good music, but you trying to get on that project…the only thing that’s gone get you on that project is not your music, but its going to be your relationship. So, to me, the relationship is the most important thing.

Shea: ‘Welcome to Dreamland’, how did that come to fruition?

Drumma Boy: A dude by the name of Von came to me, the actual host of the TV show. He was just like “I think you are a good candidate. You got a lot of charm. You go
t flare. I think you’ll look good on TV. You one of the hottest dudes on the street” He was like “the other contendant is from Memphis, which is Jazzy [Pha]…so you’ll be going up against him.” I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to get more exposure and to demonstrate that I do music.

A lot of people think I just make hip hop beats or street beats…”Yeah I heard Standing Ovation or you heard White Girl or I heard Ya Dig”. The only thing you’ve heard from me is really rappers. A lot of people didn’t know just how musically inclined I was. So I thought it was a good opportunity to display something different.

Shea: Do you plan to continue or expand that effort?

Drumma Boy: The show is about to go national. It was number one in Atlanta. It’s under negotiation right now between BET, MTV, and VH1.