Local producer Redgee is one of three finalists for Hip Hop Honors
By Kenya Vaughn Of the St. Louis American
Riding through the ‘burbs of North County, few people would imagine that it might be the headquarters of the hitmakers of the soundtrack for next VH1 Hip-Hop Honors awards show.
But in the heart of a Hazelwood subdivision lies La Casa Studios. For the past three years, Redgee and Jersie have been making beats and tracks for local artists like Mo’Tre and Potzee. Now, all of a sudden, they have been tag-teamed with a shot at the big time – first from VH1, then with Rapper T.I.’s label Grand Hustle.
“We actually forgot all about it until we got a call saying that out of 8,000 people that Redgee was one of the finalists and they were going to call him again to let him know if he was one of the top three finalists,” said Jersie.
“And they called him again.”
A few months after filling out an online form and submitting five tracks, Redgee said he got the “big call” from VH1. He had a phone interview early Monday morning with the folks at VH1 and was humbly confident regarding his chances of being selected to go into the studio with Roots drummer and musical director Amir “?uestlove” Thompson to work on the music that will represent Hip Hop Honors Class of ’07.
Audiences have a chance to listen and cast their votes on VH1’s website now through September 9. The winner will be announced September 10.
Sitting back watching “The Departed” on a Plasma screen, Redgee couldn’t have seemed further from someone waiting on pins and needles as their destiny (and the reputation of St. Louis producers/production teams) lies in the hands of voters who only know them based on a single track.
“It will open up doors for presidents and GM’s and CEOs just to come out here and look at a lot of producers,” Redgee said as he expressed the possible impact of being selected as the winner.
“When you’re going to be on VH1 on TV, it’s going to show that we are doing more than just rappin’ in St. Louis.”
Redgee started out on the hip-hop scene as a rapper, but said that he didn’t want to limit himself to a particular type of music. So he decided to try his hand at production.
The track that has the potential to make him famous via VH1 is entitled “Zodiac.” It gives the feel of a cross between Missy Elliot’s “Get Your Freak On” and Snoop Dogg’s “Drop it Like it’s Hot” but manages to sound fresh and unique.
Even though the competition is for the Hip-Hop Honors theme song, Redgee was the only black finalist. While he alluded to having an ethnic edge, he feels that his work will be the determining factor that will result in him taking home the prize.
“I might just get votes off (race) alone,” he said, laughing.
“But I’m not just depending on that. I know my track is pretty dang good. People can listen to it and listen to theirs (the other two finalists) and I still feel like they would pick mine.”
What began as a discussion about the competition quickly and easily transitioned into the ever-changing playing field that makes up the music business.
And judging from the conversation, the biggest impact on the industry have been computers and the web. From creating tracks to finding and signing artists, Redgee and Jersie say that technology plays a part in all of it.
“I use a lot of hardware, like keyboards and drum machines,” Redgee said.
“But nowadays, people don’t even use it – people use software, they do everything on the computer. But it depends on how unique you want your sound. It’s hard to have a unique sound just having a computer.”
He says that websites like MySpace and artist web pages have changed the way that record labels do business as well.
“People are getting deals off of the internet – that’s what major labels or doing now,” Redgee said. “They’re not even sending their A&R’s out anymore, they’re just sending them to MySpace.”
Redgee and Jersie know from experience because it was a trip to their own MySpace profile that connected them in conversations with Grand Hustle – within days of receiving a call from VH1. Nothing is concrete as of yet, but according to Redgee and Jersie, there is some serious business talk going on.
Redgee and Jersie both agree that when shopping tracks, the game is mostly word of mouth.
“But you’ve got to have the tracks,” Redgee said. “You ain’t gonna go to a restaurant if people keep sayin’ it’s horrible.”
“The main thing we work on is having a good reputation,” Redgee said. “And when you get into this business, you want to be humble. God isn’t going to bless you if you’re not humble.”
People can vote for Redgee to score the soundtrack for VH1 Hop Honors at http://thescore.vh1.com. Hip Hop Honors 2007 airs October 8 on VH1. For more information about Redgee and LaCasa Studios, visit www.myspace.com/redgee.
